4 Ways to Ramp Up Your Email Marketing in 2019

As you work on ways to improve your marketing plans for the new year, make sure email marketing plays a big role. That’s because this form of marketing is far from dead. In fact, 76 percent of consumers make purchases from email marketing messages, so it’s no surprise that for every dollar companies spend on this strategy, they make $38. If you’re looking for ways to freshen up your email marketing techniques for 2019, check out these four upcoming trends.

1. Get on Board With Segmentation

If you’re not already segmenting your emails, 2019 is a good time to start. Email segmentation involves splitting your list of subscribers based on certain details so everyone gets emails that pertain to them. For example, you might segment your list based on age, location or purchase history.

Once your list is segmented, you can target accordingly, ensuring your email subscribers get the kind of content that’s relevant to them. Not surprisingly, email segmentation can improve engagement, which in turn boosts ROI. In fact, HubSpot found that 39 percent of marketing professionals who segmented their lists saw higher open rates on emails, while 28 percent observed lower unsubscribe rates. And one study found that segmenting emails led to 18 times the profits.

If you want to boost your success with email marketing in 2019, segmentation is a good place to start.

[RELATED: Want to ramp up your marketing for 2019? See what it's like to work with a certified HubSpot Partner Agency.]

2. Focus on Personalization

Once you segment your email list, it’s time to develop personalized content for your audience. After all, you’ll want to send content that’s actually useful and interesting if you want to increase your email open rate in the long run.

You can start by personalizing content based on the details you know about your subscribers, such as where they live or what kind of products they buy. Another aspect of email personalization is simply starting the email with their name and using it throughout the content. And be sure the personalization extends to the subject line, since that can increase the open rate by 26 percent.

3. Get Interactive

If you want your emails to stand out in 2019, consider interactive content. Big brands like Wendy’s and Nest have been doing this for a couple of years, and now it’s time for your business to try it, too. You can use quizzes, contests, surveys and games to get your audience interacting with your content—which will increase conversion rates and engagement.

Make sure you include a lot of useful information for consumers, such as the ability to hover over a product image and see more details, or update their wish list or shopping cart with a simple link within the email. Animated GIFs and image carousels that feature several products may also appeal to your email subscribers. No matter which interactive email idea you choose, don’t forget to personalize it based on your audience.

4. Make Your Emails Mobile Friendly

With about 55 percent of people opening their email on mobile devices, it makes sense to ensure your emails are optimized for mobile. This means making sure your emails are responsive to screens so they look different on mobile devices than they do on computers. For example, instead of making a link out of a call-to-action, make it a button that users can easily press with their finger.

[RELATED: Learn how to add call-to-actions to your business' social media profiles!]

You should also use minimal images—since they often take too long to load on smartphones with slow Wi-Fi connections—and break up the email text so it’s easy to scan.

If you want a way to increase your email marketing success in 2019, plan to try out all four of these popular tactics, keeping track of the metrics—such as open rate, click-through rate and conversion rate—along the way. Then, you can switch up your strategy throughout the year, depending on what the metrics say works best for your audience.

After all, the best email marketing tactics are ever-changing, so keep an eye on the latest trends if you want to keep up!

For even more statistics on email marketing in 2019, check out this infographic by PRdaily.com: