Robots that get our groceries, autonomous cars and trash cans that empty themselves. Those are the things that come to mind when someone says trends of the future. These are all changes that will make our lives easier. That is what we are trying to achieve within email marketing as well. We are constantly searching for ways to relieve the pressure on the client and save them time. In this article you can read what we predict the future will bring us, email marketeers.
Trends within marketing automation
We’ve gotten used to working with automation. Companies automate based on triggers to save time and supply relevant and personalized content. Because we’ve become so familiar with automation we are constantly looking for new ways to implement it. Some examples:
- Automation as a multichannel tool: Companies boost their campaigns by using automation. In this particular example it’s very important that you adapt your content to your client’s context. For example: When it’s snowing the client won’t be interested in sun tan lotion. When he just booked a vacation he will be.
- Social media automation tool: Using this tool you can plan your social media posts in advance. The tool distributes your content automatically across your social media channels. Aside from that it monitors the statistics of your account. For example when someone says something about your company or leaves a comment on your page.
- Tracker tool: The tracker tool allows you to monitor your campaign. Let’s say you have an add on tv. While the add is airing this tool will send an e-mail to your clients. Because you’re reaching people on more than one screen at a time you raise the relevance of your product. This leads to more conversions.
- Realtime classifying: In the future It’ll become important to record the type of relationship you have with the client and add it to your marketing plan. You should define indicators for this. You can find these indicators in socio demographic data, social media, behavior and by talking to your clientele regularly. By doing this you’ll be able to classify and approach your customers in a way that works for them.
Predictive email marketing
Within predictive email marketing you adapt your content to the needs of individual recipients. You use a detailed profile. You are basically getting to know the recipient. The profile does more than just combine basic info. You can see what they buy, where they buy it, where they click on a certain page and a lot more. Using this information you can determine in what phase of the customer journey your client is in, what stands out for him and what’s the best time to approach him.
Artificial intelligence
The most well-known AI application are chatbots. We’ve all seen them before. When you visit a website and there’s a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen that asks: “what are you looking for” or “What can I do for you”. These applications have a great number of prerecorded questions and answers. This results in less pressure on the support team. When they’re not occupied answering routine questions they can offer better support for more intricate problems. These virtual robots expand every day and the next logical step is email marketing.
Big software companies are jumping on the bandwagon as we speak. They’re investing billions in the development of AI applications for email marketing. The purpose is to adjust the platforms even more to fit the needs of the customers. Tools are being developed to help you optimize campaigns, subject lines and even to send emails to clients when they are active in their mailbox.
Hyper personalization
Segmentation and personalization have been indispensable within email marketing for years. Now a days marketeers step it up a notch. They use hyper personalization to approach their client in the best way possible. Content is adjusted for every recipient until the moment of opening. By doing research the marketeers can align variables like time, location, device and so on. The content of the message can change based on for example the moment of opening.
Video
Video is on the fast track to become THE way to catch the clients eye. It’s a visual medium and we know visuals work. Video is a very approachable medium ass well with big impact. It’s important to use this particular medium the right way. Keep these tips in mind when using video:
- Keep it short and sweet. People don’t have the time to watch long videos. A fun, clever video of a minute or less will more than suffice. If you have a lot of info, include a link to a more elaborate video.
- Only make a video when it has a purpose. Making a video takes time and effort plus it will only be watched if it has added value.
- Storytelling is key! A message gets a better reception when it is beautifully packaged. It might be a good idea to make a series of video’s. If you end the video with a cliffhanger the client will be swept up in your story and look forward to the next one.
- You aren’t ready to use video yet? Experiment with GIFs or animations.
- And last but not least: Test the video before you post it! Does it work? Are you the only one loving your masterpiece?
- The best ways to share video’s have already been discussed here and here.
What do the video’s look like?
Seeing that we are getting more and more mobile and our screens are getting smaller it’s important to send out short and sweet messages. We receive an enormous amount of advertisements and that means that your message has to stand out. If you follow that logic email marketing will become more visual and more interactive in the near future.
- GIFs and animation will be heavily used to paint a picture without using many words.
- Timers to indicate the duration of a promotion.
- Creative polls contain client data. When they unsubscribe they give a reason.
What the future has in store for us, nobody knows. Nonetheless we are very much looking forward to the developments of the medium that we love, Email.
