You’ve (still) got mail – why email marketing isn’t going anywhere anytime

A recent interaction with a very smart and savvy chatbot got me thinking about how emerging technologies have changed, and will continue to change, our interactions with brands. These artificial intelligence (AI) tools can provide a quick answer in an emergency, resolve an issue with little fuss and even help you book a table at your favourite restaurant. Given the incredible potential of this powerful and sexy tech, it’s understandable that some might assume that AI-enabled marketing will soon replace some of the more ‘traditional’ marketing channels. But this isn’t entirely true.   

Email marketing has never been more popular than it is today; the industry is projected to grow from $7.5 billion in 2020 to $17.9 billion by 2027. This is, in large part, because people still use email. A lot.   

• In 2023, 347.3 billion emails were sent and received every day, according to Statista. This number is expected to rise to 361.6 billion emails this year. 

• There are around 4.4 billion email users worldwide, Statista also reveals. 

• Last year, industry analysts calculated that, on average, email users have on average 1.75 to 1.9 email accounts. 

• Recent data from HubSpot shows that a massive 99% of people check their email every single day, and some do so as often as 20 times a day. 

While email might still be a favoured channel, the ‘spray and pray’ campaigns of old no longer cut it. As such, modern marketers must evolve their strategies and approaches so that they can better cater to customer expectations and remain relevant in a saturated market. 

If you’re looking to up your email marketing game in 2025, here’s where you should be focusing your attention.  

Think mobile 

It’s hard to believe that the iPhone is almost old enough to drink. Well, in certain countries, anyway. Debuted in June 2007, Apple’s first smartphone is widely accepted as the device that officially launched the smartphone revolution. By putting the Internet – and email – in our pockets, Apple totally transformed the email marketing industry.  

Today, around 46% of email opens now happen on mobile devices, according to HubSpot. This means that whenever you hit Send, you can expect around half of the recipients to view your correspondence on a mobile device. Making sure that all emails are mobile-responsive and optimised for different types of devices and screen sizes is something all marketers must be doing in 2025.  

But beyond developing responsive templates, there are a few other things you can do to make sure that your messages are easy to view on any device. For example, keep your subject lines short (around 30 characters) so that they appear in full on a smaller screen, and be sure to break email copy into consumable chunks so it’s easier to digest on a small device. 

Get personal 

Gone are the days of a one-size-fits-all approach to email marketing. Not only is it no longer effective, it’s also rather lazy given how much information brands have about their customers. By leveraging customer data and segmenting email lists based on different criteria – like interests and purchase history, for example – it’s possible to create highly targeted campaigns that resonate with people and increase the chances of them taking action. Remember that you’re trying to build relationships with your customers, and if you treat them like a number instead of an individual, you’re going to have a hard time earning their trust and loyalty.  

Not only do personalised subject lines stand out in busy inboxes, but they also increase the chances of your email being opened. Similarly, when an email is personalised, the recipient is more likely to engage with the content and take action because the message is packaged in such a way that it speaks to a specific subscriber. If your message feels more intentional than the messages being sent out by your competition, it sets your brand apart from everyone else. 

Embrace omnichannel 

While this post is all about email marketing, providing seamless omnichannel experiences is no longer a nice to have; it’s a must. Smart marketers will use the behaviours and insights gathered from more than one channel to inform their broader strategies. It’s all about efficiency. If you’ve learned something about a customer from one channel, it makes sense to use this insight to inform how you engage with that customer elsewhere. When telling your brand story across multiple touchpoints, the aim should be to deliver consistent messaging and a standardised experience.  

An omnichannel approach also makes testing quicker and more cost effective. Rather than trying out a new concept or idea on a channel that is more expensive and harder to measure, you can use cheaper and more measurable channels to get a sense of how your campaign concept will perform. 

Go interactive, but also keep it simple 

Remember the stats above on how many emails are being sent and received every single day? These figures mean that your email content is competing for attention, which is why marketers must come up with ways to ensure that their message doesn’t get lost in the noise. According to a HubSpot survey, 44% of marketers believe that emails with multimedia elements, like videos, photos, and GIFs, get the highest levels of engagement.  

 And not only does visual storytelling make your emails more appealing, it also aids in information retention. 

The idea is to move emails away from static messages and transform your content into more engaging, real-time experiences. In action, this means including interactive elements like polls, surveys, and quizzes into emails or creating CTAs that provide real-time feedback because they change colour or expand when a customer hovers over them. 

All of this being said, there is also value in keeping your emails simple and minimalistic. With consumers constantly bombarded with so much digital content, a focus on simplicity and clarity without any unnecessary elements can be highly effective. It’s all about providing straightforward, digestible content with clean layouts, clear typography and simple colours so that your core message really stands out. 

Leverage modern technologies–like AI 

Just because AI-enabled solutions won’t replace email doesn’t mean that marketers can’t use AI to improve and enhance the work they do. Today, around 51% of email marketers believe that AI-supported email marketing is more effective than a traditional approach. This is because artificial intelligence makes it simpler to automate different aspects of email campaigns.  

Additionally, AI can analyse massive amounts of customer data – the scale of which wouldn’t be possible for a regular human – and then providing marketers with insights that they can use to improve their strategy. For example, AI will be able to tell you when the right time is to send an email or what wording yields the best results. But AI isn’t magic, it requires clean data to deliver and add value. 

Email might not be the most advanced marketing channel, but it continues to adapt and evolve, ensuring that it remains a highly effective channel to watch.  

Want to take your email marketing strategy to the next level? Click here to get in touch, today.