Industry Insights for Successful Marketing in 2017

When it comes to marketing, having the ability to adapt to evolving technologies and test new strategies is critical to campaign success. As we begin a new year, conducting an audit of the tactics employed is a good way for marketers to determine which campaign areas to modify and how to guide future marketing initiatives. Email marketing platform Campaigner recently conducted a survey collecting insights on how marketers rated their 2016 strategies and which methods they're banking on for 2017. Read on for findings from this industry report as well as helpful tips to guide marketing initiatives in 2017:

Email Remains Evergreen
Despite the rise of social media, email is just as popular as ever (if not more) among brands for customer engagement. Email marketing was ranked the most effective means of digital marketing in the industry report, and nearly 75 percent of marketers plan to use it more in 2017. While social media has proven an effective marketing platform, email is still the only channel that allows marketers to offer relevant and insightful content to an audience that has willingly subscribed. Another reason marketers are continuing to leverage email is because it's objectively measurable and testable through delivery rates, open rates and clickthrough rates, while other platforms grapple with elusive metrics and KPIs. Marketers should continue to plan and execute email marketing campaigns in 2017 to keep their audiences actively engaged.

Content is Still King
When it comes to marketing strategies, generating compelling content is increasingly becoming one of the most effective ways to increase brand awareness and authority. Campaigner’s report found that 72 percent of marketers include newsletters in their content marketing strategy, and it indicates marketers will use more newsletters overall in their content strategies this year. However, despite the recent hype over video, only 26 percent of marketers currently use video in their content marketing strategy. Although video is one of the most popular mediums for absorbing information, marketers are still challenged with leveraging this format within their emails. Marketers report an even split on whether the use of video will increase or decrease in 2017.

Don’t Buy Into Buy Buttons
This past year, one of the hottest topics in e-commerce was the integration of the buy button into social platforms. However, marketers are having a hard time converting “likes” and “favorites” into purchases. The report revealed that marketers are overwhelmingly rejecting the use of buy buttons on social media platforms moving forward, as 72 percent report that they haven’t seen them help convert sales in 2016. More than 40 percent of respondents said they plan to reduce their use of buy buttons in 2017.

Elusive Emojis
Once wildly popular, emojis have appeared to hit their peak and will likely be used in a more refined manner in 2017. According to the survey, 24 percent of email marketers use emojis in subject lines; of those using emojis, 89 percent report increased open rates as a result. However, emojis are the No. 1 element that respondents plan to use less of in 2017. These seemingly mixed results may indicate that as marketers continue to become more familiar with their integration, they're learning that emojis might be beneficial only when used to a certain extent.

Marketers should keep these findings in mind as they plan their campaign strategies for the year ahead. Additionally, it’s always important to test new practices, as marketers will never be able to accurately pinpoint how their target market is responding to a specific strategy or method without A/B split testing. Considering these findings, analyzing past campaigns and proactive experimentation is a great way to jump-start email marketing in 2017.

Seamas Egan is the manager of revenue operations at Campaigner, an email marketing service.