Here’s the good news: Email marketing is still performing great in 2025. Open rates are rising, click-through rates are solid, engagement is strong, and brands continue to send more emails than ever. But success depends on doing it right.
In this article, we’ll explore the five key strategies your team should focus on to stay ahead with email marketing and cross-channel communication in the second half of 2025.
Dynamic email segmentation: the new standard in 2025
The days of basic targeting like “female aged 25–35” are long gone. High-performing brands are embracing advanced dynamic segmentation, using both website behaviour and device-level signals to personalise messaging.
For example, if a subscriber opens on an Apple device, segmentation can adjust in real time. Cross-device, real-time segmentation is now a baseline expectation, not a luxury.
What to do: Start building real-time, intent-based segments using a Customer Data Platform (CDP). A CDP is a system that collects data from all your customer touchpoints, like email, website, and CRM and brings it together in one place. Spotler CDP makes it easy to get a complete view of each customer, so you can create smart segments based on real-time behaviour and intent. As customer behaviour changes, your segments automatically adapt, driving higher relevance and engagement.
Email marketing automation: your revenue growth engine
Automation powers today’s most profitable email marketing programs. Automated flows like abandoned cart recovery, browse abandonment, and post-purchase sequences consistently outperform traditional newsletters.
By optimising trigger timing (often 1–3 hours after an event), delivering personalised product recommendations, and fine-tuning email copy, brands are achieving substantial revenue growth, entirely within email.
What to do: Conduct a thorough audit of your current automation flows. Test variations in timing, subject lines, and personalised offers to maximise performance before expanding into additional channels.
WhatsApp marketing: an untapped engagement opportunity
As your email automation matures, WhatsApp emerges as a highly engaging messaging channel, especially in European markets where adoption is growing rapidly. Recent benchmarks show click-through rates often ranging between 15% and 40%, depending on audience and campaign type.
While email remains the foundation of customer communication, WhatsApp adds immediacy and interaction, which is ideal for time-sensitive promotions, reminders, or service updates.
What to do: Experiment with short, clear WhatsApp messages featuring strong calls to action. These perform exceptionally well for flash offers, abandoned carts, or appointment reminders. With Spotler Message, you can fully integrate WhatsApp into your automation flows and trigger real-time conversations based on customer behaviour.
Zero-party data collection: Start early for stronger personalisation
Zero-party data: the information customers voluntarily share with you is becoming essential for effective personalisation. If you’re not yet using preference centres or progressive profiling, now is the time to start.
This approach builds trust while allowing customers to shape their own experience with your brand. With Spotler CDP, you not only collect but also activate zero-party data in real time, enabling highly personalised email and cross-channel campaigns.
What to do: Add low-friction popups on high-intent pages. Start simple, for example: “What topics would you like to hear more about?” and expand your data collection over time.
Click-to-open rate (COR): your most reliable engagement metric
Open rates have become less reliable due to factors like Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection. Click-to-open rate (COR) offers a much stronger signal of how compelling your email content is after a subscriber opens.
Rather than focusing only on send volume or open rates, tracking opens versus clicks provides deeper insights into content performance.
What to do: Make COR a core metric in your email reporting. Regularly test subject lines, content layouts, product blocks, and CTAs to drive higher click engagement.
In conclusion: why email marketing remains a powerhouse in 2025
Email continues to deliver outstanding results, but only when supported by:
- Smart segmentation through real-time Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)
- Advanced automation across the entire customer journey
- Zero-party data activation for true personalisation
- Intelligent cross-channel integration with tools like WhatsApp
- Incorporate COR as a core metric in your email reporting for deeper insights
If you want help making it all click, we’re just a message away.
