5 Email Marketing trends to watch in 2016

What will email marketing look like in 2016? Every year we are asked the same question. What is clear to us is that the digital market is a changing marketThis forces marketers to adapt every year in order to have a real competitive advantage.
 Year after year, companies are looking for new ways to understand users in order to communicate with them the more assertively, the better. If you are still wondering why email marketing is relevant to your digital campaign, it is important to know that, according to the consulting firm Smartec, 54% of marketers consider email marketing to be the most effective and easiest type of digital marketing..
In this post we tell you what the new year has in store for a sector that is increasingly dynamic and often unpredictable. We leave you 5 trends we will see in Email Marketing this 2016:
1. Micro-segmentation: the segmentation of segmentation.

Effective email marketing is about providing users with the information they need, respecting their interests and taking advantage of their behaviours and habits in the buying cycle. This means that it is increasingly important to classify our users and define their behaviours in order to provide them with what they want or need: personalised information and treatment.
What do we mean by micro-segmentation? Take segmentation to the extreme. That is, dividing the target audience of a product or service into the smallest possible, almost unique, parts.
Example:
The same email is sent to 250 people in a database.
Of the 250 people who receive the email, 200 open it.
We segment according to whether users have purchased a product or service as a result of opening the email, or whether they have not purchased anything at all.
-100 users did not make any purchases
-100 users bought something
Now, we "segment the segmentation" already done to differentiate what kind of purchases have been made. What products have users bought?
-40 users bought a mobile phone
-25 users bought the PS4
-35 users bought battery chargers
Once segmented by product, we carry out another micro-segmentation, where, depending on the purchase they have made, they will be sent one email or another:
-those who bought mobile phones-> emails related to mobile phone accessories
-those who bought the PS4-> emails related to games or accessories
-those who bought battery chargers-> emails related to new notebook models on offer.
The micro-segmentation in Email Marketing consists of re-segmenting these groups into even smaller groups. In other words, we could now segment again, according to the games, accessories or new notebook models they have purchased, in order to get a more defined user and adjust to their more specific interests.
Undoubtedly, in 2016, it won't be enough to simply segment demographically or by gender, but marketers will have to go beyond that. to offer each of the micro-segments what they need.
2. Email trigger: Automated hyper-personalisation.

The technique of email trigger is nothing more than an automated hyper-personalisation technique, which involves a customer relationship action that is automatically activated when a certain situation occurs. A clear example could be a Welcome Email when you sign up for a Newsletter, or when an email is sent to a user to congratulate them on their anniversary.

It is the opposite of mass mailings: a technique to reinforce your brand, promote specific products or services, build trust and make the user feel important. In short, a component that is increasingly present in email marketing and will be a very important element in email marketing strategies in 2016.
Must have 2016: Responsive Design.
2015 was the year of Responsive Email Design, And it will continue to be so in 2016. Over the last two years we have emphasised the importance of adapting email to the mobile screen. Not only is it still just as important, but in 2016 it is predicted that even the design of emails will be mobile-first. There are many who predict that mobile will become the first screen for accessing digital informationtaking the first place from desktops. This leads us to think that companies will start to create sites, not only responsive, but also exclusive for this type of devices.
In addition, the design must not only be mobile-friendly, but the content must be mobile-friendly as well. Users who use mobile devices want to get content easily and quickly. For that reason, emails should be simple, without excessive text and with few attachments so as not to slow down the download. The big trend for the coming year is the use of pre-headerswhich is the text that is displayed just below the subject of the message and is very useful on mobile phones.
4. More emphasis on movement
Videos, GIFsanimated emoticons and other elements that contain movement will gain importance this 2016 in emails. These types of elements make our inboxes more colourful, expressive and at the same time more approachable. The good use of these moving images attracts the attention of subscribers and, as a consequence, increases the chances that they will click and access our products or services.

If you still don't incorporate this type of images in your emails... Don't lag behind and start the new year with a lot of action in your emails!
5. More connection between emails and social media: use of the #hashtag in the subject line.
Increasingly, emails integrate the possibility of accessing social networks. This is a very important element, as social networks provide precise data on our consumers that we can use to offer them content, promotions and news tailored to their profiles.
In addition to there being a close connection between one channel and the other, in 2016, email will begin to use elements typical of social media more frequently. A clear example of this is the use of the #hashtag in the subject line of emails.

An email that contains valuable content inside, but the subject line is not eye-catching, is unlikely to have a good open rate. Therefore, you have to make it as eye-catching as possible, and the #hashtag allows us to do so. It is a clear example of call to action that is attractive to the user's eyes. We use the #hashtag continuously on our Twitter, Instragram, even on our Facebook. So why not also use it in our emails? According to SalesForce, the use of #hashtag in the subject line is a direct connection between social media and email marketing. It's a trend that has been growing in 2015 and seems to be leading to more and more open rate due to the widespread use of the symbol on social media. It is still not a widely used element by companies, in fact only 1% of the emails to consumers include #hashtags in its affairs, but it looks set to be a promising element in 2016.
In short, on Email Marketing is more alive than ever, and seems to be starting to adapt to a new situation based on Cross-Channel, which involves merging and leveraging all possible channels to have an effective and successful marketing campaign. Studies suggest that segmentation and personalisation will be the top priorities for marketers in 2016.. However, we must not forget that we are talking about a channel that is increasingly a meeting point between the other channels, which makes it a key player. There is no doubt about it, on Cross Channel will be a key element in digital marketing strategies. of the coming year, and email marketing will play a crucial role.