Email Marketing Trends for 2022

Email Marketing Trends for 2022

A Roadmap to Increased Engagement

I have been using email marketing to grow my own businesses and my clients’ since 2007 when I started using Constant Contact. I became an early adopter of their robust digital marketing tools, have been a “preferred partner” since 2008 and have been Certified each year that they have offered it. So, I consider myself well versed in email marketing.

Over the years, I’ve noticed a few trends within digital marketing and email marketing. Most importantly, I’ve noticed that far too many small business owners and entrepreneurs ignore the value of *good* email marketing campaigns and the incredible value that it offers.

All too often I hear “well, I don’t want to bug my customers”. Guess what, if you feel like you are bugging your customers when you drop an email to them – you are doing it all wrong! Are you only reaching out to them on holidays for sales? Wrong. That’s like asking someone to marry you on the first date. Or worse, on the second date after you’ve ghosted them for 6 months. Don’t do that, it’s messy.

However, if you are using some general good practices and sending authentic messages that engage your audience or show them the value of your product or service, you can dramatically increase your sales. With these best practices for email marketing, did you know that the ROI (Return on Investement) is on average $45 for ever dollar spent?! That’s h u g e.

Billions of emails are sent every day, so you have a lot of competition out there to be seen in someone’s inbox. The good news is that with a mindful approach and a strategy, you don’t have to spend an exhorbitant amount of time on email marketing. In fact, if you are already using social media (even if just from time-to-time) you’ve likely got content that you can easily repurpose.

So, let’s look at some of the predictions for Email Marketing Trends for 2022 to get you starting the year on the right foot.

If Content remains the King of Online Marketing; Email is the Queen.
And the Queen is the key to a winning strategy.

Make it Personal

Your subject line is the first impression that your readers get in their inbox. Choose an ESP that allows for adding the reader’s first name in the subject line (when appropriate) and in the body of your email with a personalized greeting. I find that people really feel that you are speaking directly to them. How do I know? They actually reply to these emails with direct responses and questions. It’s a great way to make a connection right off the bat.

Less Copy, More Visuals

If social media has taught us anything, its that people react to visuals. Beautiful images, Gifs (animated images), and video rules the day. People have short attention spans and they are often busy. They scan the info quickly. So keep the copy (your text) brief and to the point. Bottom line: Make sure you when taking up space in their inbox, you are catching their attention with great visuals and a few lines of text that capture their interest. Add links and a clear call to action and you’re on your way to nurturing raving fans.

via GIPHY

And don’t forget the power of a good emoji in your subject line 🙌🏽

Storytelling & Relationship Marketing

Consumers and clients want to connect with the brands, products, and services that they use. They want to know more about the story behind what you offer.

Give them a behind-the-scenes look at your daily grind, your staff, or your process. Highlight your business partners or the local non-profits that you work with. Be creative with it and have fun. If it’s genuine and joyful that feeling will shine through.

I shared the image of my office assistant, Bijoux, who “assists” me in sending out my 2022 MyStCroix.VI Photo Calendars – I managed to sell out before Christmas 2021 through …. Email Marketing!!

Telling your story or showing how your product or service solved the problem for a client helps to make a connection.

Get Mobile

If you are sending your emails out without Mobile optimization, you are leaving half your money on the table. At least 50% of users open their emails on their mobile device. If your text doesn’t properly realign or resize, your graphics have a lot of text that’s too small to read, or if you are sending emails that only have images and no text, you are showing 50% or more of your list that you don’t care if they can easily read your message. And when people can’t read your emails, they miss the message and may unsubscribe or mark it as spam.

Be sure that whatever ESP (Email Service Provider) you are using provides mobile optimization using responsive design (your website should have this too!). Keep the “clutter” in your emails to a minimum. I always send myself a test email and check it on my mobile phone to see how it plays out.

Stop Worrying About Open Rates

It’s not that open rates are obsolete, but as of the end of 2021 they can be skewed. With the rollout of Apple’s “Mail Privacy Protection” feature, open rates may not be fully accurate. This feature allows Apple device and computer users to block the invisible little cookie that tells your ESP they opened the email. Instead, it looks like everyone with an Apple address opened it. And let’s face it, Apple has a huge piece of the mobile device market share.

At the end of the day, it’s really your conversion rates that matter. When tracking your metrix or KPSs (Key Performance Indicators), you want to look at the correlation between your email campaigns and spikes in site visitors or conversions, like online sales. Pay attention to those click rates and to the overall engagement of your audience. If you have a clearly definited CTA (call to action) in your email, you should easily be able to see the correlation between the send and the effect within a few days.

Want to Learn How to Send Email Campaigns that Convert?

Join the Email Marketing Strategy Lab. The 7-week course starts February 28, 2022. Each Monday for 7 weeks, I’ll drop a new module with video lessons and worksheets. Each Tuesday features a live Master Class via Zoom (class will be recorded for those who can’t make it live) and each Thursday we’ll hold a live “Hot Seat Happy Hour” where I’ll provide A’s to your Q’s and offer live feedback on your projects.

This course is designed to help you grow your email lists and nurture prospects over time to become customers by providing them with content that sparks their interest, answers their questions, and solves their problems.

Hurry, because the cart closes on February 22, 2022! Click here to learn more and register.