Why Your Email Marketing Must Adapt to Recent Changes
For starters, the inbox isn't the only communication grabbing your mother's attention.
Social media and the introduction of the third and fourth screens ensure that consumers are provided with digital content constantly.
Not only do consumers have less time to check email, with nearly half of emails now being read on mobile (48%), the inbox is physically smaller at times. That amount will increase as smart watches and similar gadgets continue to encourage on-the-go communication. With the inbox evolving, marketers now have to know their customers and competitors really well to cut through the noise. Consumers are making quicker, more informed decisions with online resources at their fingertips. The buying process is more agile, leaving marketers a much smaller window to win customers over.
A Customer-Driven World
Consumers no longer respond to one-size-fits-all marketing.
The modern inbox is a one-to-one conversation between brand and customer. A study recently revealed that personalized emails deliver transaction rates six times higher than average.
Over the past few years, a steady rise in apps has empowered customers to be even more selective in how they engage.
Unroll.me, a NYC-based startup, allows users to group unwanted email subscriptions and unsubscribe with one click. Consumers are now driving the conversation with brands; they will only engage with content they really want to see. That also means consumers are more likely to be in the mindset to purchase once they do open the inbox.
Also gone are the days where email was written like a long form letter. Now, consumers want to see the main call-to-action above the fold. Less scrolling on the phone also helps increase engagement. In fact, email signature template three.sentenc.es encourages writing emails in within 2-5 sentences and iPhone app TL;DR promotes writing email like a text in 30 words or fewer.
Perhaps even more interesting is how social media and email have crossed paths and influenced one another. Even with social media taking an increasing slice of the online marketing pie, its usage is fragmented across various different apps. Email is still the universal form of communication.
Apps like Wave present an interesting fusion between email and real-time messaging. The app connects directly to your Gmail inbox and allows you to chat with your network in real time. Social updates and promotions are quietly filed away, so as not to take away from your chatting experience.
Your Inbox Is Listening
Email clients have hopped on board the user-driven inbox trend as well. Most notably was when Gmail introduced the tabbed inbox in 2013, which smartly sorts your email into three categories: primary, social, and promotions.
Those updates have enabled customers to be more selective, but they have also challenged businesses to adapt their email marketing strategies and to think creatively. Tools like segmentation and personalization are regularly integrated into email marketing campaigns to ensure recipients will listen and to learn more about customers with each email sent.
The e-commerce industry, in particular, has shown some creative usage of using targeted content to woo customers over. Even more impressive a feat was adapting to Gmail's dedicated Promotions tab and using it to their advantage.
Last week, I was casually browsing Amazon for some camera accessories, and the next day the company sent me an email with the latest photography deals. There are over 200 million products sold on Amazon, so it'd be quite a feat for me to track these deals on my own! The e-commerce giant minimizes the steps from the first point of communication to purchase by identifying my interests ahead of time and directly suggesting purchases in my inbox.
On the Email Marketing Horizon
Email will continue to play a powerful role in the consumer purchase process, more so than social. The truth is email supports these newer platforms, acting as a portal for important updates, billing notifications, and password resets. Consumers open their inbox only when in the mindset to engage, so segmentation and personalization will continue to be a marketer's key email tools this year and beyond.
Today's inbox has evolved, and so should your email marketing strategy.
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