Email marketing has been a key digital marketing tool for over two decades. Despite new channels like social media and influencer marketing, it remains highly effective for customer engagement and sales.
However, email marketing has changed. The days of blasting out generic messages and hoping for the best are long gone.
In fact, 50% of US B2B marketers believe that email marketing is the most impactful channel, driving significant results in their multichannel strategy.
2024 witnessed big changes to email marketing. AI is driving mass personalization (which may sound like an oxymoron, but isn’t), Google is cracking down harder on spam, and new platforms are offering interactive features. With limited time and budget, where should you focus?
New Demand Generation Paradigms
Remember when avoiding spam trigger words was the golden rule? That was crucial ten years ago.
Today, clinging to these old tactics is like trying to navigate with an outdated map. Spam filters have evolved, and so have our audiences. It’s time to leave obsolete approaches behind.
Welcome to the era of AI trigger words
AI is reshaping how email systems prioritize messages in inboxes.
That’s right, AI is now scanning for specific words and phrases to determine an email’s importance. But this doesn’t mean stuffing your content with these words. Think of them as the seasoning that enhances your message.
These AI trigger words are all about urgency and relevance, helping your emails stand out in a crowded inbox. Words like:
Preview
3 days left
New feature
Meeting invite
Priority access
Important update
Exclusive invitation
Subscription details
Registration confirmed
Incorporate them thoughtfully to ensure your emails rise to the top.
Time Your Emails
Timing is essential. With AI analyzing user behavior, sending your emails when your audience is the most active increases the chances they’ll be opened and read.
A crucial factor to consider is the industry you operate in. Know your business and your audience’s daily routine. This helps you choose the best send times for higher engagement.
Brevo conducted a study on this topic—and has revealed interesting findings:
For B2B professional services, hit Mondays or Tuesdays, 8 AM to 10 AM—when people are fresh and focused. | E-commerce works best on Tuesdays or Thursdays at 10 AM, a good window when people are between tasks. | SaaS lands on Tuesdays or Thursdays, 2 to 3 PM, right when folks are looking for a break from work. | For non- governmental organizations, aim for Tuesdays or Thursdays, 3 to 4 PM, a time when people start shifting attention. | Marketing services should consider Wednesdays at 4 PM when everyone’s open to new ideas. | Offline retail or hospitality, Thursdays, 8 to 10 AM is a good time, just before the weekend distractions set in. |
Also, make sure you stray away from the worst day to send emails: Saturday. It shouldn’t come as a shock, since it’s the weekend. What should be surprising, though, is that Sunday registered higher open rates than some weekdays (Mondays and Tuesdays).
Give Breathing Room
It’s easy to push too hard or wait too long, and that can put leads off. The real challenge is finding the right rhythm. You’ve got to be considerate of their space while keeping your brand in their view.
Following up too soon risks crowding their inbox or mind, but waiting too long means they might forget you. It’s about allowing them to absorb your message before reaching out again. Building trust requires patience.
Each prospect moves at their own pace, and understanding that shows you genuinely care about their needs. Adjusting your outreach shows you’re not just focused on the sale but on building a meaningful connection.
Interactive Emails
For a long time, people thought getting a lead to click the “call-to-action button” was the best you could hope for in email marketing. But if that’s your only focus, you might be missing out on the power of interactive emails.
Take Stack Overflow, for example. To gather developers’ thoughts on AI tools, they sent out an interactive email encouraging readers to take the developer survey. It was simple, clean, and free of distractions, making it easy for recipients to engage.
So, when you’re running Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeframe (BANT) or Challenges, Authority, Money, and Priority (CHAMP) surveys, or trying to speed up your Know Your Customer (KYC) efforts, think about adding an interactive element. Mailmodo’s templates are a great starting point for seeing how this can increase engagement.
By leveraging interactive elements like polls, quizzes, or sliders, you’ll keep leads interested and glean invaluable feedback, seamlessly.
Everyone Has One: Phones
Most emails are now opened on mobile, so designing with that in mind is a must.
Keep things simple—cleaner designs load faster and work better on phones. You might also want to optimize for both light and dark modes or add touch-friendly elements to improve the experience.
In fact, your peers have seen a notable increase (15%) in mobile Click-Through Rate (CTR) thanks to responsive, mobile-friendly email designs. Not only that, but your fellow marketing professionals (56%) prioritize user-friendliness when it comes to emails.
Some Things Never Change
Considered the entry point to your sales funnel, subject lines are still paramount in today’s email marketing landscape. G2 uncovered that personalized subject lines can transform email open rates, improving them by up to 26%.
Before turning a cold prospect into a hot lead, you’ll want to set the right tone and expectation—and a well-crafted subject line does exactly that.
Make sure you understand your target audience, define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), and segment your prospect list to capture interest right from the start. This increases the chances of delivering relevant content, boosting engagement, and moving prospects through your funnel more effectively.
Conclusion
In today’s landscape, email marketing isn’t just about sending messages; it’s about sending the right message, at the right time, in the right way.
With AI driving personalization, interactive features enhancing engagement, and mobile design becoming non-negotiable, your strategy needs to evolve.
Focus on timing, be mindful of your audience’s space, and embrace interactivity to stand out. Whether you’re incorporating AI trigger words or optimizing for mobile, it’s clear that thoughtful, targeted email marketing is more powerful than ever.
Stay flexible, keep experimenting, and most importantly—make sure your emails are working for you, not against you.
