2018 email marketing trends

Every day millions of emails are sent as part of marketing campaigns. For marketeers this means that it is vital to ensure their emails stand out from the crowd. During 2018 the marketing industry is expecting a number of developments within email marketing space that will help to make their emails stand out, increase the open rate and ultimately improve the conversion. Here are the main email marketing trends to look out for over the next 12 months:

Increase in mobile purchasing

During 2017 there was a massive growth in mobile device users increasing by 34%. This trend is expected to continue this year. This means that it has never been more important to ensure that their email marketing templates are responsive to all types of devices.

Sticky content will be key

Creating great sticky content for your website is key to increasing the open rate of your email marketing campaign and reducing the number of users passively opting out or unsubscribing. Consumers in 2018 want more from email marketing campaigns than simply promoting special offers and product information, instead they want informative, well written content that is of value to them. This type of content includes guides, tips, recipes, and related news – anything that makes users relate and connect to your brand, as well as providing them with useful or entertaining content that will keep them coming back to your website.

GDPR will impact unprepared marketers

In May the long awaited General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will coming into effect which will have a massive impact on the data businesses can store on individuals. Not complying with the new GDPR regulations will result in businesses receiving a large fine, so it is vital that companies keep within the guidelines. GDPR will impact email marketing campaigns as it will cover the personal information that businesses can hold on individuals, including their email addresses.

Emails will become more personal

Personalised marketing has been a marketing trend for a while now, but in 2018 it is expected to cross over into email marketing as well. The development of AI technologies enables businesses to create personalised content on websites and over the next 12 months this will be seen increasingly in emails as well. Personalisation of email content and implementing eCommerce product feeds will not only strengthen a connection between the consumer and the brand, it will also have a huge impact with how they interact with brands and what they expect from brands.

Kinetic emails will make an impact

The growth of kinetic emails will have a massive impact on the look of emails in 2018. A kinetic email is designed to look and feel like a website, which provides another level of interaction on the email. Popular features on kinetic emails are hover buttons, add to order carts and image carousels, all of which encourage users to interact with the email and help to increase the desired conversion rate of the email campaign. These types of emails are already being used by large international brands, but over the next 12 months they are expected to filter through to smaller brands and will soon be a regular feature to consumers’ inboxes.

At affinity our email experts are gearing up to overlay these latest trends and changes in governance laws into our email strategies for our clients. We are already having great success in creating responsive mobile designed creative and working with clients to begin personalising their messages.