Predicting the weather is hard enough. But charting the future of B2B email is a colossal guessing game at best. The task is compounded by all the variables rushing onto the scene – social, mobile, dynamic content. Still, many brand marketers dare to identify the trends destined to shape the future of email.
Here’s a batch of some industry-shaping trends embraced by industry experts. At the very least, they make delicious food for thought. And who knows? One or more of them might provide the spark for your most spectacular email campaign to date.
Keeping Tabs. Gmail now comes dressed up with tabs. Is simple aesthetics behind this choice? Hardly. Tabs presumably make for easier opening. Whether or not open rates will jump as a result of the new feature is one of marketing’s great unanswered questions. Much of the smart money says ‘yes’.
Dynamic Content. Tracking buying patterns will be essential for well-targeted email messaging. As a result, content is destined to become increasingly ‘dynamic’ – personalized and responsive to a recipient’s marketplace behavior.
Smart Connections. Not surprisingly, most experts see mobile-friendly email as indispensible. Smart phone and other mobile devices now account for 43% of all email that is opened. Decisively higher than the 32% garnered by desktops and 25% racked up by general web mail.
Perfect Timing. But don’t count the desktop out. Time-of-day analysis reveals consumers generally make purchases during certain times and at certain places. The purchase point is by far more commonly the desktop. Therefore, B2B marketers will increasingly rely on time-of-day analysis to pinpoint the best send times. Mobile-ready emails, intended to pique interest, are best during the day. Those meant to trigger a transaction score more points later in the day, when people are planted in front of their desktops.
If you have any questions or comments about how email trends may affect your brand, or about any brand building topic, feel free to send them our way. You can connect with the Young Company team at 949-376-8404 #4033 or bart@youngcompany.com. And be sure to follow us for the latest brand marketing news and tips.