Growing your eCommerce business with email marketing can be daunting, especially in an ever-changing digital marketing landscape. However, it’s one of the most important channels, mainly because of its fantastic ROI:
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The core benefit of email marketing is that it’s a channel well within a marketer’s control. Since it’s not dependent on an algorithm, it can bring you excellent conversions if you combine an outstanding content marketing strategy with the core email marketing trends of 2024.
Let’s see what these trends are.
Triggers and Email Automation
Triggered emails can boost marketing efforts simply because they allow you to reach a contact at the right time. So, instead of bulk emailing your list, you can create a personalised, one-on-one experience that builds loyalty and trust simply by taking advantage of a specific user interaction with your brand.
This is not a new trend, though. It’s been around for quite some time. But in 2024, triggered emails are more important than ever. They play a crucial role in personalizing and optimizing communication with users.
But there’s more than that. Email platforms are becoming increasingly more sophisticated, allowing marketers to create triggered campaigns easily and with less friction.
Less friction means better resource management and better customer experience. Which, when coupled with a triggered email’s impressive open rate, can skyrocket your conversions.
The open rate of a triggered email is so high because it’s something a user expects to see and feels like a natural continuation of their interaction with your eCommerce website.
It’s no wonder fashion is one of the eCommerce categories sporting high conversion rates. That’s because fashion brands were among the first ones to adopt this tactic. Let’s see how fashion email marketing uses triggered campaigns in action.
An abandoned cart email is a lucrative example of a triggered email campaign. So, imagine the user wanting to purchase something but never going through with the purchase. The process is bound to go as follows:
- The user sees something they like on the website
- They go ahead and add it to their cart
- They keep on browsing
- They either reach the checkout page and never press the “Buy” button or just forget about their upcoming purchase.
If the abandoned cart automation is set up, it’ll trigger an email reminding users of the product left in their cart. This will increase their likelihood of returning to complete the purchase.
Similar to abandoned cart emails, triggered campaigns like welcome emails and transactional emails nudge consumers in the right direction and further down the sales funnel. All while saving marketers valuable time since triggered email campaigns are automated.
Dynamic Content and Personalization
Dynamic content is one of the newest email personalisation techniques, and it can work wonders for your email marketing campaigns. With dynamic email content, you have the opportunity to target users with relevant, laser-targeted eCommerce recommendations.
But why is it such a trend in 2024? Dynamic content is increasingly popular for its sheer power to engage your audience and help you stand out.
Users nowadays experience suggestions through various touchpoints on their customer journey, making the need for personalised content delivered straight into their inbox imperative.
But how does dynamic content work from a technical standpoint?
- It produces meaningful and engaging content for your email campaigns
- It’s adaptable to user behaviour, as its data changes in real-time based on how the user interacts with your content
- It can help you gather insights through the recipients’ interactions and fine-tune future campaigns
Of course, creating personalised content and recommendations means that you have already collected and analysed information that has to do with both demographic and psychographic data.
Analyzing data like household income, marital status, and special interests will give you unique insights into what your customers want–and even expect–from your email campaigns and transform your data into actionable eCommerce email marketing campaigns.
So, if your next email marketing campaign is centred around a “winter” sale, you can send it around the globe by just personalising product recommendations based on location. That way, users in the northern hemisphere will see products like scarves, while users in the southern hemisphere can purchase swimsuits and “summer” gear.
Of course, this goes well beyond basic personalization and keeps consumers at the core of your email content, creating and curating unique recommendations that can correlate with your users on a one-on-one level.
To nail personalisation, segment your list and make sure what you offer is just the thing for your target audience. Going beyond a first name includes some of the following:
- Personalising your offer–different offers for repeaters and different for first-timers
- Personalising your suggestions according to user behaviour–a discount code for users who repeatedly check out or leave a specific product in their cart or add it to a wish list
- Offering different options from a specific product category–complementary products for a cross-sell or premium products for an upsell
- Using specific user actions in your subject line–phrases like “We saw you were interested in [X]” could do the trick
Another personalisation element that will be highly popular in 2024 is email design. Understanding your audience and each user’s special requests will help you create email campaigns that cater to each segment. For example:
- There are users in your list that use screen readers. Optimise your design with bold typography and alt-text to cater to them.
