Email Marketing Trends 2024

Email marketing is almost as old as the internet itself, and the format has come more or less into the focus of marketing managers over the past few decades. The topic became particularly critical again following the decision (April 16, 2016) and the binding introduction of the new GDPR (May 25, 2018). However, email marketing has never been more popular, and it's all the more important in the times of the Corona pandemic 2020-2022. What trends have resulted for us as marketing managers* and which tool you should use to take your email marketing to the next level, you can find out in this guest article.

What is email marketing?

Email marketing (also often referred to as newsletter marketing) is a form of online and direct marketing and serves to contact a customer or group of interest with advertising messages, information or offers in the B2C and B2B environment. The basis is the provided contact data, usually at least name and email address, as well as the consent to the storage and further processing of this data, conditioned by the DSGVO (European General Data Protection Regulation).

Email marketing is still one of the most widespread and used forms of online marketing and is one of the cornerstones in every corporate communication, alongside classic PR or social media.

What are the email marketing trends for 2024?

The market around the topic of email marketing has changed enormously in recent years and it has never been easier to introduce the topic for a small business or a start-up, or to exchange an already established and complex system for an intuitive and lean solution. But before we go into the specific recommendation for the most popular email marketing tools, here are 10 trends that will shape 2024.

Those who are also looking for other suggestions and ideas, will find here more tools and tricks for successful email marketing..

1. Flexible email marketing for small and large businesses!

One of the most important trends is the availability and arbitrary scaling of email marketing solutions from a variety of tool providers, where truly everyone will find themselves in the price structures. Regardless of whether I am starting as an individual or start-up in my niche and need a clean solution with a professional look and tracking features for my 50 users, or I want to address 30,000 customers regularly with my company, the offer is great.

Most email marketing providers start with a free account and basic features, such as Mailchimp or Brevo (ehemals Sendinblue), which make every email campaign a piece of cake with the respective 0€ basic version and a simple drag-and-drop editor. In this case, you will have to compromise a bit on some further CRM functions, but otherwise, you have a solid number of free advertising emails and just have to accept a small banner at the end of the mail.

Other providers like rapidmail or Mailingwork start limited or very small for free and then scale prices according to features and the number of possible advertising emails per month. Even here the entry and operation is child's play and also offer large companies a good basis to evolve.

2. Focus on niche products and topics

It has never been easier to get started with email marketing, but the market has also never been more competitive and everyone who wants to start a new newsletter or email campaign should think very carefully about where exactly the value for the readers is. From my own experience, I can say that emails are particularly well received when they serve a niche, that is to say, report very focused and pointedly about a topic and provide deep knowledge, as compared to generic messages with useless coupons from shops where you probably don't want to shop anyway.

As a consumer, I only want to receive fewer, but very specific content that really interests me and that provides me with a value that I wouldn't otherwise get. Which brings me to the next point…

3. Added value through hyper-personalization

Anyone who gets a new email marketing tool in 2024 will find that the personalization options within each tool leave nothing to be desired. This is another trend that I value very much as a marketer as well as a consumer. If I already give a company access and permission to process my data, I also expect a corresponding added value within the communication, especially since I am not a rigid figure in an Excel table, but a transparent data bundle. We are not talking about whether I am addressed by my first name or I receive a voucher after my last purchase. But how well the company knows me based on my behavior in their cosmos. Do I receive targeted information about a product that I may have already had in the shopping cart several times (let's take e-commerce as an example) or have aborted the purchase. Maybe there is a concrete special condition for the item that makes my decision easier? What have others possibly also bought? What are the reviews or the general satisfaction of other users?

All of this information can be recorded and optimized in a good email marketing system. Perhaps a second order will be proactively offered to me at a reduced rate two to three weeks later if it's a consumable? Why not? The data is there. These are only rudimentary examples of possible hyper-personalization that modern tools enable us and that we will encounter more and more often in our everyday lives, not only in e-commerce.

4. Optimization by artificial intelligence

Keyword: Artificial Intelligence in email marketing. Most tools now also offer an AI component in their software. I found a good example of this when testing out Brevo (ehemals Sendinblue). Here, the software offers to analyze the opening behavior of the recipients for a given campaign when sending the emails, in order to then send the emails at an optimized time for the next shipment. The more often the recipient interacts with my emails, the better Brevo (ehemals Sendinblue) finds the window for the optimal send.

Who doesn't know it: On Monday mornings, the mailbox opens and you have countless unread emails in the inbox! Depending on the time available that morning, you go through the emails with more or less care and delete rigorously. The probability of an email getting my attention is therefore rather low. But if you receive an email on Monday afternoon, or even Tuesday morning, you probably have a lot more peace and time to read it. Everyone works differently or starts at a different time.

With the help of algorithms or artificial intelligence, our email marketing tool can help us to catch the right moment for maximum attention. This is definitely a trend that will continue to accompany us in the future.

