Top Email Marketing Trends for 2021

Writer

Guest Writer

⏱ Reading Time: 6 minutes

Email marketing has changed a lot since its beginning and it is definitely here to stay. The progressing innovation in digital marketing also reflects in e-mail marketing strategies, tools, and techniques. With every day, e-mail is getting more personalized, interactive and more effective.

Statista research says there are around 3.9 billion email users in the world, and that number is about to grow to 4.48 billion users by 2024. Since the growth of this medium is obvious, marketers and business owners that want to nurture growth should keep an eye on the email marketing trends and innovations

🚀 Read Customer Experience Guide: How to Put your Customers First? 🚀

According to Litmus, 70% of people think email will still be relevant in 10 years, as shown in the picture below:

Picture 1. Channels percentage

What Are We Keeping from 2020 Email Marketing Trends?

2020 was the year of content personalization and this one is definitely a keeper. This trend was also visible in ecommerce, not only in email marketing. It has become more and more important to connect with your customers and offer them customized content, tailor-made to their needs and preferences.

Interactivity has become one of the important factors in making emails „fun“ and more likely to be read. Emails that contain games, quizzes, images, etc. keep the subscriber engaged, which means there’s a greater chance of them purchasing an item. So expect much more in that field as well.

Picture 2. Example of interactive content

With the rise in the use of mobile phones, the necessity to optimize emails for mobiles is still an inevitable part of any successful marketing strategy. According to Adestra, Email Marketing Platform: „In 70% of cases, if the message doesn’t display correctly on a mobile device, it’s likely to be deleted within 3 seconds.“ So, you would probably want to pay attention to that.

Now, let’s see what can we expect from email marketing trends in 2021.

Top Email Marketing Trends in 2021

Rise of Chatbots and Machine Learning along With AI

If you need a more interactive way to encourage subscribers to subscribe to your email list, then chatbot is the answer. They will definitely be one of the biggest 2021 email marketing trends, as they can be a big benefit for a subscription.

For example, when a person subscribes, email subscription chatbot can ask them what type of content they would like to receive and how often. That allows subscribers to choose what they really want instead of sending them a lot of unnecessary stuff.

As for machine learning, their role will be in the creation and sending of email content. We already saw the beginning of this trend with predictive analytics. Then again, a lot of people expect this trend to become automated and the content drafted my machines.

Also, when talking about machine learning, if you’re interested in this subject, you can read more about it in our other article: Machine Learning.

Voice Interfaces

This also might be the next email marketing trend. After mobile devices surfaced desktop, this seems like a thing to happen. Because voice technology is on the rise too. We already know some voice assistants such as Alexa or Siri.

Juniper Research report says: „55 % of the US population will install smart devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home by the year 2022.“

Also, as the report continues: „By 2022, over 70 million households will have at least one of these smart speakers in their home, and the total number of installed devices will top 175 million.“

So, it is no surprise if this trend rises in 2020.

Simplicity Is the Key

With the rising number of new brands created every day, the need to stand out and get through with your message has become greater than ever.

Standing out doesn’t always include bright and colorful images and banners screaming discounts and special offers. On the contrary. Consumers nowadays are swamped with advertisements. Be it social media, online newspapers, emails, etc. their brains are so fed up with images, colors, texts that a simple minimalist design with a clear message will definitely stand out more.

Choosing a simple artwork and one or two pieces of important information in your email will be highly appreciated by your consumers and will probably make them click on your email every time it comes to their inbox. And finally, that is the main goal, right?

Integrating Your Email Marketing Strategy with Social Media

According to Statista research, over 3 billion people will be using social media networks this year. For companies, this means that there are new ways of reaching their potential customers.

Using different platforms increases the possibility of building your audience as well as their engagement. To put it in simple words – if you include social media buttons in your email, your super cool new email offer can be shared by some of your devoted fans on, let’s say, Facebook. Some of their friends will like the recommendation and might want to become one of your customers as well. If you don’t make your emails shareable, then there is a higher chance that your marketing is limited only to your subscribers.

This works vice versa too – you can also find an innovative way of inviting your social media followers to subscribe to your newsletter. In the unlucky event that your Page gets shut down or hacked, you still have a pool of potential customers to turn to in your email list.

Picture 3. McDonalds inviting their email subscribers to follow them on social media

Video Content

Have you already started using videos in your marketing? If not – here is something that might encourage you to start. A whopping 90% of consumers claim that product videos were helpful in making their decision to buy something.

Using videos in your email marketing can establish your credibility and help you spread brand awareness. If you’re looking for inspiration – tutorials, product reviews, unboxing or motion graphics are always a good way to catch the attention of your customers.

Wrap Up

With technology evolving, it is always a good idea to keep up with the trends. Email marketing is still one of the most effective channels for direct marketing. So, implement these email marketing trends and be one step ahead of your competition.

If you have any more questions or thoughts, leave them in the comments!