From campaigns to conversations: The future of email marketing

Let’s picture this…

You’re at Target, scrambling to snag those last-minute items for your dinner party (and maybe some home decor and a dress, because why not?). Out of nowhere, two store promoters pop up:

• Promoter A: Without a hello, he launches into a spiel about the latest, greatest blender. Features, price, impressive performance — he rattles it off without pause. Despite your polite “no thanks,” he makes another pitch, same blender, just minutes later. Feeling fed up, you bail on the store entirely.

• Promoter B: On a different day, you bump into another promoter. She greets you warmly and asks about your day and what brings you to Target. You mention wanting to spruce up your kitchen with Joanna Gaines’s latest home decor and some updated appliances, and voila! She tells you about this super blender that might do the trick. Offers you a discount coupon and steps back. Your interest is piqued, and you’re actually considering the blender now.

So, who are you more likely to buy from?

It’s a no-brainer. Promoter B, all the way. She took the time to connect with you, listen and then suggest a solution that fits your needs. But when it comes to email marketing, we often find ourselves channeling Promoter A — blitzing our subscribers with emails and crossing our fingers for conversions.

Here’s the thing, even in our digital world, real human connections matter. Shifting from a spray-and-pray campaign to a more personal, conversational approach can be a game-changer for your email marketing results. Let’s dive into how.

Understanding the shift in email marketing

Email marketing has come a long way since its inception. Once upon a time, it was all about the numbers. Send more, sell more was the mantra. This shotgun strategy, fondly known as the “blast” approach, sprayed the same promotional email to every subscriber on the list, regardless of their interests or past interactions.

And guess what? For a while, it worked like a charm.

But as our inboxes filled up and our attention spans dwindled — with over 333 billion emails sent in 2022 alone — this method has started showing its cracks. The shotgun approach led to decreased engagement rates, with many emails landing in the spam folder or getting lost in the crowded inbox. The result? Feeling swamped and undervalued, subscribers hit “unsubscribe,” leaving potential sales on the table.

Fast-forward to today and customers want a more personal, one-to-one experience. They want to feel valued and understood. They want conversations, not campaigns. Hence, the shift toward a conversational, customer-centric approach in email marketing is more than a trend — it’s necessary. Personalizing your email subject line can increase your open rate by 20%. But subject lines alone aren’t enough.

This approach is all about engaging subscribers in meaningful conversations and fostering relationships over time. It’s about seeing your subscribers not just as a sea of email addresses but as distinct individuals with their own unique needs and likes. Welcome to the new era of email marketing: it’s time for a heart-to-heart.

The mechanics of conversational email marketing

So, what’s the deal with conversational email marketing? It’s pretty straightforward. It begins with viewing your subscribers as people, not just data points. This strategy hinges on cultivating relationships through personalized, engaging and spot-on content.

This approach has three magic ingredients: 

• Personalization. It’s all about shaping your emails to fit each subscriber’s unique interests, behaviors and preferences. Think using their name, referencing past purchases and delivering content that meets their needs.
• Relevance. Sending emails that your subscribers find genuinely useful and meaningful. It’s all about timing, respecting their inbox space and delivering value-packed emails every time.
• Engagement. Sparking two-way conversations and inviting subscribers to interact with your brand. This could involve asking intriguing questions, nudging them to reply, or offering choices in your emails.

Consider Glossier, the direct-to-consumer beauty sensation. They didn’t just make an announcement when launching their new product, Futuredew. Oh no, they sent an email with a personal greeting and a simple, playful question: “Ready to dew you?” The email, sprinkled with a conversational tone and complete with GIFs of the product in action, felt more like a chat with a friend than a sales pitch.

This pivot towards conversational email marketing isn’t just a tactical switch. It’s about adopting a new mindset — one that sees and treats subscribers as the unique individuals they are.

Dig deeper: Email subject line tips and best practices (with examples!)

The role of automation and segmentation in personalization

Let’s talk about the dynamic duo of personalization: automation and segmentation.

Even with a small subscriber list, crafting a personalized email for each subscriber can seem like climbing Everest. Now, if you’ve got a substantial database? It feels more like a moon landing. 

