Essence of Email Weekly - What will shape the 2020 email programs?

This week, Litmus released a report that can come in handy when setting up your email program for success in the new decade. What can you find in their State of Email 2020 report?

How to react to the most crucial email client updates that can't be ignored, including the new iPhones, Gmail's facelift, dark mode, and AMP for email.

How new privacy laws will shape the email industry and what steps toward tighter worldwide privacy regulations are being made, including GDPR and California's new laws (CCPA).

How email marketing will evolve in the new decade, as seen through the eyes of leading industry experts, and what the changes will mean for your tools, team, and workflow.

The report is a thorough and well-designed 50-page PDF.



What does it take to become a world-class email marketer?



Having studied email marketing tactics across different industries, Demand Metric and Return Path by Validity released The State of Email Marketing report that points to the factors that make an email marketer world-class. Here are a few tactics from the report that drive world-class email results:

1. Understand the importance of tracking the competition, because otherwise you're shooting in the dark. In other words, you should not just aim to improve your old results, but also always keep up with the competition.

A tip from Essence of Email experts: Sign up for your competitors' emails and do your best to stay updated on their activities.

2. Understand the preferences of the customer. Have a clear idea of how readers consume emails, how much time they spend reading an email, and what devices they use, including the specific features such as voice assistants.

3. Set goals and objectives that align with the company's initiatives and always have a grasp of your most crucial metrics. According to the report, the factor that frequently contributes to the low performance of a campaign is that it either has no objectives or its objectives don't align with the company's end goals.

4. Make sure you focus on the right tactics that will help you win the inbox battle. The report states that personalizing emails, optimizing email deliverability, and conducting A/B tests helped marketers see above-average performance and ultimately led to higher open rates and conversions, as well as email messages standing out more.

5. Invest in proper training and acquire useful skills, as becoming world-class requires constant professional development. According to the survey, world-class marketers make time to gain new skills and undergo continuous training and email marketing bootcamps.

Take a sneak peek into the key findings.



MILLENNIALS


On millennials and their anxiety over unread emails



After working with over 600 millennials, Hiver, a leading email collaboration solution provider, came to numerous conclusions about anxiety that comes from unread emails, which 60% of their respondents experience daily.

The Hiver report also shows that two in five millennials get extremely uncomfortable if they don't check their work email for 3-4 hours at a stretch.

Additionally, 63% of millennials agreed that long emails obstruct their productivity, and that they preferred them being shorter and 'to the point'. Interestingly, 60% said that emails can be a good substitute for workplace meetings.

Even though the report is based on surveying millennials, we can safely say that long and pointless emails take up a significant portion of people's working day, but a well-written, easy-to-read, and informative email can contribute to the recipient's efficiency.



EVENTS


eCommerceFuel Live 2020



The private community for 7-figure plus store owners is organizing their 2020 eCommerceFuel (ECF) Live event in San Antonio, Texas. The event takes place from February 2 to 5.

The organizers aim to maintain a tight-knit, intimate environment with highly-experienced entrepreneurs, technology providers, and experts in the field of eCommerce. As they say on their website, last year's average attendee did more than $3 million in annual sales.

Essence of Email's founder and email marketing expert Xiaohui "X" Wang will be speaking about The Essential Checklist to Successful Email Marketing.

Sounds like the right place to be for the upcoming week!



RETENTION MARKETING PLATFORMS


What's new in companyland?



There's a lot going on and tons of $ are on the market this week:

ActiveCampaign raised $100 million

The not-so-typical startup company ActiveCampaign, an email service provider, announced that it has raised a funding of $100 million led by Susquehanna Growth Equity, with the private equity firm Silversmith Capital Partners also participating.

As they announced on Tuesday, the money will be invested in building out new technology and expanding internationally. The company founder Jason VandeBoom explained that ActiveCampaign's automations are powered in part by AI and machine learning algorithms, and are customized with flows that inform hundreds of unique experiences generated dynamically for each person.

__

Yotpo acquired SMSBump

Yotpo, the Israeli-founded and NYC-based eCommerce marketing platform, announced on Wednesday that it would be acquiring the Bulgaria-based SMS marketing company, SMSBump Inc.

The numbers behind the deal were not disclosed, but the rumors say that the estimate is tens of millions of dollars.

Yotpo developed a platform that helps online retailers manage and respond to user-generated feedback, while SMSBump provides a messaging platform to companies that contact customers via texts. The nature of these companies makes them a great fit for business expansion.

__

Attentive raises another $70 million

The mobile messaging startup Attentive is growing quickly. This Wednesday, the company announced that it raised $70 million in a Series C funding co-led by Sequoia and IVP, with participation from prior investors Eniac Ventures and NextView Ventures.

Only six months ago, Attentive raised $40 million in a Series B investment, and according to their CEO Brian Long, the company had not planned to raise money again so soon, but things were going better than expected.

However, it's always smarter to raise money when things are going smoothly, rather than dealing with the "not-so-fun process" of trying to raise it when push comes to shove.

As their CEO says, "When you see that you're doing that well, you think, 'Hey, we should hire a lot more people to support this growth.' And then the other piece is just being able to move faster into new areas".



ECOMMERCE


The new normal for eCommerce



eCommerce experienced record-breaking sales during the 2019 holiday season. $142 bn were recorded in online sales, which marks a 13% increase from the previous year according to Adobe Analytics.

Let's take a peek into the reasons behind this growth.

We no longer have only the Black Friday deals. The pre Black Friday deals and discounts start in late October and continue into a now week-long event of Black Friday.

Next comes the Cyber Monday that has expanded into Cyber Five and morphed into the Cyber Ten. The result was hitting more than $3 bn in sales and accounting for 27% of the total holiday revenue. $2 bn is the new online benchmark now.

In November, there were 10% more emails sent than in October and email marketing continued to drive eCommerce sales with 17% of online revenue in 2019. 84% of consumers said that they were more likely to open emails with discounts and 58% felt that relevant email offers had a higher likelihood of purchasing.



EMAIL DESIGN AND COPYWRITING


Email design and copywriting inspo of the week



As Valentine's day is only a couple of weeks ahead, now's the time to prepare the promo emails and make the most out of this holiday.

Here are some tips: start early, be flirty, send love, and create a gift guide.

To help us all, the guys at Designmodo have put together copywriting and design ideas and examples from brands that have done this right.

Here are some subject line suggestions on their list:

Play it safe:– Ready for sweet deals?– You'll fall head over heels for these …!– Need some help this Valentine's? 5 perfect gifts for anyone– Up To 65% Off Valentine's Gifts!

Be festive:– Ready to play cupid?– 5 perfect Valentine's gifts for her/him– One for You, One for Your Valentine– ♥ is… 25% OFF

Stay away from neutrality and clichés:– You Forgot It Was Valentine's Day. Now What?– Sleeping This Valentine's Day! You've Earned It!– Better Than Roses: 30% off!– The Anti-Valentine's Day list is here…