Explore these 8 innovative and emerging strategies centered around customers to continually demonstrate your worth to prospects and loyal clients via email.
Projections about marketing trends are intended to guide marketers in setting crucial goals for the upcoming year. However, oftentimes, these forecasts regurgitate familiar concepts or serve as disguised exhibitions for specialized vendors.
Let’s enhance the utility of this email marketing forecast by spotlighting a pivotal development within the realm of email marketing, accompanied by the relevant occurrences that solidify its significance.
In my view, the prevailing trend for 2024 will revolve around the email experience – a heightened emphasis on enhancing our customers’ interactions with our brands, offerings, services, representatives, and communications.
Many of the specific trends highlighted in the incoming forecasts are centered on enhancing our customers’ engagement with our email communications. This encompasses activities ranging from fostering trust in the inbox to exploring designs suitable for Dark Mode emails.
This elevation of customer experience as a primary focus in marketing endeavors aligns with the increased emphasis on customer loyalty. According to a study by SimplicityDX, the cost of acquiring new customers has surged by 222% since 2013, escalating from $9 to $29 per customer in 2022. The study asserted that “customer acquisition expenses and higher rates of product returns encompass almost the entire difference.”
Two complementary trends substantiate this intensified emphasis on customer experience: the availability of smarter marketing tools and the adoption of practices placing customers and their preferences at the forefront of decision-making, fostering a more customer-centric approach.
The following eight trends can be categorized under these two domains, each contributing to an enriched Customer Experience (CX) and reinforcing the company’s worth in the eyes of its existing clientele.
This intensified concentration on customer experience could prompt marketers to seek out tools and data that enable smarter operations at the intersection of loyalty and business expansion: assisting customers in achieving their objectives renders the company more valuable and deserving of their loyalty.
Embracing Efficiency in Operations
Enhanced operational efficiency empowers companies to deliver improved customer service across various facets, including enhanced product quality, streamlined in-store or online browsing and purchasing, efficient customer support, more personalized and impactful messaging, and heightened email deliverability to inboxes.
A. Prioritizing Inbox Credibility through Trust and Authentication
We’ve persistently advised our clients to craft an informative and recognizable presence in the inbox, featuring a sender’s name that’s promptly identifiable (never utilizing a “no-reply” email address) and a compelling subject line.
However, marketers now face the challenge of proving to both email service providers and subscribers that their emails merit placement in the inbox. Fortunately, contemporary email marketers possess an array of tools that facilitate increased inbox placement and foster subscriber trust, leading to higher open rates and interactions.
These tools encompass Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC), an email authentication and reporting protocol.
Leveraging BIMI for Building Trust: The global surge in email fraud has significantly impacted both individuals and businesses, with over 3.4 billion phishing emails sent daily. The financial repercussions are severe, with each piece of personal information stolen in a phishing attack estimated to cost around £150 ($181).
Concerned subscribers exhibit increased vigilance against email fraud, yet this caution can result in the dismissal or reporting of legitimate emails as spam or fraudulent. BIMI is gaining prominence as a trust indicator, substantially enhancing the customer experience.
BIMI operates as an email specification standardizing logo display across various mailbox providers. Notably, it mandates that the sender verifies their authorization to dispatch emails with the associated logo, assuring subscribers of the sender’s authenticity and deterring brand spoofing.
Upon successful verification, brands can showcase their logo alongside their email messages within the inbox. Brands lacking verification continue to display no logo (as seen in Gmail) or a default image (like Yahoo! and Outlook), typically featuring letters from the brand name.
The image below illustrates a mobile Yahoo! Mail inbox exhibiting messages from brands that have undergone BIMI verification and those that exhibit default images or no logos, showcasing the evolving landscape of inbox authentication and trustworthiness.

A brand is required to adhere to the authentication process outlined by the AuthIndicators Working Group, a collective of mailbox providers and email security entities. Meeting DMARC validation checks stands as one among several prerequisites in this authentication journey.
Presently, BIMI is supported by Google/Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Apple Mail, La Poste, Fastmail, and Cloudmark. However, Microsoft (Hotmail, Outlook) does not extend this support. Other mailbox providers contemplating support encompass Yahoo! Japan, Comcast, and BT.
The significance of DMARC validation:
While its immediate impact on customer experience might not be as explicit as inbox trust signals, it does ensure that emails anticipated by users to land in their inboxes indeed find their way there.
During the autumn of 2023, both Google/Gmail and Yahoo! Mail unveiled plans to heighten sender requisites for message placement in their users’ inboxes. Mere subscriber consent for email dispatch is no longer sufficient.
Presently, senders must authenticate their sender IP addresses and domains through SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail), coupled with at least a p=none policy in DMARC. This directive prompts inbox providers to deliver emails even if they fail SPF and DKIM checks.
Nevertheless, numerous email security specialists advocate for senders to configure their DMARC policy to p=reject, instructing inbox providers to block any email that fails SPF and DKIM checks.
Gmail and Yahoo! Mail have implemented measures to facilitate easy unsubscribing from brand emails by mandating the use of list-unsubscribe headers. These headers, integrated by an ESP (Email Service Provider) into the email header code, embed a native unsubscribe link within the message in the recipient’s inbox.
The location of the unsubscribe option may vary across email clients. In Gmail, it appears as a text link adjacent to the sender’s name (top image). Conversely, within Yahoo! Mail’s mobile app, it manifests as a “Unsubscribe” CTA button located at the message’s bottom (bottom image).

B. Embracing the Wider Adoption of Generative AI
Generative AI, dubbed “GenAI,” has transcended its initial allure as a mere novelty to emerge as a tangible asset within the business realm within a remarkably short span. Anticipated is a surge in its adoption in the forthcoming year and beyond, as more marketers acquaint themselves with AI-driven tools and harness their capabilities proficiently.
Marketers have primarily directed their attention towards OpenAI’s ChatGPT for copywriting, ideation, and optimization, alongside DALL-E for generating and refining images based on textual cues and descriptions.
ChatGPT, leveraging OpenAI’s GPT large language model, stands as one of the swiftest-growing AI-driven language bots, amassing over 100 million registered users since its launch in November 2022. An array of proprietary tools such as Jasper and WriteSonic have emerged, alongside no-cost or budget-friendly options like Microsoft’s Bing and Google’s Bard.
As revealed in Smart Insights’ The Future of Digital Marketing, approximately one-sixth of businesses have integrated AI for content creation and optimization for over a year, with about one-third recently commencing AI utilization for generating SEO, social media, and email marketing content.
The top three applications of AI in email marketing encompass content personalization, email retargeting, and subject line optimization, according to the 2023 Email Marketing & Research Report: A Look at the Market for the Future of the Channel, a collaborative research effort by RPE Origin and Ascend 2. Additional utilities encompass dynamic content generation, optimal send-time determination, predictive analytics for customer behavior, automated segmentation and targeting, as well as A/B testing and optimization.
Leverage GenAI for crafting a campaign brief: Its simplest applications involve generating succinct yet targeted copy, like headlines, subject lines, calls to action, taglines, and email body content. While some marketers have experimented with ChatGPT and analogous copy-centric bots for generating extensive content, outcomes have displayed variability thus far.
In my agency’s experience, ChatGPT significantly expedites the creation of comprehensive briefs for intricate email campaigns.
Below is a recent prompt I used for an email campaign brief, invoking numerous persuasion principles elucidated by Robert Cialdini in his book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. The precision of instructions is noteworthy! While I employed ChatGPT for this brief, the principle applies universally to any GenAI tool: the quality of the output is contingent on the precision of the prompt or directives.
“If you’re venturing into ChatGPT, our newly curated Free Members’ ChatGPT prompt cheatsheet is an unmissable resource. It encompasses a comprehensive A-Z glossary of ChatGPT features and techniques, replete with insightful tips and illustrative examples. Additionally, it furnishes a selection of recommended free and paid tools, including ChatGPT alternatives.”
C. Heightened Adoption of Intricate Email Automations
An illustrative instance involves the transition from a solitary system-generated email to a sequence of branded, optimized emails designed to captivate new subscribers and prompt them to take action, such as signing up or making their initial purchase.
While we lack recent statistics on the percentage of email marketers implementing strategies like incorporating cart-abandonment sequences or expanding welcome emails into comprehensive onboarding series, I’ve observed a broader acceptance of these automated techniques among both my clientele and the broader email marketing sphere.
Several recent developments are propelling this trend:
- Cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms, encompassing ESPs and emerging AI tech startups, facilitate nearly instantaneous integrations and feature dashboards that significantly streamline the construction of intricate automations and email templates.
- Advancements in tools capable of automating the segmentation of diverse customer groups and optimizing the timing and content of highly personalized emails based on individual recipient data.
- Enhanced accessibility to real-time data, eliminating the need to await responses from database managers.
- Reductions in marketing team sizes, particularly during and post the COVID-19 pandemic, compelling remaining marketers to seek efficiencies wherever feasible.
This resultant DIY approach, requiring less IT involvement, has rendered automation more accessible. On average, 81% of marketing organizations utilize some form of automation, as reported by Salesforce.
Consequently, email marketers are becoming more adept in leveraging automation for improved outcomes. Companies are acknowledging that investments in these sophisticated automation frameworks yield augmented revenue and bolster customer retention.
