3 Email Marketing Design Trends

In 2006, Nokia ruled the world of mobile phones. Their phones were strong, they held their charge for a long time, and they had a loud speaker and a powerful processor. With the advent of smartphones, their position has been lost. When Nokia released the first touchscreen phone, it was too late – Samsung, HTC, Sony and iPhone, already swallowed up the market.

Email marketing is also evolving and developing. In 2010, the adaptive layout of letters was a wonder and now it is a common. The one who caught the trend – stayed on the wave, the rest had to catch up in a hurry. If you are conducting an email mailing, you probably have your own forecast what will be popular in 2019. Let’s check whether your assumptions coincide with the opinion of experts.

Interactive designs

Embracing interactivity in your emails should be Job One for your marketing team this year. With over 44.1% of marketers already incorporating interact email content, making some of your own is a no-brainer.

Compelling interactive designs are turning emails into inspiring micro-sites that give prospects a way to have a relationship with you without having to return to your website.

There are five main ways you can encourage interaction in your emails:

  • Navigation bars/accordions/menus
  • Shopping carts
  • Real-time news/updates
  • HTML5 video/animated GIFs
  • Games/puzzles

Let’s take a look at how each of these elements work and see them in action.

  1. Navigation bars/accordions/menus

People love apps.

Incorporating an app-like quality to your marketing emails gives uses that interactive feeling they know and love and encourages them to approach your brand with an open, playful attitude.

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The ability to include code that allows hamburger menus and photo carousels is critical for this type of design and it is particularly useful for reaching users on mobile devices that have restricted screen space.

Let’s take a look at this phenomenal example from B&Q at Litmus.Email Marketing Design Trends

Recipients can scroll down the list on the side and get a different “page” for each version.

Email MarketingNotice how each page has its own image, color scheme, and tagline.

Email marketing designThis design allows B&Q to send one email to four different market segments: a general outdoor-loving market, customers who barbecue, those with kids, and those who love to entertain outdoors.

Interactive shopping carts

The fewer actions a prospect has to take, the more likely they are to opt in and become a customer. New, interactive shopping carts embedded in emails act like landing pages, allowing customers to shop and complete an order without having to click through to a website.

Take a look at Litmus’ interactive cart.

Email MarketingHere, the recipient can choose locations, dates, build a custom workshop experience, and check out — all within the email.

Real-time news/updates

This year, the Detroit Pistons sent out an email that thrilled fans—and made marketers take note.

The email, which is delivered to ticket-holders prior to game-time, shows records, team matchups, and stats before the game. During the game, information changes as stats and live scores are broadcast for all the players.

Here are a few screenshots from the Adweek page.

Email marketing pageChecking the email at any time during the game gives fans instant information in real-time, which contributes to engagement.

Video/GIFs

Short video clips or animated GIFs are another way to capture your audience’s attention and draw them into your brand’s message.

Check out this animated GIF from Ann Taylor Loft.

Email Marketing DesignThe clean design is striking on its own, but when the gift package shakes from side to side, it’s hard not to click on it and be taken to the appropriate landing page.

In this example, Harry’s uses a GIF in the form of a speeding clock dial to relay urgency and encourage users to click through.

Games/puzzles

Gamification is a marketing strategy poised to bring in more than $11.1 billion by the year 2020. Using games and puzzles in your email marketing strategy can tap into this potential — and bring you a greater share of customers.

Here’s a fun representation of a scratch-off card from retailer Gwynnie Bee

Email Marketing bannerThis game isn’t just fun—it also delivers a valuable offer to prospective customers.

  1. Personalization

Personalization has gone beyond the realm of “Hi, ‘FIRST_NAME’,” to become truly targeted. Campaign Monitor will help you create a personalized email for everyone. Let’s look at the way EasyJet crafts a stunning email with a very personal touch.

Email Marketing PersonalizationEmail Marketing Personalization 1Email Marketing Personalization 2They didn’t just call their customer by name, they also memorialized their relationship with him, gave him suggestions on what to do next, and followed it up with a strong call-to-action (CTA).

That’s a lot of marketing value in one email.

Monica Vinader takes personalization to the next level by using the customer’s initials on jewelry. This image makes it seem like they’ve created bespoke pieces just for the email recipient.

Email marketing personalized contentThis type of dynamic and personalized content is an incredible — and effective — way to capitalize on your relationship with your customer to encourage continuing brand loyalty and increased purchasing.

  1. Bite-sized content

Microsoft has recently discovered that goldfish have surpassed human beings in the attention-span department.

That’s right. A goldfish can pay attention for nine seconds. Us, not so much. We’re down to eight seconds.

For email marketers, that means providing small, but powerful, bits of information is critical to getting customers to act.

Let’s look at how Nest used infographics to engage with their customers. These images, from Venngage, show how nest provides a continual info-stream to keep customers interested.Bite-sized content

Bite-sized content 2Here’s another month’s “Interesting Fact:”

Bite-sized content 1In keeping the reader informed and interested, Nest is also keeping their brand in front of customers and continuing to establish trust and loyalty.

Another way to encourage customer interaction with your brand — and garner a bit of social proof in the process — is to share Tweetable quotes and information in your emails.

Here’s an example of what a Click to Tweet bar looks like:Email marketing tactics

Of course, you would insert the quote or bit of information that’s relevant to your brand in the box. The Click-to-Tweet box is so recognizable that it’s an almost reflexive share.

The competition of marketing channels is growing. But in 2019, email marketers have their own competitive tools: interactive emails, improved navigation, and minimal design. In order to achieve the attention of the majority of the audience we offer to use mailings adapted for mobile.

What are your predictions for 2019? Write in the comments that, in your opinion, will become a trend.