Email Marketing Trends that Actually Matter in 2019

Every day our inboxes are flooded with emails from companies trying to sell us on something. If you receive 20 or more email marketing messages a day, odds are, most of them get sent straight to the trash bin. Too many businesses believe in quantity over quality when it comes to blasting those on their email marketing list – this is a big no, no!

If you take a step back and put yourself in the consumers’ shoes, you’ll find that it’s starting to take a toll on their level of trust with some of these organizations. Especially, those that buy or sell email lists. But, from a business owner’s perspective, with all the clutter landing in consumers’ inboxes, how do you set yourself apart from the competition? Reading more on emerging email marketing trends and applying them is a great start! Below, we’ll provide you with an overview of 2019 email marketing trends that matter the most. Embrace them, and you’ll be one step ahead of the competition.

Personalization Vs. Privacy

As we touched on earlier, consumers are becoming distrustful of large companies that are misusing their data. Those who are angry are speaking out and governments are responding. In 2018, we saw GDPR take effect in Europe and the passage of broad privacy regulations in the state of California. Restrictions are likely to only get more rigid this year.

That said, consumers expect a certain level of personalization in marketing messages and web experience. According to Adobe, 33% of consumers say companies recommending products that don’t match their interests is the main reason they unsubscribe. Ultimately, consumers want to know how their data is being used and that it’s being used in ways to benefit them, not exploit them.

Smarter Spam Filters with AI and Machine Learning

Not only are marketers catching on to AI/machine learning technology, but Email Service Providers (ESPs) are increasingly growing their data sets to improve algorithms that can block and filter out all kinds of spam messages. According to SpamLaws.com, spam makes up about 45% of all emails and 73% of this figure points to identity theft. This year, more than ever will be a challenge for senders’ emails to land in inboxes if they consistently produce a low open rate.

Design Matters

Since the birth of email started out as a purely text-based channel, marketers have traditionally paid more attention to producing quality copy, along with headers, and proper grammar. In 2019, that has all changed. Gone are the days when captivating copy was the only important aspect of a blog or campaign. Marketers have begun to realize that effective posts are as much about the imagery as the words, and we are focusing on design elements such as animated illustrations, icons, bold button colors, and more. As we start to see an influx of traffic and engagement, expect to see this trend go even further as marketer’s design efforts pay off.

Interactive Content Takes off

As marketers, we know campaigns should be dynamic and not static, it’s 2019 after all. Today, it’s even easier than years prior for marketing platforms to make it seamless to add a host of interactive elements, and we’re here for it. Emails are now including things like image carousels, navigational anchor tags, sliders, survey forms, and more.

There are other more basic ways marketers can enable audiences to engage and interact with messages, such as including a “reply to us” option for recipients. This option makes it more important than ever for senders to continue to have an active email address available, otherwise, it makes you look like you don’t give a rat’s ass about your customer. When we all know, this is simply not the case. At a minimum, senders should consider experimenting with this sort of simple interactivity to boost engagement and experiment with this trend in 2019.

Some Parting Words to Leave You With…

Though email may be one of the oldest forms of digital marketing, it’s definitely not obsolete. On the contrary, it still has the power to make or break your business, so you better prepare for the coming trends and embrace the advanced tactics in this field in order to remain competitive and dominate within your market place.

By using email marketing that involves a combination of personalization, smart technology, bold design, and interactive content, you can take your business to the next level and grow your subscriber base considerably. Before going all in, just make sure to test all of our suggestions and let us know in the comments if you need any additional help or just reach out to us.

Now go forth and be awesome!