2021 ushered in a new era of how we interact with our customers and prospects.  Email design leant itself toward visual storytelling, emotional messaging, calming muted colors and (surprise) open spacing. 2021 saw the birth of “dark mode” as we spent more time in front of our screens. These design elements brought peace and calm into an otherwise hectic inbox.  While most of these elements are here to stay for a bit, what other trends can we expect to see in our inboxes?

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
AI will be key to email marketing in 2022.  As Apple rolls out new privacy features, analyzing subscriber behavior and campaign results have become more difficult.  Let’s also not forget about the privacy leaks we’ve seen in the past year; this makes guests more wary about sharing their personal information.  AI platforms can help you protect, sift, gather and clean your data, determine your optimal send times—driving better deliverability, higher engagement and ultimately booking revenue.

THE HYPER-PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCE
We’re talking beyond “Hi NAME – you may like this blue shirt because you bought a blue shirt yesterday” personalization.   We’re talking AI-fed information that personalizes each email with the content guests want.  Addressing guests by name or offering a specific discount won’t be enough. You’ll need to send much more personalized content, establish a deeper connection and make your guest feel valued.  Revinate Marketing can add these elements with dynamic content, merge tags, segmentation and triggered automation-keeping you connected with your guests with little set up work or oversight required.

SOCIAL PROOF
90% of customers check reviews before buying. This is the social element. Social proof adds authenticity, so let’s serve it up.  Include it as part of your email, User Generated Content (UGC) is easy to come by these days.  Have a 5-star hotel review that came through your Revinate Guest Feedback? Have a beautiful picture an influencer or guest posted on Instagram? Use it! The best part about UGC is that it’s free!

GRAPHIC DESIGN TRENDS
NOW we’re getting to the fun part – design trends.  As we mentioned in the beginning; emails need to compel guests to take action.  How do we do that—by invoking feelings, FOMO, memories and emotions.  All the AI, hyper personalization and reviews won’t be able to do this alone.  You’ll need some powerful design. Let’s peel back the curtain and take a look at 2022!

IMAGES
Simple. Beautiful. Thoughtful. Images.  We’ve strayed away from information overload—think high end, luxury print magazines.  You know, the ones with the heavy paper and the smell of perfume wafting out of them? This trend is about fine tuning your digital aesthetic. Look to your lobby, open spaces at your hotel and overall brand DNA for inspiration. Less is more when it comes to text, more is more when it comes to white space.

ANIMATION & INTERACTION
2021 saw the rise of animation in email marketing … 2022 says “don’t overdo it.”   Before we get too far into this, let’s chat.  According to Litmus statistics, 91% of subscribers expect interactive content. What exactly is interactive content? It could be something as simple as asking a guest to share a favorite photo from their hotel stay (interaction) an image that moves on its own or by the hover of a mouse (animation).  Combine static with dynamic elements, this will keep your loading times acceptable and not overwhelm your guests.

DARK MODE
Over the last year dark mode has been creeping into our lives.  Dark mode is the reversed color scheme that uses light typography and elements on dark backgrounds. Most popular operating systems and apps now allow their users to view in dark mode. Dark mode is easier on the eye, reduces screen brightness (think battery saving) and can improve content legibility.  While some OSs have a way of handling, it may be worth considering designing for dark mode as well.

Perfectly crafted email campaigns keep your hotel on your guests’ radar; visibility is important.  By staying top of mind, when it’s time to choose their next destination the right information, delivered in the right way will help make the decision easier.  Great communication before, during and after their stay will turn your guests into loyal customers.