Looking Ahead: Top Email Marketing Trends in 2024
Did you think email marketing is over yet?
Studies say it’s not. About 67% of content marketers report using email newsletters and other email types to distribute content in 2023.
Emails continue to be powerful in the content marketing world thanks to their accessibility and decentralized communication system. And they stay uninterrupted, so marketers can continue to communicate with subscribers and sell products and services.
Stepping into 2024, email marketing trends will become more diverse.
Intrigued to know how it was in 2023?
Let’s talk about significant trends and reasons emails will forever be a marketer’s best friend.
Why Emails Are The Best Communication Channel in 2023
Emails don’t yet have a close competitor — marketers can use this channel to engage with customers across multiple touchpoints. 77% of marketers witnessed an increase in email engagement in the last 12 months.
Here are more reasons for its popularity:
- They give you full control: Email communication is owned; you don’t have to depend on different algorithms for people to see your content. Whether it’s selling your products or sending brand updates, emails are effective.
- Professionalism: Emails are typically more formal and professional compared to other channels. This makes them a great way to send and receive business-related messages.
- Record keeping: Emails hold information and allow you to revisit and track decisions.
- Wider reach: When handling a larger group of audience, the cc and bcc options in emails come in handy.
- Asynchronous communication: Email messages allow people to respond at convenient times instead of commanding immediate action.
- Security and privacy: Emails usually have built-in security features and encryption options for an extra layer of security.
- Universally Popular: Emails as a communication channel are widely used worldwide, making them an accessible mode of communication.
While AI and other technologies reign over business communication, emails continue to be uninterrupted by newer technologies. Email marketing revenue is estimated to reach a whopping $11 billion by the end of 2023. This gives us more reasons to be aware of past, current, and future email marketing trends.
Let’s Recap Popular Trends in Email Marketing in 2023
Many email marketers opportunize personalized, relevant, and authentic email content. Below are the most popular email trends in 2023.
Automation and Segmentation
Marketers no longer send the same email message to every subscriber. They segment their lists and send customized content to each audience on autopilot. Automated workflows, triggered emails, and segmentation play a key role in email success.
The use of personalized merge tags is growing and marketers can send compelling content that solves customer pain points. In addition, micro-segmentation helps businesses send hyper-personalized content to their audience.
Personalization
Placing audiences into groups helps marketers send personalized content to every subscriber. They tailor content according to subscribers’ past behavior, preferences, and demographics. This includes sending dynamic content, personalized recommendations, and targeted subject lines.
This trend is particularly popular because marketers address subscribers by their names instead of merely seeing them as an email metric percentage. This increases the subscribers’ perceived value, while also increasing open rates.
Interactive AMP Emails
AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) is an open-source framework that helps create interactive content for emails. It allows you to customize the email user interface, including layouts and dynamic content such as forms, selectors, etc.
AMP helps marketers to produce fun, engaging, and dynamic email content. They use this tool to collect user-generated content and create interactive elements like polls. For example, asking subscribers which holiday would be the best for them to receive your emails gives insights into the subscribers’ preferred type of content, frequency, and timing.
BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification)
For customers worried about email security threats, BIMI became the solution. It helped the email senders add their brand logos to their emails. To utilize BIMI in emails, brands need to pass DMARC, adding an additional layer of security. This simple step increases trust in your brand and protects you from cyber and phishing attacks.
Campaign Refinery is all set to implement BIMI and in over a year, our email recipients can see the BIMI-certified logo in their inboxes.
AI Email Content and Analytics
Apart from personalizing content, AI helps to analyze email metrics and provides an overview of the best-performing metric. Brands also use AI to research and collect customer data to determine the frequency and type of content to send.
But beware — AI can be repetitive, lack originality and an experiential approach to your email copy. On the brighter side, AI helps marketers research and brainstorm ideas.
We recommend you use AI for ideation and data tracking only.
Dark Mode in Emails
As people became more conscious of the way screens affect their eyes, dark mode came to the rescue. A few marketers designed and developed content specifically for the dark mode, while others adapted their current emails to this trend.
Adopting Email Accessibility
Marketers increasingly became cautious about accessibility, ensuring all types of people were able to read their emails. This includes developing content for visual and auditory, cognitive, neurological, and physical impairments.
Here are several ways to implement accessibility in your email campaigns:
- Add an Alt-text to images,
- Ensure your email content is formatted and responsive across devices,
- Do not replace words with emojis,
- Use contrasting colors where possible,
- Optimize headings,
- Use large font sizes where required.
This inclusive nature made emails available to more people, increasing brand revenue.
2023 has been both an innovative and challenging year for the email marketing industry. That said, most of its trends will carry over to 2024, in an even better mode.