Automation empowers brands to seamlessly gather and manage individual preferences while utilizing this data to craft more pertinent and personalized communications. This aligns with customers’ expectations of receiving messages aligned with their interests, thereby amplifying the email-driven customer experience.
As ESPs continue integrating automation features to remain competitive, an anticipated surge is expected among marketers venturing into these tools. This shift aims to streamline operations, heighten conversions, and fortify customer retention by capitalizing on the efficiency of automated processes.
D. Enhanced Data Organization and Accessibility
An integral aspect of the drive towards working more intelligently involves bolstering marketers’ access to data and leveraging this information in a more efficient and effective manner to guide decision-making processes. This spans from campaign development and audience selection to content curation, message optimization, and comprehensive analysis.
The emergence of the Customer Data Platform (CDP) teeters on the verge of becoming a mainstream data entity. Projections by the CDP Institute forecasted CDP industry revenue to reach $2.3 billion in 2023, displaying moderate growth from the $2 billion anticipated in 2022. Presently, there are 171 identified vendors operating in the CDP space.
While there are overlaps between a CDP and a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform in terms of managing and integrating data, CDPs distinguish themselves by amalgamating and unifying data from a broader spectrum of sources, thereby furnishing a holistic customer view transcending the sales cycle.
The allure of a CDP lies in its promise of delivering an enhanced customer experience via more timely, personalized, and pertinent messages. Additionally, it offers a “work smarter” advantage by reducing the manual effort marketers invest in audience selection, campaign customization, and simultaneous campaign deployment.
The anticipated surge in CDP exploration by brands might underscore the unified customer views CDPs offer. However, brands may encounter challenges in integrating data from disparate sources, such as customer support interactions. Moreover, the effectiveness of CDPs hinges significantly on the volume of data at their disposal. In cases where data generation falls short, alternative tools like CRM platforms might suffice without incurring the expenses associated with a CDP.
E. AI Support for A/B Split Testing
Anticipate a rise in A/B split testing owing to two key developments:
- Increased availability of testing tools integrated into email distribution platforms.
- Utilization of generative AI to expedite and refine test controls and variations with heightened accuracy.
The RPE Origin/Ascend2 study previously cited highlights that numerous enterprise-level email marketers employ ChatGPT and similar large-language model bots to streamline aspects of A/B split testing.
These language bots simplify A/B testing by proposing alternatives for subject lines, calls to action, or content blocks. Suggestions range from basic alterations like word count, choice of words, and sentence structure based on hypotheses to more intricate variations incorporating emotional approaches or persuasive elements, tailored to specific testing audiences.
Unlock the potential of ChatGPT by joining us as a Free Member and gaining access to our ChatGPT prompt cheatsheet. It offers an encompassing A-Z glossary of ChatGPT features and techniques along with tips, illustrative examples, and our recommended free and paid tools, including alternatives to ChatGPT.
Embracing Customer-Centricity as a dominant email-marketing Trend
The repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to resonate, especially regarding the transformations in email messaging. These shifts predominantly revolved around restructuring email programs to prioritize meeting customer needs and desires ahead of advancing company objectives.
Although the fervor for this customer-centric approach has somewhat waned as society navigates into a post-pandemic era, brand email teams persist in maintaining or amplifying efforts to infuse email communication with utmost customer-centricity. This manifests through three distinct trends:
A. Embracing Dark Mode Email Design
Dark mode aims to offer electronic device users a reprieve from intensely illuminated screens, commonly associated with the broader movement aimed at enhancing accessibility in email viewing. This initiative aims to overcome challenges faced by readers with vision or cognitive impairments.
While recent reliable statistics detailing the percentage of users opting for dark mode remain elusive, Litmus’s investigation revealed that approximately 40% of iPhones have this feature activated.
Further insights from a study conducted by the Nielsen/Norman Group indicate a lack of unanimous preference for one polarity over the other. Roughly one-third of respondents favor dark mode, another third exclusively opt for light mode, and the remaining third oscillate between both.
However, dark mode presents challenges for marketers due to the discrepancies in rendering between designs optimized for light mode and their presentation in dark mode. Rendering inconsistencies prevail across various email clients. For instance, colors may appear differently against darker backgrounds, often becoming nearly imperceptible.
Designing a universal dark mode template for an email proves to be an arduous task due to the diverse rendering across multiple email clients. A more pragmatic approach involves identifying the predominant email clients among subscribers and crafting a template design that resonates well across these platforms.
B. AMP for Email – Reviving Its Potential!
Despite its initial promise of enhanced interactivity within emails, AMP for Email still awaits wider recognition within email design spheres.