5. Emails along the customer lifecycle

For many it seems a matter of course, but the actual definition and execution of email touchpoints along the customer life cycle can be challenging, especially with heterogeneous target groups and product classes. Depending on the complexity, you should set at least someone as an email marketing manager or even a small team on the topic. Especially if you just want to start lifting potentials. It is essential to not just stamp email marketing as a "newsletter." Sure, winning potential customers via the website, for instance, by animating them to register or regular updates on products and the company should be the standard.

But, especially if you offer a digital product or a service, you can plan and automate emails in advance and provide further content for retrieval. These include welcome emails, onboarding emails, tips & tricks, information on potential webinars, a database with FAQs or tech support, a community in forums like Discord or similar and finally also exit emails so that customers retain a positive memory.

At the same time, you should not forget the thought of loyalty. Thank you emails after 12 months, small benefits or goodies, all of this can be significantly controlled and communicated through emails, with extremely effective tracking and transparent data. You should think about early on how you not only inspire and add value, but also bind and are not perceived as "spam".

6. More safety in the context of the GDPR

As already mentioned at the beginning, the topic "DSGVO" has caused a lot of turmoil and also much uncertainty - especially among marketing managers. However, the topic has turned out more as a storm in a teacup. And even if the regulations, legal information, and processes are designed a bit more complicated, they are anything but impossible to implement. Many email marketing tools offer entire guides on the topic and help companies clear all important questions before sending the first email. A particularly good example is CleverReach in my opinion.

On their website, there is a simple GDPR guide, which guides you through the individual steps, including a checklist. Without going further into detail, the guide answers all important questions and you can optimally prepare for your first email campaign, also to the delight of the data protection officers in your company.

The most important issues that you should take care of are briefly listed here:

1. Contract for Order Processing (AV) with the email software provider
2. Consent of customers via Double Opt-In procedure
3. Only collect and store absolutely necessary data
4. Unsubscribe and delete data at any time and without problems

7. Context-sensitive drip campaigns

Another trend in email marketing is the drip campaign. This involves a sequence of smaller information boosts after a certain action by the customers or prospects via email. This is an important building block in a holistic customer view, especially with more complex products or longer sales phases. Information bites are distributed over a longer period and played out or triggered at certain intervals.

From the simple registration for a newsletter, up to concrete downloads of whitepapers or clicks on the website, targeted mini-campaigns can be played that concentrate exactly on one topic and make the onboarding easier. In this case, you should refrain from huge text mountains or cumbersome email formats, and focus on very concrete information or tips that bring value. Ideally, you can thus introduce interested parties to a complex product and highlight or explain features in smaller intervals. This avoids the rapid fatigue of users who may initially be overwhelmed by the variety of features, but can be brought closer to the product slowly but surely through targeted drip campaigns. Basically, you can also make good measurability as a by-product of click numbers, logins, or customer interest.

8. Word-of-mouth – Contents from users

Satisfied customers are the best advertisement for any product or service. It works even better, embedded in email marketing, where real experiences with a product are shared, without the usual marketing blabla. Often, it's worth it in the field of influencer marketing to look for certain competence carriers who are part of the content strategy. As a rule, existing users also have a better sense of what a potential new user needs and how the tool can best solve it.

So often wikis are also worked out with the community. In addition to tech employees, there are also users who have a completely new view on things and are significantly closer to the daily business. If you manage to pour exactly these contents into existing email campaigns, you can significantly increase the engagement and bind new customers faster to the company or the product.

9. More interactivity

Even in school, the topic "direct instruction" is negatively charged. The same applies to static or monotonous newsletters and email campaigns which don't really encourage the recipient to interact. Contents should encourage participation and not be purely static.

Classic CTAs in emails are also popular and can offer the right target group additional value. Besides, recommendation links, a small quiz or other Gamification approaches offer significantly higher interaction rates compared to static email campaigns.

In addition to the active content, the design must also be interactive and establish itself, for instance, via the ever-increasing trend of dark modes, gifs, and animations. According to the motto: The eye eats too!

10. More transparency between sales and marketing

Last but not least, the topic of transparency. Something that was and is not just a major trend in email marketing, but also in many other disciplines, especially due to the pandemic, is the strong alliance between sales and marketing. It is still not a rarity for companies to be very silo-oriented and to allow little interaction, data exchange, or target comparisons between different departments.

Email marketing in 2024 should be different and with the variety of tools and possibilities no doors should be closed anymore. Most of the email tools already come with basic CRM capabilities that also offer added value to sales. A prime example is Hubspot.

HubSpot Marketing Hub is not a classic email marketing tool, but offers a whole suite of possible modules and options. Starting with HubSpot is free for the basics. And there's a lot in here! In addition to the Marketing Hub, there's also a Sales Hub, Service Hub, CMS Hub, or Operations Hub. You can map all your marketing and sales processes and tools as you like. Thanks to shared contact lists, email marketing automation, email tracking, landing pages, helpdesk, social media integrations, and much more, HubSpot offers a super bridge for exactly this trend.