- Follow a logical email structure. This will help both with accessibility and email optimisation:
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Generally speaking, a one-size-fits-all approach will not cut it in 2024. Each customer is unique, and they expect to see this reflected in your email content.
Interactivity and Gamification in Design
Interactivity and gamification are two trends that will become more popular in 2024. According to research conducted by Bazaarvoice, a staggering 70% of people “enjoy gaming elements when shopping online,” while, at the same time, “99% of consumers say they regularly shop online.”
Interactive content like quizzes and surveys can capture a user and lead them further down the sales funnel simply because they’re engaging. Combining that data with email marketing’s famous ROI mentioned initially makes creating interactive and gamified content an absolute conversion powerhouse.
However, they can sometimes cause quite a blow in your marketing budget, as some interactive elements require a lot of effort and resources. So, to ensure you manage your resources properly and deliver the perfect result, you can start by putting your efforts into simple interactive tactics, like a quiz or a survey.
Such interactive elements are a great way to get feedback while giving something back–exclusive discounts, for example, or early-bird access to your new eCommerce collections.
An interactive email like the one above can give you much-needed customer feedback and help you shape your marketing actions around what users want. Here’s another fantastic interactive example:
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This email has another unique element: The links lead to the products inside the brand’s website, making it easier for the user to complete a purchase.
But what if you have the resources to use more advanced interactive elements, like carousels or a spin-the-wheel design?
Such designs are show-stoppers in the eCommerce email marketing game and get users to spend more time interacting with your email. The more users interact, the more likely they are to click on your CTA buttons, visit your eCommerce store, and proceed with a purchase.
And, if you’re up to it, pure gamification can work wonders for your email marketing campaigns.
Want to take it a step further? Use in-email purchases to grab a user’s attention immediately.
Platforms With AI Capabilities
AI capabilities will become the undeniable staple for eCommerce email marketing in 2024 and well beyond that.
Starting with clever chatbots that resolve customer service tasks and feed brands customer data, automating tasks with the use of AI allows teams to focus on more critical issues.
Especially regarding email marketing, customer service departments were once the perfect place to harvest data. Now, chatbots can cover that area by asking spot-on questions. Here’s an example:
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This chatbot has gathered information on the user’s personal style and preferences. Now, imagine having an AI platform that can take all that data and create content for your email marketing campaigns without you breaking a sweat. AI and machine learning can make email creation quicker, automated, and more efficient.
Email marketing platforms with AI capabilities can identify details like a user’s age or pattern-like behavior that could be overlooked if data analysts were the only ones using them. At the same time, machine learning can train your software to understand and predict user behaviour.
For example, if a user has repeatedly checked a specific product in your eCommerce store, the next step is purchasing it. Despite this being the next logical step, the user could be checking the product out and avoid the purchase due to its price or shipping cost. It would make sense to cater to them through a discount in an attempt to nudge them further down the funnel.
The same happens with replenishment emails. If a user purchases perishable goods, you can train your machine to understand the time intervals and quantities of the product and send users an email that will ring a bell and remind them when it’s time to repeat their purchase. Like this:
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And let’s not forget the most significant trend of 2024–and beyond. AI email content. Email platforms nowadays give users the capability to create AI-generated content with just a clever prompt and a click, making it easy for brands to reach out to consumers.
You can train the AI writer to tailor content to your audience and create the right thing at the right time. Some even carry tools to help you set the tone that resonates with your audience, brainstorm ideas, or even check your copy effectively.
Ready to Dominate Email Marketing in 2024?
In 2024, tailored and highly personalised email marketing campaigns will be at the forefront, combined with AI content, behavioural triggers, interactivity, and cutting-edge automation tools.
Even when users look for the highly personalised “thrill” of a well-designed eCommerce email campaign with spot-on content, it’s important to remember that they appreciate trust and honesty. Put the customer’s experience first, create content that resonates, and you’re sure to reach your goals faster and more efficiently.
Author
Téa Liarokapi is a Senior Content Writer for Moosend, an email marketing and marketing automation platform, and an obsessive writer. In her free time, she finds new ways to stuff more books in her bookcase and content ideas – and cats – to play with.
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