Email marketing remains as one of the most important arms of online branding initiatives and, by some measures, is unmatched in its power and vitality. One of the reasons why it has sustained its stature, despite the many new platforms and opportunities across the online marketing landscape, is the fact that entrepreneurs are indeed focusing on continued innovation and performance improvements. This is in juxtaposition to other long-standing tactics to brand a business that have grown stagnant in their general attributes and characteristics.
In that same vein, small-business owners who do not keep their email marketing campaigns fresh and unique, working to capitalize on advantageous trends as they arise, will likely lose out on immense opportunities to boost revenues, attract new customers and retain loyal, engaged clientele.
Let’s take a look at some of the more prominent trends in email marketing and how they can positively impact a company’s stature in its respective marketplace.
Breaking into other channels
Marketing Tech News recently argued that the next step in email marketing’s evolution will be the incorporation of these campaigns into cross-channel branding efforts, which would certainly make a massive impact for many small businesses. Cross-channel advertising is not necessarily new, as organizations have been working to get these strategies in order for years now thanks to the growing popularity of social media, search engine optimization and other efforts.
According to the news provider, cross-channel campaign management is characterized by the cultivation of personalized user experiences across a range of platforms, devices, channels and other areas in which companies interact with customers. Because of current customer behaviors and preferences, businesses should already be leveraging highly personalized content and distribution tactics to align with the demands of modern marketplaces.
The source pointed out that CCCM is beginning to become one with real-time interaction management, and that this is empowering marketers in ways that have not yet been seen. However, this will only work when businesses are gathering enough valuable data pertaining to user behaviors, especially when it comes to the interactions they are having with individual campaigns and content on the most granular level possible.
For this reason, Marketing Tech News pointed out that email advertising is likely to become far more central to CCCM and RTIM strategies given the ability to deliver highly personalized content and gather valuable data following the end of a given campaign. Furthermore, the source noted that the use of user-generated content in email campaigns within a CCCM strategy will likely be far more common soon, as there has been a 43 percent increase in click-through rates from this type of approach.
Newcomers: Welcome!
Marketing Profs reported that one study found more small firms are beginning to customize their first email ads to new customers who have subscribed to the list. The news provider pointed out that about 62 percent of marketers from the digital realm will send a welcome email greeting the customer within the first day they sign up. Interestingly, those same advertisers are using tactics to boost their subscription lists, such as providing prospects with incentives like coupons or deals for giving their email addresses.
Showing a customer the value of their subscription as quickly as possible is critical, and these welcome messages and deal offers are a great way to do that. Without some strategy in place to immediately engage newcomers, retention will be inherently more difficult down the line.
Entrepreneurs can better position their brands for success by taking note of these powerful trends in email marketing.