While some brands haven’t abandoned this technology, which pledged to streamline the conversion process by enabling actions within the email itself instead of redirecting to a landing page, AMP for Email remains in an underexplored realm. This suggests a potential resurgence if marketers and email developers uncover its niche applications despite its drawbacks.
Nevertheless, AMP has faced setbacks due to various reasons:
- Microsoft terminated its AMP for Email pilot in Outlook, while Google has shifted its focus away from it.
- Only a handful of ESPs and mailbox providers endorse this technology.
- Brands scaled back experimentation with novel technology amid the pandemic and ensuing global economic downturn.
However, AMP for Email might be on the verge of a breakthrough due to backing from two major mailbox providers—Gmail and Yahoo! Mail—alongside support from two ESPs, MessageBird and Netcore Cloud.
Netcore has presented several case studies bolstering AMP for Email, including one involving YourStory, a platform dedicated to India’s startup economy.
YourStory set out with three primary objectives: bolstering event participation, increasing lead generation from these events, and streamlining the event registration process.
With assistance from Netcore’s Customer Success Team, YourStory revamped its conventional email marketing approach by integrating AMP for Email and implementing AMP-based responses and registrations directly within email messages.
This approach conferred two significant advantages compared to traditional emails necessitating users to click through to a landing page for event registration:
Simplified registration: Users seamlessly shared their information within the email, ensuring quick and on-the-fly registrations.
Reduced drop-offs: Registrants completing the registration within the email significantly minimized drop-off rates.
Aaron Karthik, head of digital marketing at YourStory, reported a remarkable 5.5X increase in event registration conversions through the AMP for Email test.
A B2C instance showcasing the utilization of interactive email for a business purpose hails from the snacks retailer Feastables, which has integrated AMP for Email in specific email communications. Here’s an illustration illustrating the use of this format to engage subscribers with a trivia quiz content.
Participants were able to answer quiz questions directly within the email interface (as depicted in the left image). In the event of clicking an incorrect answer (center image), they encountered an error message but were given the opportunity to refresh the email and make another attempt (as shown in the right image).
C. AI Revolutionizing Personalization for Enhanced Sales and Engagement
My overall anticipation is that companies will progressively explore various AI applications in email marketing, moving beyond just subject-line or call-to-action enhancements and focusing more on strategic objectives alignment.
Illustrating this shift, AI proves instrumental in personalizing the email newsletter, a pivotal element within an email content strategy. Often, these newsletters tend to be static, conveying primarily what the brand wants customers to know, rather than catering to their unique interests. Volvo’s report demonstrates how AI can elevate newsletters into more tailored and relevant messages.
Crafting a personalized newsletter at scale remains a persistent challenge for many brands. Volvo, however, capitalized on its extensive customer data to construct profiles and elevate its CRM functionality. Tony Allen, Global CRM Lead for Volvo cars, highlighted the necessity to sustain customer interest throughout the prolonged automobile purchase cycle.
Volvo aimed to intensify communication with engaged segments, deliver hyper-targeted campaigns, and personalize initiatives focusing on a singular theme. The process encompassed several steps:
Utilization of the machine learning platform iota-ML, AI-copywriting tool Jasper.ai, and the video-in-email system Playable to enhance the customer experience. Conducting a 12-week trial of a weekly version of the bi-monthly newsletter on 10% of its audience. Upon favorable response from the test audience, the revamped format was extended to the entire audience. Categorization of email clickstreams into 28 customer content preference categories. The Iota-ML platform employed these categories to create predictive audiences, enabling personalization for smaller segments. Launching 75 predictive campaigns in the inaugural year, titled as “We thought you’d like this,” which notably resonated with less engaged groups. Outcomes: The implementation of machine learning through Iota-ML streamlined content selection, reducing the campaign process to a mere two hours from conception to deployment. Additionally, the results were remarkable:
A threefold increase in year-over-year engagement 47% of new product sales attributed to ML-driven audiences A 4.5X growth in the “most engaged subscribers” segment A 6X expansion in the highly engaged segment interested in electric-car content Volvo adopted a universal control group, enabling direct correlation between the change and increased revenue.
The inclination towards embracing MarTech advancements among email marketers marks a significant trend that, admittedly, involves some degree of hopeful anticipation in my 2024 trends list. However, there’s a noticeable shift towards recognizing the benefits of leveraging data, technology, and strategic planning to sustain and enhance email as a means to provide customers with an improved brand experience—one that aids them in accomplishing their individual objectives, subsequently contributing to companies achieving their own goals. I’m eagerly anticipating witnessing the unfolding of this trend in the upcoming year!
For further guidance in identifying and prioritizing digital marketing trends to shape your strategy, don’t overlook the exclusive 2024 edition of “The Future of Digital Marketing,” available solely for Smart Insights Free Members.