Hot Email Marketing Trends in 2024
81% of SMBs rely on email marketing for customer acquisition and retention. And emails generate over $42 for every $1 spent. Email will continue to be the favorite and high-performing channel for marketers in 2024.
It’s vital to stay ahead of the game and follow these latest email marketing trends.
1. Hyper-Targeted Content
Over the years, email marketing specialists have resorted to personalized email content through artificial intelligence tools. AI can analyze huge amounts of customer data and predict engagement scores. You can pick data from multiple customer touchpoints and create hyper-personalized email campaigns. For example, you can send a tailored offer based on a customer’s previous purchase history or yearly usage reports.
You can use AI to:
- Tailor content for individual recipients,
- Predict engagement,
- Choose optimal send times,
- Drive conversions,
- Automate tasks,
- Recommend products,
- Restructure emails,
- Build mailing lists.
Using AI tools such as Chat GPT-3 or any of the advanced custom solutions, you can generate endless subject lines and body copy. AI can help you get a linear picture of what works for your audience, including imagery, layout, and messaging. Then, you can adapt these points to your future email campaigns. However, not every AI output might be accurate. Always test and iterate your copy before using them in your campaigns.
2. Automation
Automation allows you to send personalized emails automatically, for example; triggered emails, behavioral emails, and lead nurturing emails. If your audiences are widespread, an automation tool assists in sending action-triggered messages.
Create these workflows to fit your customer journeys. For instance, you can send a welcome email after a customer signs up for your marketing newsletter. If you are with an ESP, integrate your automation tool to emphasize the timing and frequency of emails.
3. Gamification
Gamification is becoming a leading email marketing trend in 2024. It includes creating a point system where users can accumulate points for every open and click. This simple integration holds the power to increase your email marketing metrics and sender reputation.
Campaign Refinery has a unique gamification feature available only to our clients. It helps our senders boost their engagement up to 8x more than the traditional configuration settings.
With this feature, you can reward your subscribers with:
- Limited access to exclusive digital products,
- PDF downloads,
- Training videos,
- Special Live events,
- VIP status,
- Membership access,
- Bonus chapters and a lot more!
As your engagement gets better over time, the spam complaints reduce, and the sender reputation gradually grows and stabilizes.
4. Interactive Content
Nobody wants to read plain and boring emails. Interactive elements such as surveys, polls, GIFs, quizzes, carousals, dropdown menus, etc. elevate curiosity and engagement in your emails. Another interesting content type is UGC (user-generated content), which builds loyalty and credibility in your brand.
Here are other ways UGC promotes a healthy interaction with your customer:
- Acts as a social proof,
- Enhances personalization,
- Encourages user involvement and community building,
- Cost-effective,
- Acts as a feedback loop.
Although interactive elements can take time and resources to create, they can help you increase conversions.
5. Accessibility and Inclusivity
The World Health Organization states that around 16% of individuals suffer from some form of disability. To make subscribers feel more involved in your email campaigns, create emails with accessible design and content.
Here are ways you can optimize your emails:
- Include responsive design,
- Avoid flashing content,
- Use descriptive hyperlinks,
- Provide a text-only version,
- Text to voice,
- Include transcription for multimedia,
- Be mindful of keyboard accessibility.
Email design is more than pretty graphics and typefaces — it needs to foster a positive and welcoming experience for all user types.
6. Sustainability in Email Marketing
Eco-friendly approach has always been a trend, and it’s moving toward email marketing this year. Sustainability refers to the practice of minimizing environmental impact. That means sending emails only when necessary.
Choose ESPs that value and prioritize sustainability. Many invest in newer technologies to reduce their carbon footprint. If you are serious about getting into this practice, here’s useful information.
| Strategy | How to do it |
|---|---|
| Optimize email delivery | Clean your email lists, improve sender reputation, and implement efficient email delivery practices. |
| Minimalist design and file size | Use minimalist design and smaller file sizes to reduce energy consumption. |
| Encourage sustainable practices | Educate readers and include it in CTAs if possible |
| Collaborate with sustainable brands | Pair with similar-minded brands to improve your practices. |
Sustainability is more of a way of life than a trend. Using these, we can collectively move toward a sustainable environment and a lesser carbon footprint.
7. Mobile-First Design and Optimization
Around 85% of people use smartphones to access emails. The mobile-first design revolves around a clean user interface and a touch-friendly design. Ensure your emails adapt to different devices and are easy to access.
You can allocate separate email templates for mobile and desktop. This way, you will have a clean-looking email for every occasion. A second sub-trend includes progressive disclosure — place the critical components on top and let the users decide if they want to scroll further.
8. Advanced Analytics Tools
Marketers no longer pay attention to open rates, especially after Apple’s new privacy policy. That means you will be unable to track pixels since Apple preloads the email. Whether a user opens your email or not, your open rate will stay the same.
