Emails have long been an integral part of any marketing strategy, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t evolving
Gartner research shows that no other direct marketing technology has adoption rates as high as email marketing platforms, and 41% of CMOs – especially at larger companies – plan to increase their spending in this area.[1]
Email Marketing Trends for SMEs
The global email marketing market is expected to grow from $11.5 billion in 2023 to over $46 billion in 2033.[2] This gives companies both great potential for expansion and the opportunity and need to stand out in a huge field.
As consumer preferences evolve, email marketing must change too. Companies that don't remain flexible will see their campaign performance decline. Small and medium-sized business (SMB) marketers should consider how segmentation, strategy, personalization and content can contribute to more successful campaigns. This can increase customer engagement and drive higher revenue and stronger long-term customer loyalty.
To help teams do this, we've compiled the three most important newsletter trends in this article and formulated practical, actionable tips for SMEs. Learn how the constant changes in the email marketing landscape affect your campaigns and how to develop powerful strategies.
Trend 1: Consumers do not hesitate to unsubscribe from newsletters that are of no use to them
One of the hardest things about email marketing is building a database of newsletter subscribers. Keeping them is even harder.
E-mail marketing trend 1: a quarter of consumers will unsubscribe from newsletters weekly
Capterra's Advertising Preferences Study* found that a quarter (25%) of respondents worldwide unsubscribe from newsletters at least once a week. Possible reasons for this may be that consumers do not see value in the content, receive too many emails, or simply try to keep their inbox clutter-free.
The thought of potentially losing one in four subscribers every week is sobering for any business, but especially for SMBs. We hope that no business actually has such a high subscriber loss, but the trend is clear: customers can unsubscribe from emails just as easily as they opted in, and the reason for doing so may not be big.
To keep readers engaged, companies need to develop a comprehensive strategy. Email frequency, subject lines, content variety, and personalization all play a role. Making the right choices on these factors will make the difference between recipients seeing your emails as part of a flood of unwanted information or looking forward to seeing them in their inbox.
Of course, email campaigns should deliver content that meets the needs customers have at the time they sign up, but that's the bare minimum. To stand out in such a crowded marketing channel, email campaigns must go beyond the expected, anticipate customers' individual preferences, and deliver regular surprises to their inbox.
If you don't manage to do this, you're already running the risk of losing the subscriber again. And there are a lot of common pitfalls that can cause readers to unsubscribe:
Too many emails filling your inbox
Boring or irrelevant subject lines like “Customer Newsletter October 2024”
Promises in the subject line that are not kept in the email
Offers that do not correspond to the interests of the reader
Product advertising that is not exclusive to email subscribers
Incorrect content or links
Among those surveyed in Germany, 23% also unsubscribe from marketing communications on a weekly basis. This puts Germany just below the global average.
4 tips on how SMEs can reduce their newsletter unsubscribe rates
1. Personalize campaigns to keep them relevant
Gartner research shows that top brands “sustain email engagement by continually delivering value tailored to customers through data collection and segmentation.”[1] As your company and customer base grow, it becomes more important to personalize content for smaller groups of customers. To do this, you need to collect and use customer data for personalization in thoughtful (and ethical) ways.
2. Focus on what is important to your customers, not to yourself
Some brands overestimate how important they are to their customers and use email newsletters as an opportunity to talk about themselves. But good marketing means focusing on customers' problems, using storytelling around those problems that ends with a positive outcome for customers, and clearly guiding customers through that customer journey.
3. Track your success metrics
There's a reason they say, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it." Establish, track, and analyze key metrics to help you understand how your campaigns are performing. Open rates, click rates, and email-based purchases are all important stats to keep an eye on.
4. Keep your list up to date
Companies that send emails to inactive accounts or disengaged customers are wasting time and money. Check your email databases regularly and make sure you're only contacting customers who are actually buying from you or are likely to do so.
Trend 2: Brands do not offer customers any real added value by signing up for the newsletter
Email is such an important marketing channel that almost every online SME uses it. A regular email newsletter is anything but a unique selling proposition (USP). Customers know this and expect real added value from the email content they receive.
E-mail marketing trend 2: Brands do not offer customers real added value (USP) Subscribe to the newsletter
Unfortunately, many brands fail to successfully communicate what that added value is. According to a Gartner analysis of brand mobile websites and apps, only 58% of brands explicitly describe the benefits of an email subscription during the sign-up process. Even fewer (24%) offer an offer as an incentive for signing up.[1]
Forward-thinking SMBs have a clear opportunity to make their business stand out by making small improvements to the sign-up process. Often, this can be as simple as changing the website interface or the content that customers see as they navigate the website or app and make a purchase.
Design your email content with customers' pain points and the customer journey you have in mind . Consider how opting into your email database will help customers solve those problems. This will help you align your email strategy with the customer's outcome, rather than viewing it as a permanent license to send unsolicited advertising.
4 Tips for More Subscribers in Your Email Database
1. Offer customers a discount for signing up
A common strategy is to offer customers a discount code for signing up to your newsletter. This is especially effective with new customers. You can implement this strategy directly from your website: many website tools offer this feature as standard and allow you to customize it to your needs.
2. Make your emails too attractive to miss
If your email marketing is really as good as you think, prove it! Show your target audience how they can benefit from the offers or helpful information in your emails. Consider using testimonials from other customers who can confirm the added value of your emails.
This strategy is a standard in business-to-business (B2B) marketing and offers both parties the opportunity to exchange meaningful value. It involves brands creating content such as how-to guides, simple downloadable tools or useful files that customers can access for free after providing their email address.
4. Use recommendations
Even in today's digital world, word of mouth is a powerful tool. Invite existing customers to refer friends and receive a gift or discount for yourself and the other person when they sign up. Referral software helps you automate this process.
Trend 3: Email etiquette is becoming increasingly crucial to gaining consumer trust
Companies can only improve their email marketing performance in the long term if their customers truly trust them.
It's well known that consumers don't like clickbait, but some marketers malaysia telegram data claim that sensationalist headlines and thumbnail images are the only way to get their content seen. That may be true on social media platforms (a topic for another article), but email is still a channel that is entirely dictated by the sender and the receiver. Only companies control what they send, and consumers control what they delete, open, read, and click on.
Brands should be aware of this responsibility. Capterra's Advertising Preferences Study* shows that 34% of consumers would report a company that used a misleading subject line in a marketing email.
Companies that promise something in the subject line that they don't deliver in the email itself will quickly lose consumer trust. Readers will be less likely to engage with the email, may delete or unsubscribe, and risk losing them as future customers after this negative experience.
Email Marketing Trend 3: One-third of consumers worldwide report misleading subject lines
At the same time, brands that use clickbait in their email communications risk fines and legal consequences if their activities are reported and proven to be dishonest.