Did you know that 4 out of 5 marketers would rather ditch social media than email?¹ That's a pretty strong endorsement for a tool that's been around for decades.

And for good reason, email marketing boasts a staggering 4,200% ROI.¹

While email remains a digital marketing powerhouse, it's not without its challenges. As consumer preferences shift and technology evolves, marketers face a unique set of hurdles to keep prospects interested.

But fear not. Exciting trends are emerging in 2025 that can help you overcome these challenges and supercharge your email campaigns. These trends aren’t exactly new, but they’re a growing part of customer engagement strategies.

Interactive, AMP enhanced emails

AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) is an open-source framework initially developed by Google to enhance the performance and functionality of web pages, particularly on mobile devices. In the context of emails, AMP for Email allows developers to create interactive and dynamic email content, providing users with a more engaging experience without the need to leave their inbox.

Three key features of AMP include:

Interactivity: Users can perform actions directly within the email, such as submitting a form, making a purchase, or RSVP-ing to an event.
Dynamic content: Content can be updated in real-time, ensuring that the email displays the most current information (e.g., product prices, availability, or tracking details).
Improved engagement: By incorporating elements like carousels, accordions, and dynamic data fetching, AMP emails can capture users' attention more effectively than static HTML emails

AMP for Email is particularly valuable for businesses and organizations looking to streamline interactions and provide a richer email experience for their users. Learn more about strategies in our free eBook, Advanced email marketing tactics for eCommerce.

Take away: AMP emails address low engagement by creating immersive or dynamic experiences that resonate and engage.

Personalisation Example. — Personalisation example. Bikes shown depended on recipient's preferences.

Hyper personalisation

AI empowers brands to build personal connections with audiences, transforming engagement strategies. Historically, personalisation relied on broad demographic data and manual effort, but AI and machine learning have revolutionised the approach, transitioning from generalised insights to precise, anticipatory strategies.

AI-powered personalisation vs hyper personalisation

AI-personalised email campaigns use artificial intelligence to tailor content or recommendations based on general user data, like past behaviour or preferences. Hyper-personalisation takes this further by analysing a broader range of data points in real-time—such as location, context, and even predicted behaviour—to deliver highly specific and individualised experiences.

While AI-powered personalisation focuses on automating and optimising personalisation at scale, hyper-personalisation dives deeper into creating unique, context-aware interactions.

An interesting side note:

Personalising emails can increase revenue by up to 760%.⁵

Take away: Hyper personalisation addresses the need for relevance so that each recipient gets content that feels uniquely crafted for them.

See how we implemented hyper-personalisation for Harley-Davidson here.

Subtle animations

Not every marketer is sold on animated GIFs, concerns include:

Accessibility: They can be difficult for screen readers to interpret.
Load times: They can slow down email loading speeds.
Distractions: They might pull readers away from your main call to action.

However, the potential benefits of GIFs often outweigh these drawbacks. When used thoughtfully, GIFs can be a powerful tool to enhance your email campaigns, as proven here.

Animated GIFs can increase:

Click-through rates by 42%,
Conversion rates by 103%,
Revenue by 109%.⁶

Take away: These animations capture attention and improve visual appeal, especially in product showcases.

Data protection: strengthening email security

76% of users believe companies must do more to protect their data online.7
60% of consumers believe companies routinely misuse their personal data.8
68% are concerned about the amount of data being collected by businesses.8

Along with the rise of AI, naturally comes fear about data security. End-to-end encryption is becoming the preferred standard for securing email communications. This technology ensures that only the sender and recipient can access email content, effectively blocking third-party interception.

The Zero Trust security model is also gaining traction as a critical framework for email protection. This model operates on the principle that no user or device should be inherently trusted, regardless of their location or network. By requiring verification at every access point, Zero Trust mitigates the risk of unauthorised access to sensitive data.

Take away: Building trust through ethical data usage mitigates customer concerns and fosters loyalty.

AI for campaign optimisation

AI in email marketing is already upping the stakes by enhancing both efficiency and impact. But expect an uptick in more companies using this technology. With its ability to analyse large datasets, AI can write subject lines and calls to action that align with audience preferences. It can also help maintain clean email lists by identifying and removing inactive or invalid addresses so that messages are delivered to the intended recipients.

Take away: AI reduces the time needed to create campaigns, enhances efficiency, and ensures campaigns resonate with audiences.

You might find it helpful to check out our blog, Practical applications of AI in digital marketing, where you can learn more.

User-generated content (UGC)

Using real customer experiences in email campaigns is a powerful way to build trust. Reviews, testimonials, and customer-submitted photos can breathe life into your emails and make them more relatable. When people see how others have benefited from your products or services, they're more likely to believe your brand's promises.

In fact, 84% trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation.⁹ This kind of social proof can make a huge difference in driving conversions and building a loyal customer base.

Take away: UGC boosts credibility and engagement, as users trust peer recommendations over traditional adverts. Read our blog, Influencer marketing vs customer marketing, where we discuss further the power of using UGC.

Newsletters are back

Newsletters have made a comeback! They're not just a great way to stay connected with your audience. They've also become a profitable business model in their own right. The reasons behind their popularity for marketers, according to Whop include:

Owning more of their channels.
Building deeper connections with their audiences.
Higher open rates of up to 45% vs 10% for social media.
Greater monetisation opportunities.

Newsletters provide a direct and personal communication channel, enabling targeted message delivery. With their opt-in nature, newsletters ensure the audience is pre-qualified and genuinely interested, increasing the likelihood of meaningful engagement with the content.

Take away: Newsletters foster long-term relationships, providing consistent value beyond promotions.

Your next move

If you’re feeling less than confident about adopting these trends, don’t worry. We specialise in helping businesses implement the latest email marketing trends to maximise engagement and ROI – and we’re always ahead of the curb. By partnering with h2o creative, you gain access to a full suite of services designed to elevate your email marketing strategy and make the most of emerging trends.

Check out our case studies to see for yourself, or if you’re ready to get started get in touch today.

Sources:

¹Luisa Zhou

⁵Techjury

⁶MarketingSherpa

⁷Global Consumer State of Mind Report 2021

⁸KPMG

⁹Inc.