Focus on privacy, sustainability, AI, accessibility, and other email marketing trends inside

"The global e-mail marketing market was valued at $7.5 billion in 2020 and is projected to increase to $17.9 billion by 2027"

Source: Statista

Years go by, but the email marketing industry stays rife with change.

Want to achieve success in the field? Adapt to these trends, and success in the new year is bound to come your way. After all, being a progressive business on the cusp of industry trends always pays off when it comes to attracting customers.

Ready to learn what’s hot and what’s not for email marketing in 2024? Keep reading!

Focus on privacy

Less of a trend, more of a legal obligation. Focus on data privacy and data protection are going to be huge in email marketing in 2024.

Back in 2018, the launch of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) redefined the email marketing world, outlining the new rules of cold emailing and mailing list building. Even with these regulations in place...

"Only 8% of consumers trust brands to keep their personal information safe"

Source: NTT Data

To improve data privacy, provide subscribers with an option to unsubscribe or change their emailing preferences. Let them decide what content they will receive from you and when.

Imagine... Asking leads to fill out a short questionnaire (either on a landing page or Welcome email) to specify their preferred content and mailing frequency. Don’t pressure them to decide on the spot, though. Instead, link them to the preference control centre in every email so that they can change whenever they want.

You’ve just killed three birds with one stone.

  • More data to segment your subscriber database.
  • Clean mailing list when every uninterested subscriber can easily unsubscribe.
  • Improved email marketing performance; recipients get what they expect.

Sustainable email marketing

Email marketing is paperless. It’s a digital substitute for traditional mail that saves a ton of trees — but is it really great for the environment? As we progress into the digital age, it is critical to recognise that emails are paperless and not entirely green. Every email sent uses energy to be delivered. The cumulative carbon footprint is substantial, With billions of emails sent daily. That’s why sustainable email marketing will be one of the industry trends in 2024.

As Sarah Warrington put it:

“Savvy shoppers expect brands to communicate authentically and transparently about their sustainability practices.”

But there is a silver lining: making your email marketing more sustainable not only benefits the environment but can also resonate with your audience.

Here are some ways to make your email marketing more sustainable:

  • Update and clean your email lists regularly. You should ensure that you are only reaching out to engaged subscribers. This lowers the energy lost on unopened emails and increases your open rates.
  • Optimise. The greater the size of the email, the more energy it consumes. Make images weigh less, simplify code, and ensure your emails are as light as possible without sacrificing quality.
  • Tailor your emails to specific segments of your audience to ensure relevance and lower the number of emails ignored or deleted. This not only saves energy but also leads to higher user engagement.
  • Make sure each email has a purpose — go over your automated email sequences and review them. Redundant emails not only annoy subscribers but waste energy.

In the grand scheme of things, sustainable email marketing might seem like a drop in the ocean. However, every effort counts. Just as recycling can make a significant positive impact over the decades, sustainable email marketing practices can collectively make a difference. Plus, a sustainable approach often aligns with effective marketing strategies, making it a win-win for businesses and the planet alike.

Email Marketing Guide | NetHunt
A NetHunt guide on everything you need to know about email marketing: from technicalities to avoid spam filters, to winning email subject lines, to sending bulk emails in Gmail, and measuring their effectiveness.
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Hyper-personalisation of email marketing

The end goal of any email marketing campaign is to generate more revenue. Over the last couple of years, marketers have concluded one of the best ways to do so is through complete personalisation of user experience.

Inpersonalisation can have severe detrimental effects on the outcome of your campaign. Upon receiving a non-personalised or mistargeted email, 94% of customers report taking at least one of the following actions...

  • 68% automatically delete emails.
  • 54% unsubscribe from emails.
  • 45% categorise emails as junk or spam.
  • 29% become less willing to buy products.
  • 13% visit the website less frequently.
  • 10% never visit the website again.

Source: V12

Lack of email marketing campaign personalisation can result in anything from mailing list degradation, to an overall failure of the email marketing campaign because of its skyrocketing costs. Besides, personalisation has several other statistically-proven benefits...

This trend is particularly hot, and the importance of personalisation strengthens every day. That’s why the business world is expected to focus on email marketing hyper-personalisation in 2024, as opposed to just personalising parts of campaigns. Milk this trend...

  • Tailor messages and promotions by audience segment.
  • Recommend products or content by audience segment.
  • Send triggered emails based on visitor behaviour.
  • Recommended products or content per individual.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence makes it easier to assure email personalisation as it allows you to pull more data about your customers and do it faster.

Many marketers are still reluctant to incorporate AI into their email marketing strategy because they don’t understand how they can benefit from using it. They feel threatened by it. But you need to remember that AI isn’t meant to replace you, it’s meant to optimise your workload and help you scale your email marketing efforts.

  • AI helps to write subject lines.
  • AI allows you to send personalised emails to each prospect.
  • AI restructures your email campaigns to maximum effectiveness.
  • AI cleans up email lists.
  • AI helps to build mailing lists.

