The disruption and chaos of 2020 continued well into 2021. What does 2022 have in store for us?

I think that the year will bring a new sense of hope, appreciation, and gratitude, along with more meaningful connections – not only between individuals but also between brands and individuals.

In fact, in the coming year, more brands will put customers at the center of their marketing strategies. They will also make a greater effort to understand their audiences better, pay more attention to improving customer experiences, and do more to ease their customers’ lives with on-point, on-brand, and hyper-personalized offerings.

To pursue and meet these objectives, they will harness the power of email marketing and get the maximum bang for their buck by taking advantage of a few key email design trends.

Here are three email design trends that will drive email marketing in 2022 and beyond.

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#1. Minimalist design will rule the roost

You know that old cliché: less is more?

This will definitely apply to email design in 2022! Maximalist, chaotic, and disharmonious design styles will be out, and clean, minimalist, simple compositions will be in.

Considering that the average user receives 100+ emails in a single day, it’s no surprise that users are tired of information overload. Today’s recipients want emails that deliver a crisp message in an easy-to-read format. And for this, the generous use of white space, a clean look-and-feel, and crisp lines are ideal.

If you want to connect with your audience and get them to open your emails despite the email tsunami that is their inbox, then loud colors, complex layouts, and too many elements are an absolute no-no. Instead, use subtle color combinations, soft gradients, and monochrome layouts. Wherever possible, embrace emotional design that appeals to both their hearts and minds – of course, without going over the top.

Use less text and more visual content. Even better, judiciously use alternating visuals and text to surprise, delight, and keep readers interested and engaged. Let your illustrations, photographs, and animations tell the story of your brand, instead of overwhelming them with overly sales-y text.

Communicate a clear message and include an unambiguous call to action to pique the reader’s curiosity, and prompt them to take action. Wherever appropriate, use bold typography to draw – and keep – their attention. Again, the key is not to overwhelm the reader with too much information, confusing calls to action or overly jazzy designs.

Keep it simple, make them feel privileged and valued with personalization, and emphasize the uniqueness of your message with cool animations and illustrations. It’s not impossible to impress email readers despite the crowded email marketing landscape. But for this, minimalist email designs are the key. And 2022 is a great time to get started with yours!

Here’s an email from Carve Designs that hits all the right “minimalist” buttons:

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#2. Micro-interactions will have a huge effect

According to Martech Advisor, interactive content can increase email open rates by 73%. Adding videos can increase click-through rates by up to 300%. The days of boring, static emails are long gone. Today’s users want to see if brands care about them as individuals, and are willing to put in an effort to engage with them on a one-on-one basis. Here’s where interactive emails are an ideal addition to your email marketing toolkit.

With interactivity, you can delight them with a personalized brand experience even as you provide a solution to a problem, or show them how to address a particular pain point with a quiz, survey, poll, or calculator. Add videos about product launches, event announcements, or customer testimonials. Encourage customers to shop more with live shopping and quick checkouts from within the email. Bring in a menu bar, carousel sliders, and discount coupons to simplify in-email navigation and tempt readers to continue shopping.

Even micro-interactions can make a huge difference in email engagement, click-throughs, and even purchases. Add a hover effect over buttons, add swipe or click functionality within the copy, and add social media buttons to get them to share, like, and save your email.

By adding interactive elements to your marketing emails, you can do much more than simply give information or sell your product or service. You can give readers a means to have fun as they interact with your brand. This fun can go a long way towards boosting your brand’s recognition and recall value, so make sure you don’t underestimate its power. In 2022, interactivity in emails will be as important as simplicity, so make sure you leverage its power to stand out in readers’ (crowded) inboxes.

This interactive email by Email Uplers includes a video message that’s placed front and center. Which recipient would be able to resist such a cool feature and email?

View the live email here

#3. Dark mode compatibility will be the norm

A 2020 poll by Android Authority revealed that about 82% of people use dark mode on their devices, individual apps, and anywhere else it’s available. Another 10% are somewhere between dark and light modes, which means that in total, over 90% of voters use some form of dark mode on their devices.

In 2022, more email marketers will send dark mode-compatible emails. One reason is that this mode is easy on the eye, and makes content more legible. Needless to say, users are more likely to open such emails, and engage with them.

The dark mode also gives emails a classy, more elegant look – which again, impacts opens and click-throughs – and saves battery life for the user. Emails that are not dark mode-compatible could appear to have a broken layout or a weird look and feel, which could trigger spam filters and affect the deliverability of your emails. Thus, dark mode can even prevent email deliverability issues.

All in all, dark mode is a win-win for both your brand and your subscribers, so there’s no reason not to implement it in 2022!

Here’s what a dark mode email from Litmus looks like compared to a normal light mode email. Both kinds are important to boost opens, click-throughs, and deliverability.

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A final word

Email marketing has come a long way over the past four decades (yes, it has been that long!). In 2022, the email landscape will continue to evolve, with more marketers focusing on personalization, creative visuals, interactivity, and minimalist designs. To know more about the key email design trends that will influence the email landscape in 2022 visit email.uplers.com.

Guest author: Kevin George is Head of Marketing at Email Uplers, one of the fastest-growing custom email design and coding companies, and specializes in crafting professional email templates, PSD to HTML email conversion and free responsive HTML email templates in addition to providing email automation, campaign management, and data integration & migration services. He loves gadgets, bikes, jazz and eats and breathes email marketing. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts on email marketing best practices on his blog.

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