With so many email marketing tools at your disposal, it can be hard to discern which will best benefit your business, so we did the work for you. Last article, we gave you 5 brilliant trends to follow to get ahead. We chose 3 more that you should keep a close eye on that will help you convert prospects into leads, increase the value of your funnel, and build brand loyalty.
This post was originally published at DevTeam.Space Blog. DevTeam.Space is an on-demand software development platform and is helping companies to develop high-quality products and prepare for major releases.
1. Video Emails![]()
Email is all about capturing a reader’s attention, and then getting your point across concisely and brilliantly. Video is the perfect tool in a marketer’s toolbox to attractively communicate the details of a product/service in a short, concise manner. According to research done by eMarketer use of video in email increased click-through rates by 55%, increased sharing and forwarding the email by 41%, and increased conversion rates by 24%. What was buggy and glitchy yesterday could be the norm tomorrow. Set up some A/B testing and see how well your audience responds to it.
Related reading: How to Add Video In Email-Kissmetrics
Mythbusting Video in Email-MarketingLand
How to Use Video In Email Marketing-SmartInsights
2. Integrating Email and Social Media![]()
Many felt the rise of social media would phase out the dinosaur that is email marketing. Its 2015 and email marketing is still alive and well. Why? Email and social media are like smartphones and tablets, fundamentally the same, but so drastically different. There are just some things that cannot be condensed into 140 words. Social media has its perks as well, it allows for two-way communication where the brand has an opportunity to listen and interact with consumers. Fundamentally the same, but so drastically different.
People subscribe to email lists to receive newsletters, coupons, sales, etc whereas people follow Facebook pages, Twitter handles, LinkedIn accounts, to get news of sales and updates as well, but also to show support for the brand or just for entertainment. By engaging consumers on both platforms, brands build much more stronger relationships with their consumer base. Further rewards for active engagement on these platforms will only strengthen their brand loyalty and ensure positive reviews. Because of their differences, social media and email can work cooperatively to enhance brand awareness, convert prospects into leads, and increase ROI on your campaign.
Related reading: Definitive Guide to Integrating Social Media and Email Marketing-HubSpot
6 Creative Ways to Integrate Social Media and Email Marketing-Bufferapp
3. Marketing Automation![]()
The advent of big data will make marketing automation much more effective in turning prospects into warm leads. The collection of behavioral data across not only native platforms, but the entire web will expand marketing automation through discovery of interest. Marketers will be able to discern which of their prospects have recently googled for a particular product or solution and email marketing tools such as marketing automation will trigger an email providing the prospect the information they need. By figuring out what is needed and when it is needed, marketers can increase the value of their middle-funnel while not neglecting to procure more prospects to fill the funnel.
Essentially, better understanding of your consumers enables the consumer’s behavior to do some marketing for you. This automation will allow marketers to focus more on creating personalized, relevant content that speaks to the needs and challenges of the consumer and convert more prospects into leads. Marketing automation will continue to feed the beast that is big data and create more detailed profiles of each prospect. However, automation is not an excuse to be lazy; in fact effort and careful analysis will be required to realize the potential of automation. Any shortcuts could potentially destroy your email marketing campaign, but if you refocus your attention towards generating quality content, automation can and will make your life easier.
Related reading: 12 Automated Workflows You’ll Kick Yourself For Not Using-HubSpot
5 Dangerous Myths About Marketing Automation-HubSpot
Conclusion
With email marketing, the real measure of success is whether or not you can convert your prospects into paying customers. By utilizing marketing automation, you free up time and energy to focus on creating strategy that will bring dollars into your bottom line. However, it is imperative you communicate with the person behind-the-screen and by integrating social media with your email marketing campaign, you are able to not only talk to your consumers, but listen as well. The integration of both channels will create a stronger relationship between your brand and your customers as well as create a more favorable impression of your brand through how you interact on social media. Engage with your subscribers by offering them entertaining videos in your emails, this could separate you from the other 50 or so emails they have in their inbox and for a chance to go viral, make it easy to share through email and your social media channels. What other trends do you think needs to be followed? Leave a comment below.
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