Email marketing automation

Email marketing automation ensures consistent and cohesive communication between subscribers and brand. Moreover, it gives the customer a sense of control over their inbox. In today’s world of content overload, the last thing a person wants to see in their inbox is yet another useless email.

Drip email campaigns tend to perform better than regular email campaigns. Specific actions taken by users activate the launch of the sequence. Emails sent out as a part of a drip campaign are more responsive, creating a much ‘friendlier’ communication between each side. They are not overwhelming; all the necessary information comes in ‘drips’, saving the effort of having to traipse through a hefty copy.

"Automated emails generate 320% more revenue than non-automated emails"

Source: CampaignMonitor

  • Make use of email templates.
  • Automate mailing list scrubbing.
  • Send automated transactional emails to your customers.
  • Automate the onboarding process with a series of email drips.
  • Automate email lead nurturing.

If you want to provide the most accurate automated emails, get organised. To be in control of all the processes, you should delegate the task to a dedicated CRM system. This way, you’d have a chance to know what, and where anything happens along your sales pipelines.

Find a list of the best Gmail CRM solutions in our article!

All of these are rightly connected with another interactive email marketing trend - email marketing gamification. Gamified solutions offer a competitive advantage by standing out among the rest of the emails in a subscriber’s inboxes. Still, it’s nothing complicated. Why not create a simple holiday quiz in a free web form generating tool.

Mobile-first

Let’s face it: we're living in a mobile-dominated world. While marketers, designers, and copywriters might be crafting those perfect emails from their spacious desktop screens, people open a whopping 68% of email campaigns on mobile devices.

It's not just about keeping up with the times; it's about understanding where your audience is. And if your emails aren’t cutting it on mobile, you're not just missing out on clicks; you're missing out on potential business.

As pointed out by Adestra's Consumer Adoption & Usage Study :

71.6% of consumers will hit that delete button if your email doesn’t shine on their mobile screens.

How to craft copy that works on mobile:

  • Don’t write novels. Keep your texts crisp, clear, and compelling. Think bullet points, not essays.
  • On mobile, you've got 25-30 characters to make an impression in the subject line. Make them count.

How to design with mobile in mind:

  • Not all phones load images by default. Design with a no-image scenario in mind. Your message should still come across.
  • Position your CTAs in the middle of the screen. And remember, fingers aren't as precise as mouse pointers. Size matters.
  • Space things out. Avoid link clusters. Make it easy for your readers to tap the right link.

Optimising for mobile isn't just a trend for 2024, it's a necessity. It's about meeting your audience where they are and delivering value every single time they click open. So, the next time you draft that perfect email, remember: Think mobile-first.

Interactive emails

This trend has already been around for a while but is only going to grow stronger in 2024. Interactive responsive emails are the holy grail of email marketing. They boost customer engagement and significantly increase email interaction. Some specific interactive email elements are expected to sizzle in 2024…

  • Animated buttons and CTAs.
  • Rollover effects to showcase product offering.
  • Interactive image and product carousels, controlled by the user.
  • Accordion features designed to make long-form emails more compact.
  • Surveys, polls and user-generated interactive content.

Accessibility

Accessibility is all about making your content easy to read for everyone. Because being able to read the emails without having to use assistance is not a luxury provided to anyone.

Consider this:

Approximately 15% of people live with some form of disability. Out of them, a quarter are visually impaired and might rely on screen readers to access web content. These tools use page elements to navigate and read out content. For these people, accessible content is a necessity.

Consider this: 


Approximately 15% of people live with some form of disability. Out of them, a quarter are visually impaired and might rely on screen readers to access web content. These tools utilise page elements to navigate and read out = content. For these people, accessible content is a necessity.


The benefits of accessibility go beyond helping those with disabilities. It’s also a powerful driver in improving your emails and optimising for your general audience.

Accessible content is inherently more structured, easier to read, and more user-friendly for everyone. Good accessibility translates to excellent usability, which is fantastic for business.

Here’s how to make your content more accessible:

  • Make your subject line concise yet descriptive, giving readers a clear idea of the email's content. Not only does this enhance accessibility, but it also boosts overall engagement.
  • Ensure your content follows a logical order, especially when viewed on different devices. This is crucial for those using screen readers.
  • Use headers, like <h1> and <h2>. They help individuals using screen readers understand the content's hierarchy, allowing them to navigate your content efficiently.
  • Good colour contrast isn't just aesthetically pleasing; it's vital for those with colour blindness. Aim for one text colour against a contrasting background colour.
  • Ensure crucial information isn't in images or infographics. Complement images with descriptive text and provide transcripts for video content.
  • Instead of generic "click here" links, provide context. For instance, "Click to explore our holiday collection" offers clarity on what the link leads to.

We can already say that 2024 is about to be a challenging, but interesting year. There are a lot of brand new trends emerging and older ones still in full force. It’s up to you whether you’re going to take advantage of them and slay the competition.

Here’s to 2024! 🥂

Thank you for reading this article!

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