Online consumer behavior and digital laws are ever-evolving, which is why business owners have to continuously revise their marketing strategies, including email marketing, to keep up with the changes.
In 2023, we witnessed tremendous advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology which has taken over the digital world and unlocked improvements in data collection, increased personalization, and other technical aspects that can deliver an even better user experience.
In 2024, email marketing will become an increasingly interactive marketing channel for businesses, and we have the details on the emerging trends. But before we discuss what’s in store for this year, let’s go back and review the state of email marketing in 2023.
Table of Contents
Email Marketing Trends of 2023
1. Use of AI for Automation, Gathering Insights, and More
We’ve yet to explore the full extent of AI’s capabilities in marketing, yet it has already proven itself to be a powerful tool for gathering detailed insights about customers, generating catchy subject lines, predicting best send times, performing automated tasks, and maintaining a healthy email list by removing inactive or invalid addresses. Implementing AI into your email marketing strategy can be a great way to streamline your workload and scale your marketing efforts.
2. Protecting User Data and Privacy
According to a report by Cisco, 47% of adults across 12 countries have severed relationships with companies due to poor data privacy policies. A greater focus on protecting user data has been among the top email marketing trends of 2023. Many businesses have already made themselves compliant with privacy laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and implemented authentication methods such as Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) to prevent phishing attacks.
3. Leveraging Automation for Maximizing Effectiveness
Automating your emails allows you to interact with users at different touchpoints, offering a more personalized experience. Welcome sequences, sale sequences, lead nurturing sequences, cart recovery sequences, etc. are popular email marketing trends from 2023 because they let you reach users exactly where they are at the sales funnel. Businesses that have already implemented automation have seen amazing results, so if you haven’t leveraged it yet, it’s time to add it to your 2024 email marketing strategy.
4. Increased Focus On Personalization
Spotify recommending playlists through a personalized email
The average person receives 126 business emails per day, a majority of which are promptly ignored. Consumers are no longer willing to engage with generic, cookie-cutter emails that only care about selling them a product or service. While addressing your customers by name in the subject line works in grabbing their attention, email marketing trends of 2023 have been about putting a greater emphasis on personalizing email content using data gathered on consumer behavior.
5. Plugging User-Generated Content in Emails
User-generated content (UGC) is a powerful asset for developing trust and engaging users on social media but it can also be used as social proof in emails to add credibility to your campaigns. Adding videos, images, testimonials, reviews, and other types of UGC has been one of the most popular email marketing trends of 2023 that many businesses will continue to adopt in their 2024 email marketing strategy.
6. Improving Accessibility for Wider Reach
About 16% of people worldwide live with some degree of disability. Optimizing your emails for greater accessibility is not only necessary for capturing this audience but also for complying with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) guidelines. Business owners have also recognized the credibility it adds to their brands, which is why this was among the most followed email marketing trends of 2023.
A few ways to make your emails more accessible are:
- Using contrasting colors
- Adding alt text to images
- Keeping the flash rate of animations between 2 Hz and 55 Hz
- Using dark mode compatible design
- Keeping font size to 14px or more
Email Marketing Predictions for 2024
Now that we have reviewed the top trends of 2023, let’s talk about 7 trends that will shape the future of email marketing this year.
1. Extensive Use of AI
According to a survey by McKinsey Global, nearly 60% of organizations are already using generative AI for sales & marketing, service operations, and other purposes to catapult their growth. This was one of the emergent email marketing trends of 2023 that will see more mature usage in 2024 for A/B testing, generating images, customer segmentation, hyper-personalization, and customer service. Use the powerful suite of AI tools that are available out there to create tailored emails and assist users with their queries in real time.
2. Sophisticated Email Automation
With the advancements in AI, email automation has become simpler than ever before and because of this, we’ll see more and more businesses use complex automated email sequences this year. Continuing on this email marketing trend from 2023, brands will invest in tools that take the grunt work out of setting up integrations and dashboards, gather deep insights into customer behavior and preferences, and maximize results through personalization and send-time optimization.
3. Email Authentication and Privacy Protection
In October 2023, Google and Yahoo announced that Domain-based Message Authentication (DMARC), an email authentication protocol that blocks phishing and spam emails, would be made compulsory for bulk email marketing in 2024. Companies, consumers, and government entities alike have been proactive about data protection as well, an email marketing trend we’ve seen in 2023. As a business owner, this means complying with the new changes and being strict with how you store and use consumer data.
4. Interactive Email Experiences
An interactive email from McDonald’s
The best way to get people to engage with your brand is to focus on elevating customer experience, which extends to emails as well. The days of boring static emails are over. Users want interactive experiences through dynamic animations, polls, surveys, and other actionable features. Among email marketing trends of 2023, this is one trend that has maintained its popularity for several years now. Create an impactful and memorable experience through gamified design that makes reading your emails fun, and watch your click-through rate (CTR) spike up.
5. Combining Email With Social Media
Omnichannel marketing is the best way to compound the success of your marketing campaigns across different channels and enjoy higher engagement from your customers. Use emails and social media in tandem and cross-promote content by adding social links to your emails, sharing UGC content from your social media, and asking people to join your newsletter for unique perks. Many businesses have already adopted this email marketing trend in 2023. If you haven’t yet, it’s high time now.
6. Minimalist Design and Visual Storytelling
A minimalist email design by Pure Beauty
Effective email design isn’t just about using flashy fonts, colors, and images to stand out but rather providing a clean, minimal layout that prioritizes user experience and clarity. Simple emails encourage faster decision-making and higher conversions, and you’ll want to implement this strategy in your email marketing in 2024. However, you can still create an unforgettable experience by using dynamic visuals such as animations and cinemagraphs in your emails.
7. Focus on Metrics Beyond Open Rates
Keeping tabs on open rates and CTRs is essential for figuring out which messages click with users and what compels them to take action, but a deeper look through email analytic tools can offer you better insights into customer behavior for making data-driven decisions. This email marketing trend gained traction in 2023 and will continue to rise in popularity this year. So take a look at email marketing metrics such as unsubscribe rate, customer lifetime value (CLV), sharing rate, and engagement time to fine-tune your strategy for success.
Get Ready for the Future of Email Marketing With Coalition Technologies
Email marketing offers one of the highest returns on investment and is a channel that you should definitely take advantage of to gain loyal customers who would love to buy from you and advocate for you.
At Coalition Technologies, we’re always eager to help business owners implement effective email marketing campaigns based on experiential data. We hope this review of email marketing trends from 2023 has been helpful for you in understanding the direction you need to take with your email marketing in 2024. If you need personalized assistance from our email marketing experts, book a call with us today!