This is where advanced analytics come in. They help you track email delivery, click rates, and other crucial email marketing metrics.
Here are a few ways you can use analytics tools to gain insights:
| Aspect | Role in email marketing |
|---|---|
| Data analysis and segmentation | Analyze user behavior and interactions in emails |
| Personalization and dynamic content | Helps tailor content according to user behavior |
| Predictive analysis | Forecast user behavior using predictive analysis |
| Customer journey mapping | Assists in tracking the entire customer journey |
| Behavioral analytics | Monitor email metrics such as open rate, click-through rate, etc. |
Advanced analytics tools can also monitor email deliverability, conversions, and ROI. Most of them provide real-time analytics to make adjustments and improve the email campaign performance.
9. Privacy and Data Security
With Google removing third-party cookies, you will have more chances to maximize the email marketing impact.
Here’s an overview of things that will change in 2024:
- AI-powered threat detection: AI tools can adapt to newer email threats, reducing false positives. In addition, these systems analyze sender behavior, email content, and suspicious patterns.
- Zero trust email security: It refers to verifying every sender’s details and attachments, whether internal or external. This practice reduces email spoofing and phishing attacks and ensures that only trusted emails reach the inbox.
- Enhanced email authentication: Protocols such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC will get better. Organizations and individuals will enjoy a more pleasant email experience.
- Advanced phishing protection: In 2024, phishing attacks will grow strong, and we need a stronger mechanism to pull through.
- Email security training and awareness: Moving into the new year, organizations will find more ways to straighten email security training and create a cyber-secure environment.
As Google and Yahoo’s security updates rolled out, bulk email senders are supposed to authenticate their emails and provide options to unsubscribe easily.
Although these measures strengthen email security, cyber attackers continue to devise new plans and strategies. That’s why brands must invest in safeguarding their digital spaces. 2024 will witness more changes in the email landscape, so we are here to prepare you to achieve the best.
Recommendations for Staying on Top of the Email Game
While email marketing is still relevant and effective, other marketing channels are a close competition.
Absorb our recommendations to stay ahead of the curve:
- Go niche: Niche content is winning the battle and is here to stay in 2024. With social networks, podcasts, and Substack/Patreon-type sites, niching down your emails might be the best strategy to win.
- Use your personality and voice: The next generation of users might not be the same, and hence email marketing needs to adapt. Don’t be afraid to let your brand personality shine through while also being mindful of the user types.
- Be mindful of different audience sectors: Not every user values emails equally — Gen-Z is more drawn toward social networks. Yet, emails are used for critical messages like receipts, reservation information, etc. Be conservative about what type of message you send to these groups.
- Shift the control to your audience: Instant messaging apps like Slack are becoming the norm in workplaces. However, emails offer a less interruptive communication model. Plus, recipients are not obliged to reply immediately. Allow your audience to decide when and how they want to receive your emails.
- Integrate email into social: Email and social marketing go hand-in-hand in moving the audience across the sales funnel. You can implement content recycling to reach similar-minded audiences across these channels. If your target group is mostly Gen-Z and millennials, give more weightage to your social media performance.
- Use real-time communication: With the overload of emails, people are becoming more and more conscious about who they receive emails from. They appreciate real-time communications, access to expert insights, and chatboxes. Send exclusive ideas and industry insights that are not easily available elsewhere.
- Follow security best practices: Be certain to follow Google’s security practices and avoid interacting with malicious email addresses. Email security concerns can come in the way of your email marketing success. But with Campaign Refinery, you don’t have to worry about this — security tools are integrated with our system, keeping senders safe from email marketing accidents.
Email marketing trends are evolving, and emails are still the preferred mode of communication.
While we may not be able to control it, we can decide how to use these trends wisely.
How Do You Plan to Use Trends in Your 2024 Email Marketing?
2024 will be a challenging but likely productive year for email marketers worldwide. You can take these trends and slay the competition, or let us do the heavy lifting for you. We are ahead of the game by implementing essential security measures and verification protocols, including BIMI.
Campaign Refinery is a premium software that helps you make the most of your email marketing campaigns. Our top-notch tools, such as automatic email list cleaning, gamification, and credit system, allow you to enjoy a high deliverability rate and sender reputation.
Build any type of campaign with our rich campaign library, unparalleled automation, and easy segmentation tools. Or, if you already have a system, integrate it with popular platforms like Calendly, OptimizePress, and ThriveCart.
Regardless of emerging trends, we are always ahead of the email deliverability game — download the Inbox Formula for insights into the best strategies for better deliverability.
Apply to become our client and let us take care of every aspect of your email marketing.
