Email marketing continues to defy critics by offering unmatched advantages to advertisers, from building trust to providing the most prominent ROIs of any marketing channel available today.
Despite the dominance of social media and search, email, despite everything, presents a particular set of advantages that other marketing channels battle to provide.
But email marketing is constantly changing. Here are the top email marketing trends you need to know in 2024 to keep your emails engaging and effective.
9 email marketing trends for 2024
Here are some notable trends in email marketing you should watch out for in 2024 and incorporate into your email marketing strategy for better results.
1. Interactive content inside emails
Interactive emails have been rising in popularity, and we expect marketers to use interactive elements inside the email content.
An interactive email contains dynamic content like forms, accordions, carousels, calendars, etc., that allow a website-like experience inside the inbox. Such elements help reduce the friction in the sales funnel, consequently increasing conversions.
If that doesn't interest you enough, you can also send emails with games inside it and gain customer engagement. Email gamification is a way to keep email subscribers engaged and even increase conversion rates.
2. Data protection and privacy
Data privacy and protection are among the most important considerations in email marketing, especially given the increasing focus on regulations like GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and CAN-SPAM. More and more people are becoming aware of businesses tracking and stealing customer data to get more sales by pushing ads to them.
A best practice would be to not ask for too much information. Rather, ask for information that is useful and not more than you need. Cold emails are a good strategy to generate leads, but you must not take advantage of the data you have received.
Your email recipients are smarter than you know. Provide the needful data security and privacy of the information you have received (with consent) so your users are not suspicious of you.
3. Hyper-personalized email campaigns
Use analytics to understand your audience's interests and tailor your content accordingly. -Sami Ahmad, UppercutSEO
Personalized emails have become a necessity among marketers as 33% say it will be the most crucial thing in marketing in the coming years. - Statista.
As we are halfway through 2024, our key piece of advice for email marketers is to focus on personalization and segmentation. Data shows that emails tailored to individual preferences and behaviours can increase open rates by up to 26%.
Hence, there is no doubt that you should include email personalization in your emails.
4. Use of bold colours in email
Minimalism and neutral colours have been a consistent trend for the past few years. But, marketers have been experimenting with bold colours in their emails.
If you want to try out this trend and are unsure where to start, check out Pantone's report for spring-summer 2022. It'll give you an idea of what colours brands might use next year, and think of ways to align them with your brand identity creatively.
For example, The Caker has used colours like Pantone Spun Sugar and their signature photography to keep up with the email trends while not straying from their brand identity.
When using such colours, make sure to test your emails for dark mode so that the colour won't look too jarring against a black background.
5. Use artificial intelligence (AI)
AI has been rising in all technological fields over the past few years and has become one of the biggest email marketing trends. In email marketing, AI can help with the following things:
Write marketing content like a copy, subject lines, and CTAs based on performance data
Analyze data points to create a well-crafted email campaign
Identify trends and create tailored content that is more personalized for your audience.
Shorten your campaign creation time.
Analyze customer behaviour and understand what they expect from you.
Restructuring your marketing campaign to be efficient.
Clean email list
You can use several AI email marketing tools for different use cases and get the best results out of your marketing efforts. For example, Mailmodo's email subject line generator can help you write compelling email subject lines in an instant.
6. Rising trends of brand newsletters
Newsletters have always been there and will continue to be a big part of email campaigns. Newsletters help brands convey stories and industry news, offer valuable insights, and much more.
And it doesn't have to be those long, boring paragraphs that are often associated with the word newsletters.
For example, Nisolo used images to break up the copy, making it easier to read.
If you want to spice your newsletters further, you can use animated GIFs, videos, or infographics to highlight information. And, you can go a step further to create specific newsletters customized for different audiences based on their interests.
Struggling to find newsletter ideas? Read our guide on 12 trending newsletter ideas to boost engagement.
7. Open rate is no longer reliable
Apple has recently released a new feature - Mail privacy protection, to offer privacy to its users. The new update says,
"In the Mail app, Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) stops senders from using invisible pixels to collect personal information about the user. The new feature helps users prevent senders from knowing when they open an email and masks their IP address so it can't be linked to other online activity or used to determine their location."
It means that Apple will preload the content of your email. As a result, tracking pixels will not give you accurate open data. Instead, it will reflect inflated opens from Apple Mail users.
To know in detail, read our guide on How Apple MPP will affect email marketers.
8. User-generated content in emails
User-generated content is any relevant content made by your users that you can showcase in your emails. UGC includes - testimonials, reviews, feedback, and case studies. Including such content helps you develop trust and credibility, especially among new and potential customers. Here's an example of using customer reviews in email.
9. Prioritize mobile-first design
In 2024, a mobile-first approach to email marketing is no longer optional but essential. With the majority of emails being opened on smartphones, failing to optimize your emails for mobile screens can significantly hinder engagement and conversions. Here's how to ensure your email marketing shines on the small screen.
Make sure your email layout automatically adapts to different screen sizes of mobiles, tablets etc.
Focus on clear, concise messaging and prioritize the most important information.
Opt for a single-column design for easy readability on mobile.
Ensure your font size is large enough to read comfortably on a mobile device. A minimum of 14px is recommended.
Keep the images mobile-friendly by optimizing their size and minimizing load-time.
Provide large, easy to find and tappable call to action (CTA) buttons.
By following these mobile-first design principles, you can create emails that deliver a seamless and engaging experience for readers on the go. This will not only improve your open rates and click-through rates but also strengthen your brand image.
The future of email marketing
So, those were our eight picks for 2024 that you can use in your next email campaign. Besides we have also listed the email design trends that will dominate the industry of marketing emails. Have a look at it to bring creativity to your email design.
At last, it's impossible to tell what changes will happen in the following 5, 10, or 20 years. But one thing is without a doubt - the eventual fate of email is solid, and that's the core belief behind Mailmodo's vision.
