Philip Storey - enchant agency.com Effective Email Marketing in 2021
Email in 2020/ 21 Predictions
1. ESPs are doing amazing things. The technology successful brands are using is shifting.
Intro- Who are you
Where are ESP's struggling?
Costing clients lots of money but not evolving
What is the Gap? There is a gap between tools and strategy. The tools are not enough alone, to do great email marketing.
ESP's not investing in Strategy for clients
Why is this? They say to be great at something, you have to have 1)the want to do it and 2) the skill. to do it. ESPs just want to build and sell tech. ESPs are tech companies and they're great at this. But less so at planning, analytics, optimisation.
ESPs no longer an authority on email marketing - more an authority on Email technology
AMP for Email (accelerated mobile pages)
Consider with all big campaign briefs - carousels, surveys & polls, save pins in pinterest, live content, even a shopping cart
Trend change
2015-2020: Brands use multiple plugins / tools for email. E.G. personalisation / dynamic content / countdown timers
2021: One box of tools desired now for email
This has meant that marketers are choosing ESPs differently
exponea
AI and personalisation
Emarsys (just acquired by SAP)
Serious players, massive in retail + ecommerce
Klavio-
better platform - ease of use
Cost + ease of use will mean it takes on Mailchimp
Automation is now being used seriously
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Micro-experiences with automation
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pay-to-subsscribe: brands trying out paid newsletters
Recipies and pre built work flows this year
next step is breaking away from templates for automated sequences
Whats going on in automation in email? Customer Journey is a bit of a myth that limits your ability to think creatively - to help a subscriber
Isn't it arrogant to assume people are on a journey???
Customers dont think or behave in this linear fashion
Safe and easy for marketers to understand!
problem here is we (marketers) think of technology before we think about strategy and experience!
So what is the alternative?
Take journey off the table- its ok but its very basic
think about micro experiences + email as a service
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Enroll people into email and paid social combos - integrate other channels
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Klavio example- Runderwear
why ad steps and make assumptions? That can be dangerous and put me off
Stop calling it a journey
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This means there is more of a need for marketers to get specialist help with improving email. We've seen this trend throughout 2020 and it's only increasing.
What this means for 2021
Previously: brand + ESP = team
Now: brand + ESP + email agency = team
What are the benefits? Is it a trend? Yes.
This means: Marketers are investing in guidance and implementation - not just email tech
Ways to help subscribers with email automation + personalised content. Example: Runderwear - bra category. Brief: High return rate. Solution: bra-category browse automation series = educates on fitting. Lots of tools to help select the right product. Win-win = lower return rate, more sales in that category + happier customers. NOTE: would not be possible without great email tools + a real strategy that is customer-centric.
Great content is something people are willing to pay for - morning brew could easily monetise their email newsletter for example
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