2025 is expected to be email’s biggest year yet, with more consumers across all age groups using it to shop. Simultaneously, AI in 2025 will have its biggest year yet, with nearly 70% of marketers using it in their work.
As both these technologies become increasingly intertwined, what’s in store for both next year? How will marketing trends for 2025 be impacted by AI in 2025 . . . and vice versa?
Here, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 email marketing trends for next year, all of which are highlighted with an AI-powered twist. Alongside each trend, we’re also giving you tools to use, data-backed insights to reference, and actionable to-do’s to make sure 2025 marketing is at the top of its game!
AI in 2025: 10 Email Marketing Trends You’ll See in the New Year
- The Trend: Hyper-personalization is required.
Personalization goes way beyond dropping someone’s name in a subject line. Today’s consumers want and expect emails that pin-point their interests and speak their own language. Of course, AI can deliver on this, and with personalized emails delivering 6x higher transaction rates, how can you resist?
The Takeaway: Backstroke's platform builds, segments, and deploys winning campaigns with hyper-personalized AI messages. Its algorithms are powered by a proprietary dataset built from 12k+ ecommerce brands, so its insights into what’s trending for different subscriber segments is super accurate.
You can learn how to make the most of AI-powered segmentation and messaging in our guide: Email Segmentation Strategy: 5 Ways to Segment Audiences & Create Custom AI Messages.
2. The Trend: AI will continue to get better at understanding the human experience.
Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, a New Yorker or a Midwestnerner, an iPhone or an Android user . . . AI in 2025 will just get you. This is due to its capacity to use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyze emotional sentiment and better understand how to communicate with us. In email, this shows up in a variety of ways. From emotionally charged, effective email subject lines to AI-enhanced content design, NLP adds more depth to the desire for hyper-personalized content.
The Takeaway: Take a look at the chart below, which plots popularity of specific emotional sentiments across the upcoming holiday season. When using the right email AI tools, you’ll be able to observe when specific feelings are being communicated via subject lines and determine how to make your content stand out in crowded inboxes.
- The Trend: AI-assisted design will save you time.
Right now, marketing teams state that it takes anywhere from 10 hours to 8 weeks to create and send an email. We just recently launched our AI email generator, which automates email design and personalizes content in clicks, ultimately getting rid of lengthy tasks and saving you weeks of work.
The Takeaway: Your team’s time is about to get freed up! And that’s a great thing! Watch our video below to see our email generator AI build a campaign in just a few clicks.
- The Trend: The number of people using email in 2025 will grow . . . and the frequency they check email will grow too.
A survey from ZeroBounce says that email marketers will see an increase in the number of people checking email in 2025 and they’ll check it more often too! Their survey says that 88% of email users check their inbox multiple times a day, 39% check their email 3-5 times a day, 27% check their email 10-20 times a day, and 22% of people will check their email 20+ times a day.
The Takeaway: Sometimes, subscribers want to hear from you a lot. Sometimes, they only want to hear from you every so often. In our guide Great Email Subject Lines for Introverts vs. Extroverts, you can get tips from email AI to direct the frequency of your communications using our email AI generator.
- The Trend: As younger generations use email more and more, they’ll want authentic, interactive content.
80% of Gen Z use email. Gen Alpha is as well, with their oldest cohorts reaching 15 years old. As digital natives, these audiences crave authenticity in their messaging and expect some interactivity thrown into the mix.
The Takeaway: Yes, you can still use AI to craft authentic-sounding, fun, intriguing messages for younger generations. When using a tool like Backstroke’s email subject line generator, simply select the age ranges you want to send to, apply the slang filter, and voila! You’ll craft email content that caters to the youngest consumers.
You can learn how to craft email AI content for all age groups at our guide Seasonal Email Marketing to Gen Z, Boomers & Everyone In-Between.
- The Trend: Email AI will find the best offers to send to your subscribers.
Forget ABC testing. Predictive analytics will find the best offer to send to your subscribers before you ever message them!
The Takeaway: When its algorithms are trained on high-quality, vertical-specific data, AI in 2025 will guide marketers on what types of messages to send and when. For example, in the chart below, Backstroke shows what types of special offers brands will message throughout the holidays, cluing you in to creative opportunities you can take to make a better offer than your competitors.
- The Trend: AI won’t just be a time-saver. It’s also now a revenue-generator.
31% more revenue per send is what the average Backstroke user sees when using our generative AI. In addition to this number though, some customers see even greater results.
The Takeaway: Lyssé New York saw a 47% lift in revenue per recipient utilizing AI recommendations from Backstroke. The Vermont Flannel Company achieved 19x ROI and 49% more revenue per email. BITCHSTIX drove 32% greater revenue using Backstroke's generative messaging. AI in 2025 is bringing success to the brands that are implementing it. Check out our case studies to see who else is already winning with AI’s assistance.
8. The Trend: AI messages don’t just mean email. SMS marketing will grow in 2025.
SMS marketing is expected to reach a market size of $12.6 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 20.3%.
The Takeaway: Generative AI can also craft AI messages to send via text. When a generative AI solution is powered by industry-specific data, it can craft personalized content for any messaging medium. Check out our guide Backstroke vs. ChatGPT: Which Delivers Effective Email Subject Lines? to learn more.
- The Trend: Consumers will want omnichannel experiences.
Speaking of different mediums for AI messages to shine through, consumers will start expecting omnichannel marketing experiences. These omnichannel experiences will offer your customers a seamless and consistent interaction with a brand across multiple channels, like email, in-store, and social media, ensuring a unified experience.
The Takeaway: Combining SMS with channels like email, social media, and push notifications will create a comprehensive marketing strategy that reaches customers wherever they are. To learn more on how to do this, read our guide Retail ❤️ Email: How to Build A Revenue-Rich Retail Email Marketing Strategy.
- The Trend: AI will help marketers nail down what types of content to send . . . and when!
The Takeaway: When should you send your Last Chance Offer? When should you send your standard newsletter? With access to the right data, AI in 2025 will guide marketers on when to send content and what types of content to send.
In the chart below, we take a look at when brands are expected to send email newsletters across December and early January. Insights like this will show when consumers are being hit with newsletters throughout this super specific time period. From this information, you can determine when it’s best to send your own communications, whatever specific messaging they may push.
AI in 2025: It’s Time to Get Started
When asked to choose three words to describe AI in 2025, Backstroke Founder & CEO R. J. Talyor only said two. “It’s time.”
Now’s the time to invest in quality, industry-specific AI solutions, from free marketing AI tools like our email subject line creator, to more advanced applications like our AI email generator.
Email marketing trends are evolving to all include AI in 2025 . . . and it’s time to hop onboard.
