Email Marketing: The Past and the Future
With the rising usage of chatbots and social media platforms, it is assumed that email has lost its purpose. However, this claim, as well as the premise upon which it is built, is incorrect. According to a 2018 prediction, the global number of email users will exceed 3.8 billion by the year. This represents a 100 million increase over 2017, and this number is expected to hit 4.2 billion by 2022. But first, let’s see what exactly email marketing is? As per David Newman “Email has an ability many channels don’t: creating valuable, personal touches—at scale.” So, what are you waiting for if you haven’t already begun reaping the benefits of such a fantastic business tool? The Past of Email Marketing Let’s take a deeper look into the evolution of email marketing before what is currently brewing. Prior to email, marketers depended on traditional mail to distribute ads such as flyers, catalogues, and promotional letters. Fortunately, Email marketing has altered the way organizations communicate with their clients, reducing what was once a distribution burden to the click of a mouse, especially with email finder tools like Leadzen.ai. It all started when Ray Tomlinson, a computer programmer with MIT’s Arpanet sent his first email in 1971. Later, a marketing manager at Digital Equipment Corporation sent an email to roughly 400 users advertising DEC computers. This inaugural email blast anticipated a bright future for the marketing industry, thus laying the groundwork for what is now considered one of the most efficient and crucial parts of online marketing. Prior to the mid-1990s, several email networks, most notably America Online (AOL), were closed, allowing you to send text-based emails only to persons on the same platform as you. In fact, email is described as an open platform that allows you to send and receive email from a variety of apps and devices. “Anyone who argues email hasn’t evolved much in the last several decades is simply indicating that they don’t know anything about email,” stated Drew Houston, the founder, and CEO of Dropbox. The release of the Apple iPhone in 2007 iPhone also marked the beginning of marketers’ lengthy fight with mobile-friendly email design, particularly responsive email design. Inbox providers incorporated engagement-based metrics to their filters because senders were gaming negative feedback loops by bloating their lists with inactive users to reduce spam complaint rates. The Future of Email Marketing Emails have evolved into much more than just text communications during the previous decade. We now pay attention to pre-header content, word placement, graphic hierarchy, hero photos, gifs, and external linking possibilities, all of which may elevate an email marketing campaign. Marketers now employ automated email marketing software to implement email segmentation, mailing lists, newsletters, and tailored campaigns. These tools are essential for building customer loyalty, increasing click-through rates, and ensuring that your marketing efforts are not wasted. 1. Individualization Whether your email marketing approach is aimed at individuals or businesses people want to feel as though their personal requirements are being satisfied. To make that happen there is a requirement for family office data. Make sure your message passes that basic criteria if you’re launching an email marketing campaign. People open and respond to emails personalized to them, but containing their name and workplace is insufficient. Taking it a step further and tailoring the email to their preferences or recent activities is significantly more successful. 2. Machine learning, AI, and cloud-based technology Machine learning and AI marketing are becoming increasingly important in email marketing, as they are in other businesses today. Advances in both types of technology have enabled marketing automation, which tailors messaging to a specific audience based on consumer data. Artificial intelligence will automate and improve many parts of email planning and management. 3. Data privacy Following the adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and revisions to email marketing guidelines, you must be able to demonstrate that the clients on your email list opted in to receive your emails. These modifications reflect growing customer concerns about data privacy. To address this problem, state that your emails comply with Payment Card Industry (PCI) and GDPR requirements. You should also send emails anytime your privacy terms change. Bottom Line The email has undoubtedly transformed the way we interact. Email marketing has made it, even more, simpler for marketers to reach out to potential consumers on a large scale. With the popularity of smartphones and social media, new digital developments will only help email marketing expand and become a more optimized, visible advertising alternative. If there’s one thing you can count on, email marketing isn’t going away. It is your responsibility as a marketer to capitalize on this opportunity and anticipate what the future holds. There is still a long way to go, but it has a promising future in the realm of lead generation. It is vital to improve email marketing tactics and therefore. It indicates that best efforts should be made, together with sophisticated technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI), to support better execution of the email marketing and lead generating processes in the long term. Email marketing gets easier with email verification technologies like Leadzen.ai since leads are real-time and validated.