Email is arguably the most established channel in the digital marketing mix. But listen to some people and you may be forgiven for thinking that it is past its sell-by date, with claims that open-rates are plummeting as consumers get increasingly fed up with being bombarded with marketing messages.
Yet we believe reports of its demise are way off the mark, as email continues to change, remaining as effective and exciting as the data and the creative that sits behind it.
As a result, 2013 will be the year that email truly comes to life – here are some of the key trends to look out for:
• Mobile email. The challenge for email marketers is to ensure that their campaigns render correctly on whichever device the consumer uses to open their email.
• Cross-channel marketing. While some marketing channels move faster than others, email sits squarely at the heart of many important customer interactions. Marketers must stop thinking about channels independently and instead employ tools that enable them to create and manage cross-channel campaigns that engage consumers in a way that interests and excites them.
• Personalised experiences based on data. Email is a great relationship building tool for brands and their customers, but it is important to remember that a good relationship is about listening as well as talking. In the future, brands will need to learn from each customer engagement and link transactional data together in a way many direct marketers have been doing for years. A classic example of this back to DM basics approach would be if a someone buys a coat on your website, you should follow up with an email showcasing the accessories which would match it, such as scarves, hats and gloves that suit the coat they have bought.
• Real-time content. As some people only check their personal email once a week, when they eventually do open an email, it is important that the information is as relevant to them as the day it was sent. The key here lies within delivering dynamic, live content. People want to know what is available today, not about a sale that ended yesterday. The ability to update email content once it is in the inbox will become an increasingly important trend in years to come, as consumers become increasingly used to real-time engagement with brands.
There is still plenty of scope for email to expand and adapt as the technology and data we hold on customers improves. In the past, there has been a temptation to blanket mail everyone as it is so cheap to do, but email is still coming into its own – and marketers must consider the power that this channel holds when developing their strategies.
Matthew Potter is director of product and propositions, digital, at Experian Marketing Services
