Martech: Martech is Marketing Logo
  • Topics
    Digital Transformation
    Marketing Operations
    Data
    Customer & Digital Experience
    Performance Marketing
    Marketing Management
    Special Reports
    MarTech Topics
  • Conference
  • Webinars
  • Intelligence Reports
  • White Papers
  • What is MarTech
    Mission
    Staff
    Newsletter
    Search Engine Land
    Third Door Media

Processing...Please wait.

MarTech » Performance Marketing » 5 email marketing trends to watch in 2018

5 email marketing trends to watch in 2018

What's on the horizon for email marketers this year? Columnist Scott Heimes shares his predictions on the email marketing trends that will take shape in 2018.

Scott Heimes on January 26, 2018 at 3:38 pm

The new year is here, which means many brands are looking for new ways to spice up their marketing strategy. That means considering changes to everyone’s favorite channel, email.

Email was still brands’ preferred medium to communicate with customers in 2017 and will continue to be so well into the future. Still, 2018 may hold some surprises for the 40-year-old communications standard that marketers should be aware of.

Sit back, relax and ring in the new year with a few new — and old — email trends that can make your marketing strategy stand out.

1. Personalization through lists

Personalization is nothing new, but it’s poised to go into overdrive in 2018. No, we’re not talking about customizing subject lines — that’s no longer enough. What we’re talking about is list segmentation.

List segmentation has been around for a while, but it can up your personalization game by placing your users into lists based on user demographics, interests and other rich data available to you and your brand. This can make it easier for your organization to send information to recipients that’s relevant to their interests, increasing the chances that your message will be opened.

Keep an eye out for list segmentation in 2018, especially as standards evolve and organizations become more familiar with the methodology.

2. Email interactivity

Marketers in 2018 should look for opportunities to make their emails interactive. Interactivity can help in a variety of ways. Users can quickly place orders, marketers can gather better data, it can help shorten the purchase pipeline, and so on.

Looking ahead, these emails should enable recipients to customize orders, add items to a shopping cart and have an overall better experience — all without leaving the original email message. Better yet, bringing that data from the email to the website can enhance a user’s overall experience — especially as new technologies, like chatbots, increase the level of overall interactivity.

3. Chatbots

Chatbots have been around for some time, but in 2017, we started to see the digital agents gain traction. In 2018, that traction is set to accelerate, enabling high-quality, unobtrusive conversations between companies and recipients.

Done right, chatbots can provide great value to both your business and users. As a marketer, you’ll be able to use specific data from your users to create a richer experience, and as a user, you have a seemingly personal agent at the tips of your fingers.

The technology is set to grow over 2018, but be careful: It’s easy to annoy your customers if chatbots aren’t done right.

4. AI

2017 was the year of talking about artificial intelligence (AI). And 2018 will likely be the year when marketers see it in action. There’s good reason to celebrate this development: The technology can help measure and understand countless metrics on how users interact with content, often in ways marketers would never understand on their own.

There are, however, a few quibbles to consider: Most small businesses won’t be able to afford the technical infrastructure on their own, meaning they’ll need to invest in an as-a-service model to execute on AI. However, that investment will pay off through the ability to rapidly personalize.

Content, for example, can be customized for different segments of your user groups. With AI, brands can cut down on the cost and time needed to identify segments and opportunities — allowing them to craft better, more relevant content for their subscribers.

5. Visuals

As mentioned, interactivity within email will pick up during 2018. This means marketers need to deploy new assets and techniques in their messages. In 2018, we’ll likely see more GIFs, HTML5 and video included in email messages to keep recipients engaged.

But GIFs aren’t all — major changes to email services like Gmail and updates on how ISPs (internet service providers) render emails will enable email marketers and designers to be more creative with the messages they send. Moving forward, expect to see more visual and interactive emails from large consumer brands.

Did you know…

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) kicks in on May 25, 2018. If your business regularly interacts with European Union citizens, the law will affect you.

The GDPR is intended to strengthen data protection and privacy rules in favor of recipients in the EU. While this isn’t necessarily a trend to look for in the new year, I suggest brushing up on the law to understand how and if your organization will be affected.

2017 set the stage for new technologies. 2018 will be the year where we see them acting, in full, for email marketing. We will continue to see AI advance and help brands provide users with more personalized experiences. And this will also get better as brands continue thinking about segmenting their email lists.

All in all, 2018 will be the year of intense focus on personalization. Organizations will learn to connect with recipients on a personal level and engage in better conversations. And that’s good news for everyone.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.


New on MarTech

    What’s the biggest hidden secret in Google Ads?
    Native video tops social media in brand awareness study
    Worsening economy has more shoppers getting online info before making in-store purchases
    Getting started with the Agile Marketing Navigator: Building a Marketing Backlog
    3 ways to dominate with Google Auction Insights and search intelligence

About The Author

Scott Heimes
Scott Heimes serves as Chief Marketing Officer at SendGrid, where he is responsible for the company's brand strategy, driving demand for its solutions and leading global marketing operations. Scott oversees corporate marketing, demand generation, corporate communications, partnerships and alliances, international expansion and SendGrid’s community development team.

Related Topics

Marketing OperationsPerformance Marketing

Get the daily newsletter digital marketers rely on.

Processing...Please wait.

See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS The MarTech Conference logo.

September 28-29, 2022: Fall

Start Training Now: Master Classes

Start Discovering Now: Spring



The SMX Conference logo.

Start Training Now:: SMX Advanced

November 14-15, 2022: SMX Next

March 8-9, 2022: Master Classes

Webinars

Agencies: Grow Revenue Streams Through Web Accessibility & Compliance

Protect Your Paid Advertising Spend Against Ad Fraud and Invalid Traffic

Build an Integrated Search Strategy Across Google, Amazon and YouTube

See More Webinars
Intelligence Reports

Enterprise SEO Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Identity Resolution Platforms

Email Marketing Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

See More Intelligence Reports
Featured White Paper

5 Best Practices for Bringing Together All Your Marketing Data

See More Whitepapers

Receive daily marketing news & analysis.

Processing...Please wait.

Topics

  • Transformation
  • Operations
  • Data
  • Experience
  • Performance
  • Management
  • All Topics
  • Home

Our Events

  • MarTech
  • Search Marketing Expo - SMX

About

  • What is MarTech
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • RSS

© 2022 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.