As 2011 draws to a close, our thoughts race ahead to the campaign plans of tomorrow. What should the forward-thinking email marketer be considering as part of their bulk email programs for 2012? To help with this question, here are some predictions for email in 2012:
1. More emails will be sent than ever before in 2012
Consumers are signing up to receive emails in larger numbers. Everyone in email marketing should continue to focus on relevancy to ensure that they're building quality mailing lists and, in doing so, maintaining a healthy sales conversion per audience ratio.
2. Subscribers will be demanding greater respect for their privacy
Consumers became more aware than ever this year about the amount of information available online related to their purchases and interests. Behavioral targeting via cookies has become the norm.
Perhaps the biggest impact on privacy and deliverability in 2011 came from changes to laws relating to consumer permission and protection. In 2012, you'll need to show your subscribers more than ever that you're trustworthy. It will be paramount to review your privacy and marketing policies to be sure they meet all legal requirements for every country that you send emails to.
CAN-SPAM and the new CASL stipulations need to be adhered to or you’ll be facing grave financial penalties. It’s important to clearly display how opt-in subscriptions will be handled and to what extent user data will be stored and shared.
3. It’s time to make sure email campaigns render well on mobile screens
An increasing amount of people started reading their emails on a mobile device in 2011, and smartphone prices are predicted to continue to drop. Readers will begin to demand that all messages are legible on their mobile devices. Therefore, email needs to continue to be mobile optimized.
Ensuring that both your email and website landing pages render properly is a top priority. As smartphones become smarter and more capable of rendering HTML cleanly, there will likely be less of a need for such specialized mobile markup.
4. QR codes will become more commonplace and rewarding
You should see new list-building possibilities open up once potential subscribers are able to opt in to email communications by simply scanning a QR code. Although technically speaking it's already possible, most email service providers aren’t using QR code reading features.
5. The lines between email and social will blur even further
We witnessed many indications that email is still alive and well this year, and there's no doubt social media is here to stay. Over time it will drive the traditional inbox to become more social. After all, social media marketing is a very effective medium to engage with prospects, drive traffic to a website and build lasting relationships. Looking at it on a superficial level, email will allow for social connections. Social platforms will include messaging systems that are basically email with a different face.
6. Email reigns supreme
Email continues to be the single most effective marketing medium for small businesses despite efforts from some who claim that social media has taken over. ForeSee Results’ Report on Social Media Marketing shows that 64 percent of consumers prefer to receive promotional information from retailers via email rather than social media. It's a solid argument that emailers who were considering it to be the year to convert entirely to social media marketing should stick to their guns in 2012.
Email marketing has a healthy outlook for 2012 if marketers continue with the progress they've made this year. Whether managing and optimizing existing email marketing programs or enabling integration with social media and mobile, there's a real opportunity for emailers to up their game and achieve more in 2012.
Article originally published on eMarketing & Commerce