Email Marketing Guide 2023 : Tips & Trends To Stay In The Game

Last updated on April 9th, 2025

Email marketing is growing to be one of the most effective channels to promote businesses and generate maximum revenue. It is evolving at a tremendous pace, with new advancements emerging now and then. Currently, email is being used for marketing, lead nurturing, customer support, and sales outreach rather than just personal communication.

While 294 billion emails were sent in 2019, 347 billion emails will be sent in 2023. This rise can be attributed to the fact that two-thirds of the subscribers like to receive branded emails at least once a week.

59% of B2B marketers believe that email marketing helps generate revenue most effectively. As email marketing provides a direct and personalized connection, your prospects and customers appreciate it even more.

The Success Rate & Forecast Of Email Marketing For 2023

Email marketing will continue to be the marketer’s favorite even in 2023 and beyond. If we talk about the future of this channel, it is a shocking revelation that the open rate will no longer be a reliable parameter to track.

As Apple has released new privacy settings, it will influence the information that email marketers can track. Earlier, marketers were able to track open rates with the help of pixels that load at the time the email is opened.

With the new settings, Apple preloads the email content along with the tracking pixels. As a result, the email will appear opened even though the user does not open it. Additionally, the IP address details of the subscriber will be hidden.

Ultimately, Marketers Will Not Be Able To Track The Following:

1. The time when the email is opened
2. The place where it is opened
3. Also, the device used to access the email
4. Activity on the device used to access the email

The Implication Of Apple’s Privacy Settings

Subscribers open about 66% of emails on a mobile device. Of that, 58% of subscribers use an Apple device. This means that you will not be able to track the open rate for maximum mobile users.

Therefore, marketing professionals will have to change the metrics to evaluate the email campaign performance. Of course, you will be able to track the open rate for people using Android phones, desktops, and laptops.

However, you will have to consider metrics such as conversion rate and email subscription rate for Apple users.

Dos & Don’ts For Promotional And Marketing Emails In 2023

When you plan your marketing and promotional emails, the most important thing is to impart a personalized experience to your prospects and customers. Using your company logo design & personalized graphics are advised!

Here Are The Dos And Don’ts That You Must Follow For An Effective Promotional Email Marketing Strategy:

Dos Of Promotional Email Marketing:

01. Write An Engaging And Personalized Subject Line

You hardly have three seconds to grab the user’s attention. Make sure you customize the subject line by including the user’s first name or reference to their city or previous purchases. In addition, you can also use relevant emojis for a human touch.

02. Keep The Tone Of Your Email Copy Conversational

Try to keep your email copy short and conversational. Batch and blast emails no longer work. Therefore, your email marketing must look tailor-made for the individuals rather than the entire subscriber list.

03. Use Relevant Visuals To Support Your Copy

Just like brick-and-mortar stores have an attractive signboard to promote their sale, your emails must also have impressive visuals to highlight the offer.

For example: Take a look at this Black Friday email by Marlow in which they have used a perfect image to entice the readers to make the purchase.

[Source:  reallygoodemails ]

04. Include An Actionable CTA

The CTA is an essential element to generate email conversions. Make sure it stands out and encourages the readers to click-through and complete the sale.

Have a single CTA to facilitate the decision-making process and get instant sales. It should not have any distractions that can put the user in a dilemma and drop the idea of making the purchase.

05. Make An Assessment Of Your Campaign

You should continue to analyze and assess your email marketing performance from time to time to know which of its aspects are not yielding the desired results. Such an assessment helps in taking the right steps at the right time to address an issue. You can reach out to your audience with your improved email messages.

So, make sure that you evaluate the email campaign performance thoroughly and do the needful when required. Take the help of an expert who can suggest you the right marketing steps.

06. Clean Your Email List Regularly

An email list is crucial for effective email marketing. That’s why email list cleaning becomes an imperative practice that helps you maintain a healthy subscriber list. The process includes removing inactive subscribers and email addresses to enhance email deliverability and engagement rates. An organic and clean email list ensures that your messages reach a genuinely interested recipient in your business or offerings.

