Emails are one of the oldest ways of online communication. Since the beginning of the internet, emails played a crucial role in the lives of all people. They have developed in so many ways over the years and became one of the crucial factors of a successful marketing campaign. Nevertheless, we must ask ourselves is email marketing still a thing in 2020? The development of marketing strategies and approaches brings new ideas to the table, and it is important to always be informed.
Is email marketing still a thing in 2020?
Since digital marketing reached new heights in 2019, it is only natural to ask ourselves is email marketing still a thing in 2020. Well, to give you a simple answer, yes it is. Chances are small that email marketing will ever go out of style. However, a simple answer is not good enough today. There is a lot more to email marketing to consider before we can have a full picture in front of us.
I used email marketing to boost my business, and it failed!
If you are among the people who can relate to the sentence above, you certainly think that email marketing is not as useful as it was before. From your point of view, that is correct. However, here are the most common reasons why an email marketing campaign might be ineffective:
- the content does not meet the requirements
- your targeting strategy is failing
- the information you have about your contacts is irrelevant
- email spamming your customers
- there is no real plan behind your marketing campaign
Each of these five factors might be the reason why your email marketing strategy is ineffective.
The content does not meet the requirements
If the content of the emails you send does not provide relevant information to the readers, there is no need for them to spend time reading your emails. Whether the content is too long or too short, or simply lacking relevant information, it will fail to deliver.
What is your targeting strategy?
Always ask yourself, what is your targeting strategy? Who are your emails meant for? If you don’t understand who your readers are, you cannot write a relevant email. That brings me to the next point.
Caption: You must put your entire email marketing strategy under a magnifying glass and discover what are its faults and strong point.
The information you have about your contacts is irrelevant
When people build an email contact list, they mostly hoard emails. Then, when doing a marketing campaign, they simply send their email to all the contacts, without really understanding if they are interested or not. You must research contacts you have, and understand what their interests and requirements are.
Do not spam your customers!
This is a big no-no. Spamming emails will result in people blocking you. Not only you will lose potential customers, but also spend a lot of time and energy on something that will not bring positive results.
Email marketing requires thorough planning
With everything in mind, you must make a solid plan when running an email marketing campaign. Contact research, relevant and informative content, target group analysis, and a well-made delivery plan are essentials of every successful email marketing campaign.
Email marketing trends to follow in 2020!
Now that you understand the common mistakes of email marketing campaigns, let’s spend a little time talking about the best email marketing trends to follow in 2020. Even though email marketing is an old story, there are always new approaches you must consider:
- readers come first
- interactive emails
- email automation
Readers come first – why is targeting so important?
Reaching out to the targeted group of readers is the most important trend to follow. We have all progressed beyond sending hundreds of emails to random people, hoping that someone might convert and purchase the products and services we offer. This outdated strategy is no longer in use.
If we take into consideration that readers come first, it is crucial that the content we send in an email is of interest to them. If you do your homework properly, not only your emails will be successful when it comes to your existing customers, but you might also acquire new users by the word of mouth.
To paint a picture, let’s say you are in the moving business. Your company is walking its first steps, and it is time for you to connect with your clients, grow the business, and set a strong foundation. With that in mind, you will only be interested in content that might help your business. If you receive an email from someone offering a wide selection of perfumes, there is no need to spend your time reading something of no interest to you.
However, if a company like Movers Development approaches you with a clever, interesting, and useful email, there is no reason why you should not take a look.
Everything is in targeting and attracting readers with the correct titles and powerful content of interest.
Interactive emails
The best way to engage your readers is to give them an interactive experience. Something they can be a part of in more ways than just reading. Furthermore, you must take into consideration the fact that people now almost always read emails on a mobile device. With that in mind, optimization also plays a crucial role in this interactive approach to digital marketing.
There is nothing worse than reading an email on a mobile phone, and scrolling left and right all the time. That is not a good example of interaction. Instead, your emails should be mobile-ready, and the content should be informative and engaging.
Email automation
Email automation is the final key to setting up a successful email campaign that can still work in 2020. You should stay in touch with your readers in timed intervals, so they are not feeling overwhelmed by your presence. Nevertheless, they also should not forget that you exist. Everything is in the timing!
Caption: AI and machine learning brought changes to many industries, they will also change digital marketing.
Alt: A photo showing a brain where one side is made of electronic circuits and other represents flow of human thought.
Future of email marketing beyond 2020
The answer to “Is email marketing still a thing in 2020?” is most certainly yes. However, it is also important to understand what the future of email marketing holds for all of us. With technologies like AI, machine learning, and especially Cloud, we see amazing development in the future. Artificial intelligence can easily shorten the time in planning an email marketing campaign, and also make it more easy to do all the tedious processes of going through the demographics, behavior prediction, polls, etc. On another hand, Cloud is always an option for everyone looking to lower their expenses. With everything in mind, I can safely say that a bright future awaits this fantastic marketing approach.
