Email marketing is one of the oldest digital marketing tools, and an effective one at that. It will continue to hold sway in 2018 as well, because who doesn’t use email! Algorithms can change on other social media networks or they could even go away, but we can’t say the same about email. Here are some trends for 2018 that will come in handy for your business:

• Email marketing automation - Automation is going to be a big trend this year, and will help businesses save money and time. Automated emails have a higher click-through rate (CTR) than manual emails. You can set up a campaign based on certain triggers, for instance, when a fresh customer opts in for your newsletter, when someone uses your e-commerce website to add certain products to her shopping cart or buys a specific product. You can also use email marketing automation to retarget customers who have abandoned their carts. Automated mails are one of the best ways for you to engage with your customers and effortlessly at that. You do’t have to create any individual mails and yet get the job done!
• Mobile responsiveness - This is 2018, and if you don’t optimise your emails for mobile, you are bound to lose out. Over 50 per cent of all emails are now opened on mobile, according to statistics. You should ensure that landing pages, forms etc in your email campaign are optimised for mobile — if a customer actually opens a mail and wants to fill a form and can’t, then you have lost the game.
• Personalised email campaigns - You don’t want to send out blasts of content via email and forget about it! You would need to personalise email campaigns — create subject lines that have a personal touch and be honest with what’s in the mail. Be warm and not gimmicky! No one likes to open a mail and find that it has nothing to do with the subject line! Also, you could try personalising the ‘from’ and ‘to’ address for greater opening rates.
• Interactivity - What’s the point of communication if it is not interactive? Use interactive elements like quizzes or gifs to ensure greater engagement. You can also use elements like rollover functionality, hamburger menus, and search bars among others. Interactive emails are also called microsites and can include a lot of the content mentioned above! However, it helps to exercise discretion and not overload your email with too much interactivity, or it may not load fast.
• Big Data - This the age of big data. You can use the analytics that are inbuilt with your software for email management. With analytics and data, you can work the best time and day of the week to send out your emails. Analytics also help you with understanding the quantum of graymail, ie, the mail that you send to those who never open the mails. These are users who may have subscribed at some point in time but no longer open the mails and also don’t bother with unsubscribing. You should then send them only some engagement messages periodically and not regularly. Once you prune these users from your overall numbers, you benefit with better engagement and open rates.

Keep an eye on all these trends and make every mail you send out to your subscribers or potential customers count in 2018!