Two major trends in email must not be ignored: interactive email and automation.

For certain messages, an old-fashioned email with a plain-text, well-written letter and a call-to-action at the bottom just might do the trick. But unless you want to take the risk of branding your entire online presence as “retro,” to be competitive, you must use the latest email technology.

What is Interactive Email?

To create an interactive email, a developer uses HTML and CSS to create radio buttons, forms, live counters, tabs and other interactive elements typically used on web pages. These interactive emails are now being dubbed “mailable microsites,” and the name fits perfectly. These emails act just like a micro website where users can move from “page to page” using tab and radio buttons to traverse the content and even convert directly within the email. These mailable microsites are being created using techniques such as punched card coding which effectively…

Shockingly, 94% of respondents aren't ready for GDPR

With the new GDPR changes being implemented in May, it is a hot topic on every marketer's mind. The change in regulations will affect the way companies can retrieve, use and store data. This change severely limits the widely practiced methods of asking for an email address to receive a company whitepaper or enter into a competition, and then being kept on an email list for promotional emails and 'spam' that the user did not originally consent to. [si_guide_block id="99357" title="Download Premium Resource – GDPR briefing guide" description="Our round-up of the best guidance on the latest European Union data protection and privacy legislation and how it affects you and your business Are you ready for the GDPR? The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) comes into force in all 28 countries in Europe on 25th May 2018. It has been agreed by the…

The four steps of personalization, and why you should care in the first place

Consumers decide very fast - in a matter of seconds - whether they like your email campaign.  Provide something relevant, and you have a happy customer. Miss the target, however, and they instantly delete the email. The importance of personalization in an era of immediate gratification is crucial because consumers are bombarded with emails, almost all of which are off target. Personalisation - tailoring of messages to every person based on their unique tastes and preferences - promises to tackle this matter. Done right, personalization elevates peoples' lives and promotes engagement by providing content that is tuned into and even anticipates the customer's needs.  The benefits to the customer also translate into benefits for the retailer.  Personalization can increase aggregate e-commerce revenues by 5% to 15% and boost the efficiency of marketing spend by 10% to 30%. …

‘Conversions’ is what you aim for as an email marketer. But are you walking the right path in the pursuit of it?

Many email marketers, focus so much on revving up the campaign performance metrics that they fail to see what the subscribers will perceive of their email. Email marketing, today, is about delighting prospects and customers at every point of contact- from onboarding to post-purchase communication. So, here are some basic email marketing best practices that you need to follow to ensure that you don’t get your wires crossed:

Use a valid FROM name and address

Your FROM name and email address is your identity. And most subscribers avoid opening emails from a name or address they don’t recognize. So, make sure you are sending your emails from an address that is not only recognizable but also appropriate for the specific purpose of the campaign. Using your brand name in your FROM name…

Don’t make mistakes that others have already learned to solve; these email marketing strategy tips will give you the foundation you need to increase your conversions

There’s nothing more frustrating than knowing that you’re making mistakes that others have long since solved. If you could learn from their mistakes you could avoid repeating them yourself. This is especially true with email marketing strategy. [si_guide_block id="59002" title="Download FREE Resource – The State of Email Marketing" description="Global benchmarking research report to support email marketing excellence."/] You’ve put the effort into getting your subscribers on your mailing list, so the last thing that you want to do is risk losing them by messing up. Sent too many emails in a day? You’re spamming, and they’ll unsubscribe. Focused too much on sales? You’re not valuing their wants and needs, and they’ll unsubscribe. No matter what mistake…

Review your approach to email marketing by reviewing the latest trends

Email marketing is THE evergreen channel which is usually so effective in many sectors that is usually in the top 3 most effective channels driving website visits leads and sales.  So, it's important each year to assess new email marketing techniques and the email capabilities you are exploiting. Drilling down into your own data, and analysing it as a team, can help you get to grips with what you need to refine in 2018. But, sometimes, you need to take a breather from all that analysis and get some fresh perspectives. In our email marketing trends guide, in partnership with Pure360, you get just that. Unique insights from some of the UK’s leading industry experts. Experienced views that will help you refocus your strategy and kick-start your planning. [si_guide_block id="44461" title="Download FREE Resource – Email trends 2018: A…

Learn how to craft a customer-centric email sequence that engages and converts with personalized content

Content marketing - in fact, all things content - seemed to be all the rage in 2017. Companies and agencies pushed out more emails and content than ever before. And the commentary keeps rolling in, especially from social channels. But now, what content you serve up, to whom, and when, needs to be your most pressing concern. Because while your prospects may be seeing lots of content, it may not be the right content - content that will inform, engage, invite action and ultimately lift your conversions and revenues.

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Let’s keep in mind the goals of content marketing, which are to: Create a positive brand connection Segment your…

Deciding where to focus your efforts in 2018 is important. It helps with budget and resource allocation, and it alerts you to areas where you might need to upskill your team

Reviewing the performance of each campaign, across every channel is a good place to start. Every business is different and every audience responds to different channels in different ways. In ecommerce, however, we’d argue that whatever sector your business sits in—email marketing needs to be a top priority in 2018. Read on and we’ll tell you why.

Email delivers the best ROI

Why focus on email marketing and not the newer, shinier channels? Well, despite the fact email might not be the sexiest channel, more often than not, it actually delivers the best ROI. Some marketers may mistake maturity for irrelevance and fear that email won’t be able to cut through the noise. But this couldn’t…

New in the email marketing world? Learn how to construct an effective email campaign

By now, you may have at least heard someone talk about email marketing. Maybe one of your colleagues is a great fan or one of your close friends can’t emphasize enough how it has saved his business. No? You’re serious? Well, fortunately, you have arrived at the right article, cause we are here to tell you all you need to know about this digital marketing trend that everyone is talking about. Ready? Let’s get started!

Why should I be already sending email marketing campaigns?

Email marketing offers endless advantages; it’s becoming one of the most popular digital marketing tools, used by both big and small companies all around the globe. How nice can it be to become global with just one click? But, first things first, let’s talk…

Chart of the Day: What are the most difficult email marketing tactics to implement? ~ Part 2 of 2

Last week we discussed the most effective email marketing tactics. This week we look at the opposite side of the coin at the most difficult tactics to use.

What are email marketers finding difficult?

In the chart below, email marketers are struggling with list segmentation (42%) the most. Testing and optimization (38%) come in second. Keep heart my little email geeks, you can do it!

It's complex - but why?

Some of the most difficult strategies are the hardest to implement. That's not a surprise. But why are email marketers struggling? Is it because there is a: lack of knowledge? missing infrastructure? lack of support within the business? lack of time?

Let's break it down

List segmentation

To correctly segment data, you need just that - data.…