Email has been a part of our lives for a long time. Once searching the web and email communication were embraced by the masses, marketers quickly capitalized on this opportunity – a way to establish direct, personal communication with their customers!
Of course things have evolved since the early days – brands have to make sure customers opt-in to avoid getting black-listed. And as consumers, we can never escape email with the ability to check our inboxes via mobile phones.
In the latest #AdobeChat, the conversation focused on consumer email habits and how brands can further evolve their email marketing. Some common themes emerged, including knowing your audience and using data to personalize messages/provide relevant info at the right time.
Here are the key takeaways from the discussion – all good things to remember for those of us who have done email marketing for a while.
Some claim that email is dead or dying. Thoughts from the group?
The majority agreed that email is still very much alive:
- Marketers cite email as a top tactic for lead generation via @kenburbary
- Time spent with email is up 17% year over year via @AdobeInsights
However, at a time when consumers are flooded with messages on a daily basis, it needs to evolve. According to @Livefyre, it needs a new approach – highly personalized, mobile optimized, and contextually relevant. (I couldn’t agree more!)
A study by Adobe Insights revealed that 50% of consumers prefer to be contacted by brands via email compared to other channels. What’s behind this?
- Regarded by consumers as permission-based marketing
- Email gives consumers choice and control – “less disruption and potential for personalized email” (@kenburbary)
What are three keys to email marketing success?
The majority of the answers revolved around these main points:
- Know your audience – why do they want to hear from you?
- Use data to provide relevant & timely offers
- Mobile-friendly design is a must
- Consider drip campaigns and link tracking for follow up (@danieldidthat)
According to Adobe Insights, respondents found less than 1/4 of email offers interesting enough to open. So, what are brands doing wrong?
- Ignoring context
- Using weak/non-compelling subject lines
- Lack of personalization to appeal to customer/prospect
- Contacting subscribers too often with offers that are too similar
What companies are doing email marketing well? How are they getting it right?
- Examples mentioned included JetBlue, LinkedIn, Apple, Domotalk because of perceived value, clean design, and frequency ratio (not too much)
- Quartz and Target for their email personalization
What does the future of email marketing look like?
- Personalization and improved understanding of the audience
A8: The future of email is more personalized and dynamic. IoT will have huge impact on how we consume and market via email. #AdobeChat
— Giselle Abramovich (@GAbramovich) October 5, 2016
- Mobile and kinetic email
A8) On the creative side – see more kinetic email w/ frequent use of icons, emojis, animated GIFs and interactive design elements #AdobeChat
— PRFT DigEx (@PRFTDigEx) October 5, 2016
- Integration of cross-channel messaging
A8) Major email clients to integrate cross-channel messaging while collecting subscriber data to narrow preferences #AdobeChat #BigData https://t.co/EVCX5i8Igk
— PRFT DigEx (@PRFTDigEx) October 5, 2016
Check out the weekly #AdobeChat every Wednesday at (4 p.m. ET/ 1 p.m. PT). This week’s edition is all about User-Generated Content – should be interesting!
Join us next week as we talk “User-Generated Content” in #AdobeChat. pic.twitter.com/K3uayd7vRs
— Marketing Cloud (@AdobeMktgCloud) October 5, 2016
