Last week, emfluence, a digital marketing agency here in Kansas City held its annual user conference. The emfluence Conference (or #emflConf on Twitter) hosted some great case studies and learnings on the latest trends in social media and email marketing. One of the keynote speakers, emfluence’s own Jessica Best, discussed ‘Trends in Email Marketing’ in 2015. Here’s a quick rundown of what we learned, and some takeaways on what you should be thinking about for your store’s email program this year.

Looking back on 2014, here are a few trends that emerged in email marketing:

• Email volume in one day still FAR outweighs social media. Still think email is dead? Think again! There are many more marketing emails sent in one day than social media posts.
• Email ROI still tops all other marketing channels. Some studies show that companies have attributed 23% of their sales to email marketing.
• Mobile readership is increasing dramatically. Designing a mobile friendly email is really a must. In most cases, at least 50% of emails are being read on a mobile device.
• Remarketing to your customers. Smart marketing can help drive sales, consider ‘remarketing’ to your customers when they interact with your email by sending them a different message (e.g., a customer who clicks on a coupon is sent a similar money-saving offer).
• Data-driven content. You know your customer, so use that information to help engage them in an email. Adding targeted, personalized content with a timely message is the best path to conversion.

What’s trending in 2015? Be on the lookout for these upcoming email marketing trends:

• Data-informed strategy. Leverage your customer data AND demographic data to send personalized offers to your customers. For example, if you see customers within a certain age group buying a group of products, it’s likely that marketing those products to others that match that demographic data will lead to a conversion.
• Customer journey planning. When a customer enters your marketing funnel, are you leading them on a journey? Consider an email series that walks the customer through store history information, tips and featured products that help establish your brand.
• Asking customer preferences. Sometimes email marketing gets called a bad name. No longer should emails be called “eblasts”, they should be considered targeted messages. You should understand what each customer is looking to receive emails about. Consider starting out your email program with a preference sign up to ask what type of emails they’d like to receive (weekly ads, coupons, wine club, etc.).

2015 is shaping up to be the biggest year yet for smart data email marketing. Stay tuned to the AWG Marketing/Advertising Blog for updates on what’s new in the email world. If you’d like to learn more about email marketing now, view our other posts on this topic.