MediaPost Publications Email Defines, Not Defies, Innovation 07/25/2007

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Email Defines, Not Defies, Innovation

by Loren McDonald, Wednesday, July 25, 2007, 11:15 AM

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At least once a year, I have the same old conversation with people who want to zero email out when dividing up the marketing dollars by claiming it's a stale technology that can't keep up with innovative digital applications like RSS, social networking, SMS marketing and microblogging (Twitter, for instance).

Let's not forget that email itself was once the shiny new toy that attracted those who got bored fast with Web marketing. They nearly broke it because they didn't understand the medium, and then wandered off to the next cool new thing.

You can't beat email for its ability to reinvent itself, overcome performance challenges, integrate with other technologies and channels and provide multiple distinct value propositions to both senders and recipients -- characteristics that distinguish a truly innovative technology from the merely new, along with cool toys that haven't yet found a real-life application.

Just because your grandma can email better than your 16-year-old doesn't make it yesterday's technology. Here's my quick list of the innovations that keep email a fresh and vital component of an effective marketing strategy:

It works even when you don't do it well -- and it delivers the highest ROI when done well. If your email results aren't what you want them to be, it's probably because you're not using the medium correctly, more so than an inherent email fault.

Email generates almost immediate results, which allows for rapid testing and optimizing in marketing campaigns.

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Consumers still request and respond to email and have become skilled managers of their own inboxes, confident in their ability to deal with spam.

You can easily demonstrate email's bottom-line value to your management through tracking and analytics. After all, your CEO is more interested in what adds value to the organization than in trendy but untested new apps.

Email is the first channel to recognize that consumers truly are in control of the medium. It paved the customization trail by giving recipients many options for tailoring content to their own interests.

The email industry actively develops new ways to build trust and confidence in the medium. Authentication, strict permission policies, reliable unsubscribing and transparent opt-in policies are four I can name without thinking too hard.

Email is still the primary medium that provides a solid two-way connection with your customers, bolstered by the trust-building initiatives listed above.

If email is so last-generation and stodgy, why is it a core application in many of the new, supposedly more innovative, technologies? Two examples: aggregated RSS feeds and blog posts, as well as messages, posts and friend requests for networking sites like MySpace, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Keeping up with the expanding platforms is another way email stays fresh and relevant to your subscribers, whether you read it on your clunky desktop computer, your ultrathin notebook with a 17.5-inch screen, or your iPhone, Treo or BlackBerry.

All this doesn't mean that email practitioners can set the autopilot on their email programs and go off to hit the golf course or play in "World of Warcraft" or "Second Life." Some far-thinking individuals are already worrying that email might become irrelevant to young people who communicate via blog posts and text messages within barricaded friend or family networks.

I'm not too worried about that prospect. Email's brain trust has risen to identify and craft solutions to the challenges that could have brought email to its knees in recent years, such as spam, image blocking, rendering challenges and phishing. While not all of these have been solved yet, steps have been taken to keep the channel alive and kicking (or sending and receiving). I'm confident that this natural bent for true innovation will help it meet any challenge shiny new technologies can throw it.

I would love to debate this point further, but I have to check my email. The latest posts from my favorite blogs just arrived in my inbox, handily aggregated in a single email, and I just got an email from someone who wants to add me as a friend on her Facebook site. Bottom line: You want innovation? Stick with email and its infinite capacity to correct itself, meet your customers' needs and deliver measurable value to your organization. Web 2.0 applications are getting all the buzz these days, but where would they be without email?

This commentary is insightful. I recommend it to others.

1 person recommends this article.

6 comments on "Email Defines, Not Defies, Innovation"

S Kent from Contactology

commented on: August 09, 2007 at 9:06 AM

Interesting post. You make some excellent points on how email has actually evolved - contrary to what some casual observers might think. An innovation example is a feature we have been working on called EasyCast (www.contactology.com/easycast.php), which allows users to send large numbers of emails to their subscribers from Outlook, rather than a web-based interface. We think continued innovation is key to keeping email the great tool that it is. Email is very far from dead...
Loren McDonald from J.L. Halsey

commented on: July 26, 2007 at 1:35 AM

Thanks for all the comments! Yes, there have been a number of "email is dead" articles floating around these days - we also saw them in 2004 with the passage of the CAM-SPAM Act and then about 18-24 months ago the RSS promoters said it will kill email. How we use email will change; what we use if for will change; how my daughter uses it is different than how I ue it; companies will use it differently - but we are talking about (and my next column's focus) is shifts and evolution of email - rather than it going the way of the fax machine.
Joshua - I agree, my 12 year old is sending hundreds of text messages a month; whereas I am sending dozens - but just wait till she gets a job after college, I'm guessing she'll be sending tons of emails. And Peter - I too love RSS, but I still live first by email - and because RSS isn't ingrained in my brain yet - I find I'm still reading more RSS feeds via aggregated emails - than via the initial feed.
Dawn Philippi from Extend Digital

commented on: July 25, 2007 at 2:35 PM

Nice article! email is a vital piece of media for all companies. It is a communication tool especially with today's internet access on mobile phones. It is a great way to reach your audience in a casual way.
Peter Koning from Entra Marketing Ltd.

commented on: July 25, 2007 at 12:16 PM

The "email is dead" argument has been around for a while.
It will just keep evolving and getting better, especially during the reprieve that is coming - as spammers invest more time on the web 2.0 sites and fill them with ads.
James Lamb from World Vision

commented on: July 25, 2007 at 11:58 AM

If email is dead, it's Google Reader that killed it for me.
I don't like my inbox filling up with ads, but I also don't like it filling up with non-personal content. It gets lost. Whereas Google Reader keeps it all organized and waiting for me and I can get caught up with a few minutes here, a few minutes there (and a lot of minutes on the weekend looking at all the stuff I starred for later indepth review.)
"Email Insider" is one of the few "mass-thought products" I get in email, only because when I registered with Media Post I started getting 60 bazillion emails and I've unsubscribed to all but this one and I haven't yet got around to putting the RSS feed into Google Reader.
As for advertising, I give out a different unique email address every time I have to sign up for, or purchase anything. Then when the mail starts arriving, if I don't like it, I can unsubscribe or simply block that address. If I do like it, I can shuttle it off to a folder for later review, keeping my inbox free for personal or work communication.
Joshua Gertzog from Self employed

commented on: July 25, 2007 at 11:37 AM

Excellent article....don't forget that although you might be cutting edge when it comes to technology, much of the country...and for that matter the world...isn't close to your level. They call it mass media for a reason...and it might not be as "mass" as it once was...but its still pretty darn huge...and effective if used properly.
Check the stats on what percentage of 35+ ers do something as simple as text message...and ask yourself what am I doing to reach the other 80+ percent?

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LOREN MCDONALD

Loren McDonald is vice president of industry relations for Silverpop, a leading provider of engagement marketing solutions for both BtoC and BtoB marketers.

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