This year, marketers spent more on email marketing innovations than ever before. There are more options, such as video content, in-email purchases and personalized offers. There are also more tools available that allow you to analyze your recipients’ data and send them automated emails. With the increasing support of HTML, CSS and video by email clients, web designers are becoming email designers, and the email itself is becoming the new landing page.

Consumers report that it is not the increasing number of emails finding their way to their inbox that bothers them, but the lack of good content. Add the innovations below into your email marketing strategy and watch your CTR and conversions rise.

 

1. INTERACTIVE EMAIL
The days when email was considered a “read-only” communication channel are definitely over. The possibilities for interactive email are almost endless. For example, subscribers can buy a product directly in the newsletter – with in-email purchase. The barrier to purchase is lower than ever, as there is no need to log into an account or visit a website or app.
There are also many opportunities to display visual content.

The increasing use of the rotating image carousel is an example of a great way to share a lot of content and visual information in a limited space like a mobile email.

 

2. DYNAMIC OFFERS
Instead of sending static, generic offers to a large number of subscribers, you should set up dynamic email campaigns to individual users based on their unique behavior.
For example, Customer A receives a discount on his next repeat order. Customer B, who makes many last-minute purchases, receives free shipping and a guarantee that their order will arrive within one day.

 

3. VIDEO
A study by eMerce found that embedding videos in emails increases CTR. Respondents also reported that their subscribers spend more time with the email and seem to forward the emails more often. Why? Because video makes it easier for your subscribers to understand difficult information. Although marketers have struggled with embedding video in the past because it was not supported on all devices, the best email clients are gradually adding video support for emails. Now that Apple has reintroduced HTML5 video support in iOS 10, the number of videos in emails continues to increase.

 

“GETTING THE RIGHT MESSAGE TO THE RIGHT PROSPECT AT THE RIGHT TIME.”

 

4. MARKETING AUTOMATION
Converting prospects into warm leads has become a daily routine with the advent of Big Data. Marketers are now able to identify which specific product of their brand the prospect has googled for or put on their wish list. Using marketing automation tools, campaigns are increasingly fine-tuned by anticipating the prospect’s web behavior and optimizing shipping times. Now marketers can deal with the increasing value of their prospects in the mid-funnel while recruiting more prospects to fill the funnel.