Supporting content marketing campaigns with targeted email personalisation will be at the top of the agenda for marketers in 2020 according to a study published on Monday by retail marketing platform Bluecore.
The ‘2020 Retail Trends Report’ found 57% of brands will be aiming to increase the scope and scale of personalisation in 2020 and that this objective will be achieved through owned commerce including web pages, blogs and email.
The latest study counters a recent report by Gartner that suggested one-to-one personalisation will lose its appeal by the mid 2020s due to a range of issues including the inability to deliver adequate return on investment (ROI).
Gartner predicted that 80% of marketers will turn their back on the practice even though the word “personalisation” was named as the word of 2019 by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) following its surge in popularity and usage in marketing and advertising environments.
Gartner’s Jennifer Polk said its prediction about a loss of appeal was due to personalisation currently being directed towards customer experience which is difficult to track the success of and assign a ROI.
Polk added that personalisation needs to move away from one-on-one marketing to broader targets in order to demonstrate sustainable ROI and results.
Bluecore’s report suggests otherwise, noting that emails specifically can be used to support effective one-on-one communications and be scaled accordingly without the worry of time and resources being directed to an activity that is unsustainable in the long term.
Email is also a preferable outlet for personalisation as marketers believe they can control the message and cost over time.
Meanwhile, individual product recommendations and pop-ups will not be a priority for marketers in 2020 as just 5% believe targeted on-site experiences are a viable use of personalisation.
When asked about the top objectives for the new year and beyond, increasing revenue from email came out on top ahead of driving an uptick in repeat purchases and increasing site traffic.
A separate report released by SEMrush earlier this month also highlighted some of the most important nuances in content marketing as brands ready up for new campaigns in 2020.
First up, long form content is back in vogue and is delivering exceptional returns. Editorial blogs and articles in excess of 1,000 words are driving a 300% increase in traffic and a 200% uptick in shares.
Brands looking to shake up their strategies will also be interested to hear that listicles are the most shareable content format, while guides and how-to articles are also popular.
Long headlines also appeal to audiences as those with 14 or more words deliver a greater share of traffic and shares compared to shorter headlines with between seven and ten words.
The study also found nine in ten companies now have a strategy for content marketing in place and that around four in ten believe their efforts are “good” or better. Finally, tactics that will be deployed next year include upcycling and repurposing content and optimising search engine optimisation (SEO).