Enter marketing automation tools. They’re your rocket ship, giving you the scale you need without compromising on that personal touch. These tools let you trigger emails based on subscriber actions or milestones, nail follow-ups every time and deliver personalized content like a pro.

Imagine this — a customer makes their first purchase from your online store. With automation, they get a warm welcome email and perhaps a little nudge to buy again with a discount for their next purchase. Or let’s say a customer forgets their cart mid-shopping spree. They’ll receive a gentle reminder email with a snapshot of the forgotten items.

The beauty of automation isn’t just about efficiency, though. It’s about timing and relevance, making your emails feel like a one-to-one chat rather than a broadcast. But how do we ensure these conversations are on point for every subscriber? That is where segmentation comes into play.

Segmentation is all about dividing your email list into smaller, more manageable segments based on criteria like demographics, browsing behavior, past purchases, or engagement levels. This lets you deliver the right content to the right people.

Take a pet supply retailer as an example. They could segment their list based on each customer’s pet type. Cat owners receive content and product suggestions just for cats, while dog owners get dog-centric emails. This attention to detail makes your subscribers feel seen, understood and valued.

Dig deeper: 6 must-have, underused email marketing automations

Stepping stones to transition from campaign to conversation

Making the leap from campaign to conversation in email marketing may seem challenging, especially if you’ve been playing the numbers game for a while. Here are some actionable steps to get you started:

Know your tribe

Start by understanding your subscribers. Collect data through sign-up forms, customer surveys, or by tracking their interaction with your emails and website. Your goal? To get a sneak peek into their needs, preferences and habits.

Divide and rule

Once you have enough data, segment your email list. The finer your segments, the more on-point your emails will be.

Make it personal

Leverage automation tools to deliver tailored emails at scale. And remember, personalization isn’t just about dropping their name in the email — it’s about reflecting their interests and habits.

Test, learn, improve, repeat

Like any marketing strategy, success lies in constant testing and optimization. Keep a close eye on your email metrics and tweak your strategy accordingly.

Encourage chatter

Ask questions, invite replies and respond when your subscribers interact. Remember, conversational marketing is about creating a dialogue, not delivering a monologue.

Making this shift isn’t a walk in the park. You may need to rethink your strategy, invest in new tools, or train your team. But the payoff? A more engaged, loyal subscriber base that feels seen and valued. And isn’t that the ultimate goal of any marketing strategy?

Measuring success: Beyond open rates and click-through rates

The “blast and pray” days of email marketing were all about open and click-through rates (CTRs). These metrics are still vital, but we need to look deeper into conversational email marketing.

Consider metrics like engagement rate, conversion rate and subscriber lifetime value. The engagement rate — how subscribers interact with your emails (like replying or forwarding) — gains prime importance. Conversion rates, which measure how many subscribers take the desired action (like making a purchase), provide a truer picture of your campaign’s effectiveness.

Take BarkBox, for example. When they shifted gears to more personalized, chatty emails, they saw a boost in both open and click rates, customer engagement and retention. The result? A noticeable increase in customer lifetime value. This a clear sign that relationships over transactions can indeed be a winning strategy.

Looking ahead: The future of email marketing

Peering into the future of email marketing, one thing stands out: the move towards personalized, conversational exchanges is here to stay. Today’s subscribers want more than just mass emails — they crave real connections and personalized interactions.

Future trends hint at enhanced automation and AI for delivering hyper-personalized content, seamless integration of email marketing with other channels for a unified customer experience and interactive emails enabling subscribers to take actions directly in the email.

AI and machine learning will bring more firepower to email marketing, opening doors for advanced personalization, predictive analytics and smarter segmentation.

But remember, despite all the tech advances, the heart of email marketing will always be about building and nurturing relationships. This means the conversational, customer-centric approach will move from an option to an absolute must-have.

In a digital landscape bustling with chatter, genuine, valuable and “human” interactions will shine through. The future of email marketing is all about turning your email strategy into a heartfelt dialogue with your subscribers. In this thrilling journey, the goal isn’t just about being heard but remembered.