Also, it's easy to use and can be integrated very well into agile and small teams due to its sleek price scaling. The complexity level can be freely scaled upwards, so that other apps or systems can also be conveniently connected via interfaces. If you want to curb silos, you have a powerful tool for the first step at hand here.

Which are the best email marketing tools?

The question of the best email marketing tools is not easy to answer given the circumstances, because it always depends on the scope and wishful thinking of the respective marketing management. Here are five popular tools from the OMR Reviews world, but they can basically help you with any type of problem:

1. rapidmail

If you are looking for a strong, uncomplicated, and German solution in newsletter marketing, you can't get past rapidmail. The Freiburg-based company gets straight to the point. Without any frills or unnecessary ballast in functionalities. With a variety of templates, pictures, and an above-average delivery rate, you should strike here especially as an SME. While rapidmail offers only a very limited free account, it also offers the option to pay without a subscription and only as needed. This is particularly interesting for those who drive very punctual email campaigns or rather cultivate a small but select circle of customers.

2. Mailchimp

Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing tools and with good reason! The tool is super intuitive, user-friendly and has built up many new functionalities over the years. The additional focus on eCommerce and the direct connection to online shops is just one of the many benefits of the provider. In addition to the classic features, the pay subscription offers comprehensive marketing automation, postcard shipping, social ads, and much more that can be realized through the tool. Due to its ease of use and the relatively large scope, especially in the free version, it is especially recommended for start-ups and small companies.

3. Hubspot Marketing Hub

Also, Hubspot offers an email marketing solution. Where many email marketing providers gradually expand their offering with CRM functionality, Hubspot comes with an entire suite, with email marketing really just being the absolute tip of the iceberg. The added value comes from the all-encompassing platform in the background that can be extended modularly. With Marketing, Sales, Service, and even a CMS module, it offers the most comprehensive solution. Even here, the limited entry via a free account is possible.

Despite its comprehensive approach, HubSpot is very easy to use! Especially if you're thinking of a solution that should be cross-departmental and sales should also get access, the onboarding and platform are pleasantly intuitive and easy to use. However, you should only use HubSpot Marketing Hub if you have correspondingly bigger plans, because in direct comparison pure email marketing tools are somewhat more cost-effective and more extensive in smaller packages.

4) Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)

Brevo (ehemals Sendinblue) is like many other tools really very easy to use and offers directly a free entry. The price tiering is particularly interesting for marketing managers who want to go for large numbers and send as many emails as possible. In addition, Brevo (ehemals Sendinblue) offers some basic CRM elements like contacts, landing pages or forms with lots of sample templates for easy customization.

Especially the quite prominently positioned topic of SMS marketing stands out here. Here you can relatively simply and as desired to deposit credit and besides email campaigns also steer mobile campaigns. It's child's play to work with Brevo (ehemals Sendinblue) and get demonstrable results, also in tracking. It's one of my personal favorites in this selection.

5) CleverReach

Last but not least! CleverReach is also one of the top providers in the field of email marketing and offers a comprehensive and easy tool with a lot of room for individualization, automation workflows, and integration ranging from e-commerce to CMS and CRM systems. CleverReach is one of the more expensive solutions, but, in return, you'll have a watertight tool at hand for every situation. This is particularly highlighted by the prominently placed B2B solutions, here CleverReach specifically also offers solutions for agencies or other specific industries.

If you are planning long-term and successful email marketing, you should definitely keep CleverReach in mind.

How to get your email marketing rolling

Despite the diverse trends and numerous alternatives in email marketing tools, the question remains in the heads of some people: Where do I start now? Understandably, it is always difficult to go from 0 to 1 or to evaluate an existing system and to initiate a new investment. 2020-2022 have pushed the industry even further and also challenged the providers of email tools.

Depending on your condition, just start. Take one of the free basic tools in hand and simply send a test newsletter to your contacts or even in your private circle to get a feel for handling and also the results, including tracking.

To this end, there is an in-depth article here, how to easily create a free newsletter.

From the first prototypes, I would then take a concrete topic from your everyday life and develop a test for it and pitch it internally to the team or management. Because most tools are free or up to 50€ per month, the decision should not take too long, even if you want to test the topic first internally before it goes towards customers.

It's something different if you have an existing system with already 50,000 email contacts. Here the issue would be more about efficiency and transparency. Are the campaigns you're running successful and transparently measurable? Are all stakeholders satisfied or are there pain points. Here it can then make sense to screen the market and look at alternatives to your own system. Is the handling easier, the email configurator sleeker, or are there extended CRM functions that would bring departments closer together?

Wherever you find yourself, proactively tackle the topic, because even if you are currently well supplied, the market is developing rapidly and massively influencing the market landscape. But if you are still unsure, you can also find more information and a checklist on the topic of email marketing in this article.

Do you currently use a software solution? What are your experiences with email marketing? Feel free to leave a review and help other OMR readers make a choice by writing a review on OMR Reviews, here is the software review platform.