Stay up to date with the rapidly changing email marketing landscape

Email has been an effective marketing tool ever since it was first invented. Today, despite the changes introduced by the GDPR and the myriad of different options that exist for reaching your target audience, email is still one of the most reliable channels around. And, if you regularly make the effort to stay up to date with the changes happening to email today, then you can make your investment in email even more powerful. So, what do you need to know about email in 2022 to make this happen?

• Apple is effectively scrapping email open rates as a metric option. The release of  iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey, and watchOS 8 comes with Mail Privacy Protection. This has been designed by Apple to prevent pixels being used, including those that collect information about whether or not an email has been opened. So, email open rates are no longer a reliable metric and a choice exists between using different metrics for Apple users or assuming a larger margin of error.
• Effective data privacy infrastructure. There’s no getting away from the GDPR and the obligations it has placed on organisations when it comes to privacy. Only 8% of consumers trust businesses with their personal data so you need to stick to the letter of the law where this regulation is concerned if you don’t want a damaged reputation and a hefty fine. Key will be avoiding cold emailing and always giving people on your email list the option to unsubscribe.
• Automation is an essential tool. Use it to give your recipients more control over their inbox – and you over your campaigns. Opt for a drip campaign, where actions taken by users trigger certain emails – these are friendlier, more appropriate and less overwhelming.
• A lack of personalisation is detrimental these days. For example, 68% of recipients will automatically delete an email that doesn’t have any personalisation in it. 45% would put it in the junk or spam category and 54% would unsubscribe from emails that don’t have any personalisation. If you’re not personalising your emails then your email list could suffer, as well as the effectiveness of overall marketing campaigns. Our key tips for email personalisation include tailoring messages by audience segment, sending triggered emails based on user behaviours and recommending products or content on an individual basis.
• It’s time to incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI). Not least because it makes it much easier to achieve that level of personalisation that will be truly effective. You can employ it to create effective subject lines, integrate personalisation as well as cleaning up email lists, building lists and remodeling your campaigns for optimum effectiveness.
• Rethink the content of the emails that you’re sending out. For example, user generated content promotes conversion (70% of consumers base purchases on others’ reviews) and interactive emails – with animated buttons, polls etc – generate more engagement. Current design trends include minimalism, animated collaging and dark mode + neon.

To ensure that your email investment remains relevant and effective it’s vital to stay on top of the changing email marketing landscape.

To find out how Iconic Digital can help your email marketing strategy, get in touch today and call us on 020 7100 0726. Find out more about our Email Marketing Automation Agency in London.