When it comes to marketing, trends really matter. It goes beyond trying to stay cool; instead, it’s about addressing your target audience in ways that work. Abiding by email marketing trends keeps things fresh, fun, and effective — what more could you want?
In theory, this is simple practice. In reality, it can be a little trickier to orchestrate. By nature, trends are obviously always changing. Some last multiple years (bulk sending is huge), while others are more short-term reactive.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to harness the power of trends in email marketing. Get ready for definitions, benefits, how-tos, and hacks. Trends are the ultimate way to fast-track building effective email campaigns.
Give us just five minutes, and you’ll be an absolute pro amongst even the most experienced email marketers!
What Are Email Marketing Trends?
These are ways of communicating with popular recipients across the industry, country, or even the world.
When it comes to learning about email marketing trends, you need to understand a few different variations. As an umbrella term, these are the main categories it splinters into:
- Long-term strategic trends
- Popular types of emails
- Trending content ideas
Email remarketing is a great example of a long-trending strategy. Strategic trends are those that leading technology enables and are likely to stick around for a while.
Take remarketing, generative AI, bulk sending, and captive portals for collecting email addresses, for example. All of these are around for the long haul.
Popular email types include newsletters, birthday well-wishes, and unchecked cart notifications. Again, these are much less volatile — you can expect to see these trending types of emails around for a while.
Lastly, the most important of all the categories of email marketing industry trends is content ideas. These are often volatile in the sense that they can be short-lived.
Ways of creating content or specific ways to address customers could crash and burn in as little as a month. Think of catchy phrases like “Very demure”; these likely last a few months at most but initially rocket engagement.
When tackling email marketing strategies using trends, you need a mixture of the three. Email types and strategic trends are great for the long-term achievement of marketing goals.
On the other hand, paying attention to those short-term trending ideas is a bit like using matches. These ideas are quick to ignite and give you a quick engagement boost.
Using trends for your marketing emails is a fun but delicate balancing act. It’s a lot more about incorporating different trending elements than you may initially think.
3 Benefits of Monitoring Marketing Trends for Emails
We’ve briefly touched upon some of the basic pros of using trends in your approach, such as boosting your views. But there’s obviously much more depth to uncover when evaluating the benefits of using trends for your email marketing campaign.
There’s a time and place for following the crowd. And if you’re savvy, trends for email marketing can be one of them.
Here are the top three benefits of using trending marketing to reach your email subscribers.
1. Fresh Appeal
This applies to both you and your subscribers. Following the latest trends keeps the content you send out fresh.
Instead of tediously typing away at tried-and-tested email content, you get to put a new spin on things. That novelty is totally infectious, and it’s a pleasant jolt for any recipient doom-scrolling through their jam-packed inbox.
Perfect, right? Keeping things light and engaging is great for satisfaction and retention, both for subscribers and staff.
2. Boost Engagement
A massive pro of investing in trends is that it boosts engagement from your email list. Now, this occurs in multiple ways. For instance, you might get a better open rate because of a trendy email subject. Yet a trending call to action (CTA) might prompt better engagement or click-through rate (CTR).
There isn’t just one way that trends boost how customers interact with your business. It’s like hitting the jackpot across the board. There’s nothing better for your email marketing KPIs.
3. Reduces Unsubscribing Rate
An often overlooked benefit of investing in trends is that it helps to reduce your unsubscribing rate. It’s amazing what a simple piece of well-timed interactive content can do. By better appealing to the recipient’s interests, you can increase their motivation to remain subscribed.
Often, unsubscribing is down to disinterest. These are the main reasons for unsubscribers clicking that final goodbye button (apart from spam-like behavior):
- Content that isn’t relevant or doesn’t appeal
- Emails that aren’t tailored to recipient preferences, e.g., Gmail compatible on mobile view
- Not enough emails to build rapport
By following the latest trends, you’ll have bucketloads of inspiration and can ensure it ensnares your recipients. In short, wave goodbye to worrying about unsubscribers.
