If last year has taught us anything, it’s not to make any predictions even for the nearest future. However, observing trends and tendencies and trying to feel the field’s deviations are an integral part of a successful marketing strategy. Especially when we talk about e-mail marketing trends – one of the most volatile streams.
However, year after year talking about e-mail marketing trends, we see more or less the same terms such as:
- Personalization;
- Interactivity;
- Automation.
Does it mean that the field of e-mail marketing never changes, and we just keep on following the pattern set several years ago by the general digital marketing trends? Not really. It only means that those processes are getting deeper and steadier, evolving into more broad terms and shaping the face of e-mail marketing itself.
And of course, the recent events that forced global business digitalization could not pass unnoticed for the e-mail marketing. That said, let’s make some assumptions of how e-mail marketing will look in 2021.
Trends of E-mail Marketing in 2021
Watch out for AI
You cannot overrate the meaning of AI in the modern marketing industry. It offers solutions for all the mainstream e-mail marketing trends we have already mentioned above. Using AI, you can submit a more personalized e-mail marketing experience, automatize the process and optimize the marketing campaign’s overall performance.
Of course, we are still far from letting AI build and conduct comprehensive digital marketing strategies, but today it offers enough tools and solutions that will take e-mail marketing to the new level in 2021.
Adapting to the new reality
2020 might have been the golden year for e-mail marketers as there has never been such a demand for practical digital marketing tools before. Moreover, the market also replenished with some fresh blood m- businesses that have never taken their online presence too seriously but were forced into the digital space. Ema0il marketing appeared to be one of the salvations that helped whole industries to keep in touch with their customers and partners.
However, predictions for 2021 are pretty controversial. On the one hand, people got so used to digital communication, work, and shopping that digital marketing solutions hardly will lose their value even after all the quarantine restrictions remain in the past.
But at the same time, we may see that offline experience, taken for granted in 2019, becomes a kind of luxury and exclusive privilege in 2021. This trend may seem pretty threatening for e-mail marketers. But in fact, it will only mean a slight change of focus. Willing to preserve and multiply the achievements of 2020, most businesses will continue using all the apparent benefits of e-mail marketing in the field of partnership and collaboration.
Growing competition
Gloating businessman fighting with rival
While e-mail marketing will be looking for a way to adapt to the post-Coronavirus market, the competition for inbox attention will increase dramatically.
We will set the main focus on ways to attract the recipient’s attention now. Valuable content and subject lines will become the decisive factors today. It will be essential to focus on taking advantage of numerous e-mail inbox features and develop deliverability to make sure that every message stands out in the overcrowded inbox of a modern user.
Don’t even think about it! Anti-trends of e-mail marketing 20212.
E-mail won’t die!
That is the pessimistic prediction we see every year since the early 00s. They say that with social media development and complete innovative digital marketing solutions, e-mail marketing starts to look archaic.
But the practice shows the opposite! E-mail marketing is only gaining momentum today as it has already proven itself one of the most efficient digital marketing tools. And since more and more businesses are moving online, e-mail marketing is only broadening its influence in the industry.
No revolutions expected!
Although we speak about vast automatization processes and innovative technological solutions, we will hardly see any concept revolution in e-mail marketing in 2021. And while such concepts as AMP for E-mail or Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) seemed to be innovative and astonishing in 2019-2020, they need to continue their development and stabilize entirely. Only then will we be able to talk about upcoming innovations in e-mail marketing this year.