Staying on top of the inbox: email trends for 2024

What does the inbox of 2024 hold? Will AI replace the template developer? What will the email of the future look like (or should we say sound like)? Our experts in email marketing, design and development share their top email trends for 2024.

1. We’re telling you: voice activated email is coming

Imagine opening your emails just by talking to your smartphone. And dictating your messages and sorting through your inbox without typing a single word or touching your device.

Voice-activated email is still new and largely unknown territory, but as voice assistants like Siri or Alexa become a part of our daily lives, it's only a matter of time before voice-activated email becomes the norm.

For email marketers, it will become more important to optimise email content for voice-activated devices – using more natural language in email copy and subject lines, for example. It could also mean we’re able to create more customised email experiences. Voice assistants could suggest emails most relevant to the user, or even create your very own personalised email greeting.

2. UGC: Let your customers do the talking

User-generated content (UGC) is all about harnessing the authentic voices of your customers for marketing. It’s both low in effort and high in value, which is why it’s a growing email marketing trend. 

The beauty of UGC is that it’s easily accessible, often just a smartphone capture away, and it fits perfectly with ethical marketing practices.

To get on board with the trend, start by creating a unique hashtag, encourage your customers to share their photos, spotlight their reviews, and integrate this content into your email activities. There’s no better brand advocate than a happy customer. Not only is it free promotion, but it also builds a sense of community and brand reputation.

3. Bigger and bolder typography

We’ve noticed recently that we’ve not needed to reach for our spectacles so often to read our emails. That’s because bold and big typography is a trend.

Typography can be a very powerful way to communicate a specific feeling, emotion, or idea. So think of it as more than just a way to display text and use it as another design element.

4. The year of interesting shapes

Break free from the rectangle! In 2024 we will be seeing irregular frames, organic shapes, pill shapes and all kinds of weird abstractions, which can make email compositions look more casual and dynamic.

Email trends usually follow general design trends (with a small delay due to technical implementation). And this is a trend that reflects a need for movement, accessibility and informality.

5. No more “no-reply”: automated responses

The old practice of “no-reply” emails is starting to die out, and it won’t be missed, because it blocks the interaction between user and client. It’s much better to replace it with a “friendly from”, giving the user the opportunity to ask questions, make suggestions and give feedback.

And AI tools can be helpful for this, because they can generate automatic responses to emails that contain common questions and concerns. While there will always be the need to talk to humans in customer service and support, AI email responses will be almost instant.

6. AI takes on email templates

Another trend we’re seeing is the use of AI to develop email templates. But if you’re thinking of using AI though, first you’ll need to learn how to develop an email template. Because AI doesn’t actually know anything about coding. It collects data from millions of previous questions about the topic and analyzes the results to see what works best.

Using AI can be a good exercise because it can help you to understand the fundamentals of coding, but you need to give the AI tool a detailed description of what you’re asking for. In other words, AI email development will be a trend, but it definitely won’t replace the email developer.