How To Track Marketing Trends for Emails
Now that you know what trends are and why you should track them in email marketing, a huge question remains: How do you actually track marketing trends for emails?
Trend discovery tools are the most practical point of call. Tools like Exploding Topics can provide insight into buzzwords, phrases, industries, and strategies right now. It’s a good way to keep your finger on the pulse.
With that said, some of the best strategies involve more organic means, though. For example, you might keep your eye out on social media for trending phrases (such as “very demure”). Rather than formal marketing strategies, these are buzz phrases you can weave into things like subject lines.
Another good idea is to watch competitors. See what other businesses are doing with their marketing. What works? What doesn’t? Are there any recurring themes?
We all know how important email analytics are, and trend research is another example of that. In summary, these are the best go-to strategies when tracking marketing trends for your next email campaign:
- Trend discovery tools
- Monitoring social media for buzzwords and phrases
- Tracking competitors
Collecting Email Addresses: A Possible Next Step?
If you really want to see email marketing success, you need to focus on growing your email list. The fact you’re focusing on trends is fantastic, but don’t lose sight of the ultimate goal: growth.
In order to really see the results of utilizing trends, you need a solid email list. The best way to create a reliable database of contacts is to keep adding new subscribers. Bonus points if they already align with your business and have a pre-existing interest in your services or products. But we’ll get to that later.
These are some common ways to persuade people to part with their precious email addresses:
- Organize competitions and require email addresses to enter
- Offer a loyalty program that requires an email address
- Advertise your email list on a website, offering a chance to join (maybe with added bribery)
- Request email addresses for order updates for online purchases
One of the best email marketing practices is to constantly invest in finding new subscribers; ideally, set up a method today.
FAQ
Don’t go yet! In just a second, we’ll reveal the most effective way to collect email addresses of customers who already care. As you know, finding people interested in your business is vital for creating a subscriber list who’ll actually engage.
Before we spill the tea, though, check out these FAQ. You should always consolidate your understanding of the basics before moving forward.
What’s trending in email marketing?
There are plenty of trends in email marketing, including a renewed focus on extra data protection and privacy. GIFs and gamification are huge too, with a rapport-building tone often striking a more casual note than in previous years.
You might even notice repeated stray emojis (no, that wasn’t a typo; your local pizza joint is just friendly).
Respectful but fun engagement is key. While Gen Z especially has brought a more relaxed way of email marketing, the focus on data protection demands balance.
What are the latest trends in email marketing?
Hyper-personalization continues to be one of the latest trends in email marketing. Forget basic utilization of first-name basis: we’re talking personalized discounts and recommendations.
Interactive content is another big trend. And, of course, AI continues to create new capabilities in email marketing. Keep an eye on AI, especially. It’s the quickest aspect to develop and, therefore, constantly spills out new trends.
What’s the best way to track email trends?
Trend discovery tools are the most reliable way to get a quick answer. Yet the best marketers have always been looking for a new buzzword, phrase, or strategy. Monitoring social media and the success of competitor strategies is equally important and a much more organic process.
Also, make sure to conduct regular customer feedback reviews, allowing them to volunteer how they’d like you to contact them.
Beambox: How WiFi Helps in Email Marketing
Remember how important it is to find subscribers who actually align with your business? Well, one of the best ways to do that is to utilize your WiFi as a data collection tool.
Just think about it: anyone who visits your business is showing a pre-existing interest. You are much more likely to a) get them to agree to subscribe and b) benefit from them subscribing. So, how do you transform your WiFi into the ultimate visitor-to-subscriber converter? The answer is a captive portal.
A captive portal system is a smart way to temporarily block customers from accessing your guest WiFi. Instead of granting immediate internet access, it takes guests to a webpage pop-up form.
You customize this form to request the details of your choice — in this case, email addresses. They comply, which grants them instant internet access, and you get a contact for your subscriber list.
How slick is that? At Beambox, we offer an all-in-one WiFi marketing software with a customizable captive portal. Try us out with a monthly subscription for ultimate flexibility.
Start your Beambox free trial today to capitalize on those email marketing trends!
