For many businesses, 2011 proved to be a challenging year. They had to do more with less while customers became even more demanding. With new online channels emerging and the challenges they bring, marketers will have to improve their email marketing in order to stay relevant and remain effective. Below are five email marketing trends that can help you accomplish your 2012 marketing goals.

Email Marketing can Improve your Practice’s Marketing Strategy

Email marketing will continue to be effective

With the rise in popularity of social media marketing, many predicted the demise of email marketing. However, in 2011, marketers made email marketing a central part of their marketing budgets, and those budgets continued to grow. Marketers have found that email is an effective way to grow and retain customers. In 2011, email marketing became the central hub of online marketing, and usage of email marketing will likely grow in 2012.

Email and social media marketing will grow

Social media and email marketing go hand in hand these days. It is now commonplace for marketers to add social sharing buttons to their emails and to use email marketing to grow their own social network following. The advantage of combining your email and social media marketing is that it gives your subscribers an opportunity to hear from you the way they want to hear from you. Everyone benefits, and this trend will continue into 2012.

Also Read: Social Media Marketing Tips to Enhance your Marketing Strategy

Email marketers will react to increased mobile readership

Email marketers are realizing that more and more emails are read on smartphones. Over time, this trend has been increasing. In 2012, email marketers will look for guidance and best practices to help them ensure that smartphone users still receive appealing content that engages them while they’re on the go.

Email engagement will become even more important

While email marketers will still focus on list growth (as they should), 2012 will see email engagement become even more critical. Consumers are faced with overcrowded in-boxes, so you’ll need to establish a connection with your subscribers so your message can stand out. Additionally, many email programs (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are adding tools to help their users filter out messages that aren’t important (e.g., Gmail’s Priority Inbox), so it will be imperative for email marketers to increase their focus on engaging users via opens/clicks.

Marketers will increase focus on content

Email marketing is all about delivering value to your subscribers. In 2012, email marketers will need to evaluate their content strategies as they try to increase email engagement. Email marketers also have to consider how their email content can be leveraged for other marketing channels (e.g., social, web). It’s very easy to get overwhelmed with the need to create content to keep your marketing fresh and relevant. In 2012, email marketers will look for better ways to create, curate, and re-purpose content to resonate across channels and drive higher engagement.

2012 will continue to see email marketing garner quite a bit of attention from marketers. As you grow your email marketing, keeping these trends in mind will only help. What other email marketing trends will make a difference in 2012? Feel free to share!

If you need help organizing, planning, or executing your eyecare practice marketing plans, contact us at www.mirroinc.com!