Email marketing trends in 2015
A new year means a new start, nothing surprising there in 2015! Together with this new start, we look forward to what will happen in the new year in our beloved emarketing world. The last couple of weeks, different companies and experts gave their predictions on what to expect in 2015 for email marketing so we’re giving you here a quick heads-up.
Mobile no longer the exception, but the norm
The buzz around “mobile” was very popular these last years, with an obvious reason: from 2008 until 2013 mobile exploded, and yet still growing! The mobile hype has not only changed our daily operations, but also generated a great impact on email design and marketing.
Last year, more or less 50% of emails opened were done on mobile devices according to studies from Hubspot and Experian. This staggering number is still growing. Companies taking their email communication serious, should take mobile serious and therefore should invest in responsive, fluid and scalable email templates, that look well on desktop, smartphone and tablet.
Responsive vs Adaptive
On a technical sidenote, do not confuse responsive with adaptive designs. Adaptive email designs are in fact two created email templates: one for desktop and one for mobile. With responsive designs your content becomes dynamic, with possibilities to change hierarchy, images, enlarge fonts, etc.
It doesn’t stop there...
Don’t make the mistake to only design your emails responsive... When recipients click on the links in your email, they expect to land on a responsive website or landingspage. As always, it’s about the experience so the whole flow reading an email (a download, purchase, watch a video, etc.) should be perfect on mobile devices.
Conclusion: in 2015, responsive designs will be the norm, rather than the exception.
Real time personalisation
According to different sources and studies, email marketing is still on top of channels that provide the best ROI. In times where millions are wasted to social media campaigns that aren’t noticed, email still has its place right on top of the pyramid. Above that, when marketers tend to use email in a smarter way, for example by creating responsive designs and personal keys, they can actively increase the value of their email marketing!
Personalisation in email today is much more than just the name, address and the device used by your customers. The idea is to create a greater customer experience. If you combine all available information about your customer to personalize his experience, you will get a satisfied customer. You’ll win his confidence, create likeability and he will become more loyal. He will not only continue to buy from you, but maybe recommend your brand to others.
Marketing Automation
If we continue by looking at the smart usage of data, automation based on user needs will be hot in 2015. More and more companies will offer their customer a personal offer. This means a customer will only see the clothes that are really relevant to him when he is shopping online. Based on these ‘big’ data, companies try to know their customer better and offer them customized products/services. For email marketing this means personalized emails in the right language, with the right content, at the right time.
A good example is the automation of email from Buffer. They send an email when your social media feed is empty. In addition they give some suggestions on interesting content, also based on previous content that you’ve posted.
mailpartners in 2015?
Our goals at mailpartners for 2015 are to improve and optimize ourselves on those tree aspects we’ve referred to in this blogpost. We will follow up the trends and try to offer our clients the services and advice they need. Currently we’re investing in responsive email designs, and will offer them soon to our clients in mailpartners. With our new editor, designing email campaigns will become a piece of cake.
