Video in emails. 
 
“Automatic video play in email has been talked about for several years but it is not supported by the majority of email clients at this time”. 
 
Ben Hocking, Client Success Manager at Jarrang, said:

Video dramatically improves engagement rates. We are predicting that 2021 is the year that video is accepted by email clients like Gmail and that it becomes more commonly used. When it does become widely supported there is a window of opportunity for businesses to be first at the door, to become trail-blazers.

Personalised images in emails. 
 
“Personalisation of emails can come through the clever marrying of live data and smart design: when they work in harmony, they produce great results.“ Says Stafford, continuing with an example: 

Hotel pre-stay emails include live-data weather reports within their email communications to arriving guests. We’re expecting to see much more of this in 2021.

Email subject lines 
 
The recipient of an email takes less than one second to decide if that email is worth opening. “The subject line is one of the most important factors” says Stafford.  

Write email subject lines which promote a feeling of urgency or scarcity. These can generate a 22% higher open rate. You can create live countdown timers within an email, for a promotional offer perhaps; this reinforces the urgency message in the subject line.

Targeting and segmentation  

“Benefits of segmenting your database include an increase in engagement rates due to greater email relevance, with lower opt out/unsubscribe rates and greater revenue.” Says Ben, continuing, he says: 

You could split your database using behavioural data, perhaps creating targeted email campaigns to customers who have opened up your email in the last 6 months and another one which targets those who haven’t interacted with your email recently.

Marketing Automation  

“Automated emails are usually sent as a result of a trigger. E.g. when someone subscribes to your email updates this is the trigger for an email journey begins.” Explains Ben.

It’s important to map out your automation journey for your customer. So, when a customer subscribes, this would trigger the start of the journey with a welcome email, then perhaps a series of ‘nurturing’ emails sent several days apart to draw them through the sales funnel. The automation journey path can go quite deep.

If you would like to read more about how email marketing can help your business, Jarrang have a series of free resource guides available on their website.