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Another year in email has come and gone. We had some battles with GIFs and white lines in Outlook, learned more about how Siri and Alexa read email, spread the word about email accessibility, and picked up some neat techniques for adding animations and augmented reality to email campaigns. But what’s next? We’re excited to see what’s on the horizon for email development and marketing, So, we decided to ask a few of our partners, colleagues and fellow email geeks what they’re looking forward to in 2019, as well as what they’re expecting to see in the next year of email.

Email will Get the Respect it Deserves

[caption id="attachment_5649" align="alignleft" width="140"] Jen Capstraw, Iterable's director of strategic insights and evangelism[/caption] Jen Capstraw, director of strategic insights and evangelism at Iterable “What I’m looking forward to most in 2019 is that email will achieve newfound respect. The world is finally taking note of what we in the email biz have been shouting about for eons – email is the top channel for ROI. Recent acquisitions and fundraising in marketing technology show that email is the heart of every cross-channel marketing strategy. Data silos are starting to dissipate and the focus on short-term conversions is waning. The move toward lifetime value as the ultimate key performance indicator (KPI) demonstrates that loyalty is a priority, which means next year will see a greater emphasis on using email to build customer engagement.”

Shorter Subject Lines

[caption id="attachment_5653" align="alignright" width="157"] Liz Willits, senior content marketing specialist at AWeber[/caption] Liz Willits, senior content marketing specialist at AWeber “To boost email open rates in 2019, marketers will start using subject lines with fewer than 20 characters. Email subject lines under 20 characters are easier to read at a glance and they stand out in the inbox because the majority of subject lines are greater than 20 characters. Plus, shorter subject lines are not cut off when a subscriber views the email on a mobile device.”

Auditory Calls-to-Action

[caption id="attachment_5663" align="alignright" width="153"] John Thies, Email on Acid CEO[/caption] John Thies, CEO at Email on Acid “This year will be the year of auditory calls-to-action (ACTAs). Given the rise in popularity of virtual assistants, we’ll see more subscribers interacting with their email using their voice. Smart speakers (Alexa, Google Home, Apple Pod etc.) are the fastest growing consumer product in the world. Alexa recently released an update that can read and reply to email and Google Home is on its heels. Marketers will need to hone their skills in creating calls-to-action that don't need images to back up or strengthen their message, as more users will be listening to their emails rather than looking at them on a device.”

Combined Email Solutions

[caption id="attachment_5655" align="alignright" width="150"] Jack Wrigley, VP of business development, revenue and growth at Kickbox[/caption] Jack Wrigley, vice president of business development, revenue and growth at Kickbox “Further consolidation in the email industry will continue as the focus to provide multiple services by a single company intensifies. This will be hastened by the concern over the frothy stock market losing steam. Acquiring companies will feel pressure to leverage their increased valuation to get deals done.”

More Personalization and AI in Email

Inbox Pros team “In 2019, I would like to see more targeted emails that are designed for me specifically, as well as fewer marketing emails overall (even if I do want them). I’m hoping marketers will start sending fewer bulk emails and spend more time customizing emails for specific users’ interests.” – Kelly Sheikh, deliverability specialist “I’m looking forward to more development in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in email marketing. I also think companies will adopt an even greater focus on personalization to connect with their audience. However, I hope email marketers will take greater care to protect users’ privacy in 2019.” -Michael Mann, deliverability strategist “I’m hoping email marketers will continue to improve their email list acquisition and stop sending cold emails!” – Gina Cunsolo, account executive “I’m looking forward to the rise of interactive emails in 2019 and I predict that artificial intelligence will be more widely adopted to personalize email content.” – Gabriel Daumit, email deliverability strategist “An email trend in 2019 I’m looking forward to is brand indicators for message identification (BIMI) and I predict that major ISPs will prioritize domain reputation with minimal weight on IP reputation. I’m also hoping email marketers will spend this year improving segmentation and triggered mailing, as opposed to casting a wide net of bulk emails without direction.” – Nathan She, deliverability technical lead

Improved Email Technology, Optimism for Gmail and Outlook

[caption id="attachment_5656" align="alignright" width="152"] Doug Dennison, CEO at MailNinja[/caption] Doug Dennison, CEO at MailNinja “I see greater improvement and capability of what email tools are currently available, such as more advanced analytics, deeper-level segmentation and smarter automation. As an email agency, we’re always striving to push the boundaries of what’s possible, and where ESPs fall short, we aim to develop tools to fill the gaps. As for something I’m hoping email marketers can improve in 2019 – the email community is tight and there are some smart individuals in there that are driven to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Our goal in 2019 is to focus on individual email clients such as Gmail and Outlook and see how far we can push them. I hope others continue to fight against the odds and unlock possibilities.”

What are your email predictions for 2019?

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