2024 Predictions: Email captures marketers’ attention

When done right, email is an effective, low-cost channel that speaks directly to the customer. In 2024, this channel will grow in importance as marketers deal with the deprecation of third-party cookies and other privacy challenges.

Marketers will continue to refine their email strategies because the payoff can be substantial. A full 58% of consumers say they’re positively influenced by email about purchase decisions, according to a new survey of 1,000 consumers by media technology company Adlook. Only 27% say they’re influenced rarely by email, and 16% report no impact.

Here are some of the ways marketers will improve their email programs in the year ahead.

Higher content value in emails

In the new year, marketers will pivot from sending low-value deals to sending valuable content that builds relationships between brands and their customers.

“We are seeing brands embrace the idea of sending value emails earlier in customer journeys,” said Andrei Marin, co-founder of email marketing agency CodeCrew. “Historically, new brands — a CPG for instance — will send general ‘spam’ emails with ‘50% off.’ Now we’re seeing the peak hit a lot earlier where brands, realizing the email space is crowded, will send more valuable content to their subscribers a lot earlier. They’ll actually provide the subscribers with something more than a buy-one-get-one (BOGO) offer.”

“In today’s noisy online world, email stands out as the key to capturing both intention and attention,” said Jon Beck, CRO of marketing technology platform LiveIntent. “With fewer ad spaces and a clutter-free environment, it’s the perfect vehicle for making a lasting impact and audience connection. In fact, it’s what’s behind the meteoric rise of Substack and The New York Times’ growth to over 9 million digital subscribers. And it’s why every publication you read now has a dozen newsletters.”

Brands are looking to capture this interest in reading email for content by giving up some of their special-offers messaging.

“We’re seeing a walk away from a race to the bottom when it comes to discounts and profit margins,” said Marin.

B2B email campaigns

Email campaigns aren’t just for consumer brands. In the year ahead, expect to see more B2B organizations adopting and implementing email efforts to engage their customers.

“We’re seeing more B2B-related email marketing,” said Marin. “A lot of B2B businesses are embracing the idea of running email marketing while, historically, they’ve relied on more of a full sales team to get the word out about their business. Now they’re collecting email leads and actively doing email outreach.”

In the B2B use case, emails don’t carry the risk of interrupting a prospect during a busy work day. As a more passive channel, email provides details about a customer journey that a B2B customer can act on at their convenience. This is one big reason why more B2B marketers are using email, according to Marin.

Importance of email as a logged-in channel

“Businesses will be turning to logged-in channels like email to build owned audiences and direct relationships,” said Beck. “Unlike other channels that rely on unpredictable algorithms, email thrives outside of those data-hogging walled gardens. And it’s emerged as an excellent source of first-party data.”

“We anticipate a significant increase in the importance of email marketing for retailers, which is poised to become even more crucial for gathering first-party data and driving personalized campaigns in a cookieless, privacy-centric marketing landscape,” said Andrea Polonioli, senior product AI marketing manager for enterprise software company Coveo.

Polonioli added: “As Google phases out third-party cookies in 2024, the marketing world is preparing to shift away from third-party cookies, following many years of anticipation. This change means that marketers will face the challenge of effectively collecting and utilizing first-party data while maintaining respect for consumer privacy.”

Changes to bulk email policies

Email marketers shouldn’t be spooked by upcoming changes to bulk email policies at email providers, according to Alexander Melone, co-founder at CodeCrew. Instead, these policy changes reinforce the best practices that email marketers should already have in place.

“Google, Yahoo and others rolling out new policies for spam filtering and inactive accounts adds to the critical importance of marketers’ proactive stewardship of email data,” said Tom Burke, CEO, at email technology company AtData.

“Although email marketing will hit somewhat of a saturation point, consumers will continue to value and appreciate highly personalized emails from their favorite brands,” said Alicia Pringle, senior director of online marketing at customer experience company Newfold Digital. “Brands should capitalize on this desire for personalization to increase the likelihood of their messages landing in ‘focused’ email inbox tabs, rather than bucketed into ‘other’ or ‘promotions.’”

Dig deeper: New rules for bulk email senders from Google and Yahoo: What you need to know

AI to improve email content processes

“The AI buzz will continue to strengthen, forcing emailers to incorporate more machine learning into creative, segmentation, traffic routing, and scheduling,” said Arin Reyna, SVP of email solutions at identity and email company Stirista. “A level of AI has been part of ESPs for quite some time, but now the human elements, like creative design and copy, may be under attack from the AI mob.”

“Generative AI can enhance the content development process and equip marketers with the tools they need to deliver the best user experience to their consumers at every touchpoint, from personalized marketing materials to seamless customer service encounters,” said Aruna Ravichandran, SVP and Chief Marketing & Customer Officer at Webex by Cisco. “As marketing teams begin to see positive outcomes like increased engagement, open rates, and ROI for advertising campaigns, internal teams will also reap the benefits. With their time freed up by leveraging generative AI for content and campaign development, employees can collaborate and innovate on higher-level, strategic initiatives.”

Ravichandran added: “Brands will look to AI tools to unlock even deeper insights into consumer behaviors, which can be used to personalize messaging and visuals that resonate with and drive engagement among various audience segments.”

“I see a big continuation of the interest of AI beginning to actually come full-steam,” said Melone. “That being said, I’m not going to say whether or not that’s the best thing for companies. There’s still a lot for AI to improve upon. Businesses should make sure that best practices are in place before even considering adding AI capabilities.”