Don’ts Of Promotional Email Marketing

01. Add Too Many Offers And Images

Adding too many offers with multiple images can confuse the readers and hamper your conversion rate. It is advisable to promote a single offer so that the email is easily scannable and drives action. Plenty of white space will work in your favor to bring maximum business.

02. Send Too Many Emails

Many brands send too many promotional emails throughout the week, overwhelming subscribers with an influx of spam emails. Let users set their preferences and adjust the email frequency accordingly.

Monitor the performance of your email campaigns and keep optimizing them for the best results.

Now that you are aware of the fundamentals of promotional email marketing, let’s move on to the email design trends that we look forward to in 2023.

Email Design Trends 2023

2021 saw some of the most amazing technological advancements in the field of email design, namely Dark Mode, muted color palette, and emotional design. In 2023 and the years to come, we expect to see some natural progressions of these trends along with a couple of new elements.

01. Minimalist Emails

There has been a rise in minimal email designs in the past year. This is because of information overload in the digital space that has narrowed down the attention span of the readers.

The email by Wunderground perfectly demonstrates minimalism. See how they have written a short copy and included a clear CTA with ample white space.

[Source:  reallygoodemails ]

02. Dark Mode Compatible Emails

The popularity of Dark Mode has risen during the last year and it is all set to increase even more in 2023 and the coming years. As most operating systems and applications support Dark Mode, people choose to access their devices in this setting.

Email clients like Apple Mail, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, and Outlook have also extended their support to Dark Mode.

If you are not designing emails compatible with Dark Mode, now is the right time to start doing so.

See how the designers at Email Uplers have adopted this trend for their email marketing strategy.

Most people who have to use their phones or laptops for long hours due to professional commitments prefer to use Dark Mode. The advantage of this setting is that it is easy on the eye and helps to save the device’s battery life.

03. Animated Emails

Animations in emails have remained an evergreen trend. They draw the user’s attention and make the message even more impactful to drive conversions.

There Are Three Types Of Animations That You Can Add To Your Emails:

i. GIFs

GIFs have proved their effectiveness time and again. You can add GIFs to showcase different products, demonstrate the usage of your services, and enhance your brand’s personality.

ii. CSS3

You can use CSS3 animations too in your emails. The only problem with this element is its compatibility issue and technical complexity.

iii. APNGs

APNGs are just like GIFs but they have better resolution and transparency when compared to the latter. As they allow you to use the complete range of color depths, marketers are extensively using it in the email campaigns.

04. Illustrations In Emails

Do you want to tell a story through your emails without writing long paragraphs of text? The answer to this question is – ‘use illustrations’. Besides being a wonderful storytelling tool, illustrations also help to showcase your products or services more impactfully.

You Can Use Illustrations In Three Creative Ways

1. Spot illustration to emphasize an offer
2. GIF illustration to depict a process
3. Divider to break the content

Headspace is one such brand that has nailed the usage of illustrations in their emails. Take a look.

[Source:  reallygoodemails ]

05. Soft Gradients In Email Designs

Gradients are created when one color blends into another to still another to create a smooth amalgamation of multiple colors. While gradients entered the world of emails in 2022, we will see the usage of soft colors in the gradients of 2023.

Check out this email by Litmus in which they have used a combination of two hottest trends, namely muted colors and gradients.

06. Emails With Micro-Interactions

If you want to enhance email engagement, try using micro-interactions in your emails in 2023. Previously, email marketers did not prefer using interactivity, taking into account its high loading time. Rich interactivity in emails can be a huge turn-off for people using low-speed Internet connections.

That’s where micro-interactions come into the picture. As the name suggests, these interactions are small interactions like the hover effect, swiping and clicking, and liking, sharing, and saving.

For instance, Tom Raffield uses the hover effect in their email to create a sense of curiosity about their secret project.

Wrapping Up

Have you used these elements in your emails so far? Do you plan to try it out in 2023? Do let us know in the comments below. We would love to hear from you. To know more about Email design ideas in line with the 2023 trends click here..

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