Abstract
- Generative AI is gaining popularity. 34% of email marketers use generative AI in their copy, surpassing video and CSS interactivity.
- AMP is struggling with email. Only 7% use AMP for email, due to lack of support from major email clients.
- Top trends in email performance. Live content, multivariate testing, and personalization can improve email marketing performance.
Marketers are always wondering which tactics and technologies to invest their time and money into. What are marketers in the email marketing world thinking? Here are some insights into email marketing trends to help you make the best decisions for your brand this year.
Generative AI is popular but has weak performance
For a technology that has only been mainstream for less than two years, its usage rate is impressive. According to Litmus and Oracle Digital Experience Agency's State of Email Trends report, of approximately 500 email marketers, 34% use generated AI in their copy at least sometimes, and CSS-based email interactivity ( 26%) and videos. Email (33%). Only 9% of respondents use generative AI for image generation.
The difference between generative AI for copying and generative AI for images makes a lot of sense. Generating images that meet brand standards and usage requirements with AI requires art direction skills that most email marketers don't have. Copy, on the other hand, is much more forgiving and much easier to edit.
Another interesting difference is that organizations with fewer than 500 employees are significantly more likely to use generative AI in their email marketing programs than larger organizations. The legal risks associated with generative AI are clearly less of a concern for smaller brands, who also see generative AI as an attractive way to save time and fill skills gaps.
Although the usage of new technology is high, the performance improvements reported by users are not. In fact, of the 38 email marketing elements, tactics, and technologies questioned, respondents ranked copy and image generation AI in the bottom three in terms of performance (along with email annotations and schemas). Did. This supports the view that, at least for now, generative AI is primarily aimed at saving time rather than improving performance.
Related article: Machine Learning and Generative AI in Marketing: Key Differences
AMP for email continues to struggle
Five years after the release of AMP for email, only 7% of respondents say they use it at least sometimes, making it a very niche tactic. That said, the few organizations that are using it seem to be very happy with the performance improvements it produces.
Its low adoption rate is understandable, given the small addressable portion of the US email marketing audience. AMP for email faces many challenges, but the biggest one is the fact that Apple Mail and Outlook don't support it. That's because more than 60% of emails are viewed in these two inboxes combined, according to Litmus' email client market share data.
The biggest thing that could change the fortunes of AMP for email would be for Apple to support it, which is highly unlikely given the company's focus on privacy and restrictions on marketers and advertisers. seems low. That means his AMP for email is likely to remain a niche strategy for the foreseeable future, at least in the US.
Related article: Marketers, don't ignore AMP for email just yet
Most and least impactful email marketing trends
Of the 38 email elements, tactics, and technologies we asked about, over 85% of respondents said the following provided some or significant performance improvement:
- Live or real-time content.
- Multivariate testing.
- Personalization with dynamic content.
- Emails triggered by actions (e.g. Welcome, Abandoned Cart).
- Email segmentation.
- Advanced performance analysis.
- Customer Data Platform (CDP).
- Omnichannel marketing.
So all of this makes them smart places to continue investing. At the other end of the spectrum, respondents saw the least improvement in:
- Emoji in subject line.
- Email annotations and schemas.
- AI-generated copy.
- Brand Indicator for Message Identification (BIMI).
- Inclusive and/or accessible technology.
Some require only relatively simple improvements, such as using emojis in the subject line. I was also very surprised to see that inclusive design and accessibility were rated so low, but then all the people who respond positively to these techniques have probably already unsubscribed due to frustration. Therefore, we found that these techniques did not significantly improve performance. Investing in inclusive design is an investment in retaining new members at a higher rate than before.
Related article: 13 Comprehensive Design Changes to Increase Engagement in Digital Marketing
Email marketing is the great equalizer
As you can imagine, large organizations with 500 or more employees have the resources to take full advantage of all available email marketing tactics and technologies. In fact, they use almost every email trend more frequently than smaller organizations.
However, with a few exceptions, the differences in usage are not dramatically different. While the usage answers certainly hide significant differences in the sophistication of usage, it's great to see smaller brands adopting email marketing trends that have worked so well for larger brands. That's reassuring. Email marketing is truly a channel that all brands can use to great effect, so lean forward, test new tactics, and adopt a minimum viable program that can be the foundation of your growth.
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