Email is Dead - Busting Email Myths
28 Jul 2015
Email is Dead - Busting Email Myths
Since email emerged in the early 1970s* it has been a popular pastime amongst marketing industry commentators to announce its demise. Such announcements, often timed with the emergence of a new online communication platform, run with headlines along the lines of “Email is dead”. However email not only persists each challenge to its crown but, as it gets closer and closer to its 50th birthday, it becomes increasingly essential to both individuals and brands.
Email’s on-going strength as a marketing channel can be attributed to two factors:
- Email is one of the fundamental building blocks of the online world.
- Email is a mutually beneficial communication channel between brands and individuals.
Email address is your online user ID
Email isn’t dead and is unlikely to die any time soon as it’s such a fundamental part of the online world. I challenge you to see how many services you can register for or products you can buy without an email address. It’s your unique user ID for the online world.
It’s the online equivalent of your postal address, but more permanent. To give an example of how often someone’s postal address can change: a total of 2.3 million households (10% of all households) have moved home in the previous 12 months, and within the private rented sector this rises to 34%**. On top of that changing surname on marriage is a fairly common occurrence that throws full name identification out of the window. Email arguably stays with you, unchanged, through life. There’s rarely a reason to change your personal one: for 81% of consumers an email address lasts for more than 5 years***. Email addresses are unique and exclusive - postal addresses are shared by multiple users at the same address. And then there’s the speed of email: it’s virtually instantaneous. Consider resetting your bank account security details by the post: it can be days before you can access your account again.
But what about the new challengers of Mobile & Social?
With the advent of smartphones, mobile number has been seen to rival email as an online user ID. Services such as WhatsApp and Facebook allow users to register with their mobile number instead of email. This works as long as you don’t change countries and therefore mobile numbers; something which in the modern global world is becoming more and more common.
However the main issue with the mobile number being used in this way is how consumers use this channel and therefore how reluctant they are to share their mobile number: it’s reserved for the most urgent of communications which require a very time sensitive response. Mobile is a priority interruptive communication channel; for time sensitive reminders e.g. appointments or delivery slots, but not more general in-depth marketing comms. Phone messaging isn’t the searchable full record of your historic correspondence that email is.
Some services and apps also allow login via a social platform such as Facebook. However these again are underpinned by email (or mobile number) for their online user ID. If anything, social platforms encourage the use of email by sending notifications and password reminders by email. In addition when social platforms want to drive lapsed users back to their platform they use email. Think about the frequency of emails sent by Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Instagram recently decided to start sending a ‘Highlights’ email to re-engage users with the platform**** and Twitter has bought start-up RestEngine to power its re-engagement emails^. Emerging social and messaging platforms aren’t rivals to email but dependent on it and complimentary to it.
Email is a fundamental building block of the online landscape
In the same way changing the address conventions of the number/street/post code system for property would come with huge infrastructure and cost implications for virtually every business - so would moving away from the email address system as the key way to identify and communicate with individuals online in a personal way.
Email remains the core way to for brands to reach out to individuals, but what really makes it such an important marketing channel is that it is useful to both individuals and brands.
Email comms are beneficial to both individuals and brands
Email is communication on the recipient's terms. It’s strictly opt-in. Individuals choose carefully whom they give their email address to and then again from whom they opt-in to receive emails. Consumers on average opt in to communications from 11.5 brands^^.
When asked why people opt-in to emails the most popular responses were: Discounts (£ off), Like the brand, Regular customer, Trust in the company, Free samples/gifts, Free delivery & Discounts (% off)^^^. The measurability of emails ensures brands can continue to send useful relevant emails. Opens, clicks and purchases are all tracked and emails which don’t perform can and should be quickly weeded out from contact strategies.
A marketing service not an interruption
While traditional above-the-line media (TV, outdoor, radio, press) fight to gain the user’s attention and interrupt the content the user wants to consume; email waits patiently for when the user is ready to consume it. Email sender and subject line make it easy for the user to scan and consume the content they want. When they’re busy they can skim; when they’ve got more time they can browse and dwell longer. As far as marketing emails are concerned value and relevancy are more important than sensationalism and attention grabbing gimmicks. As new players (new compared to Email that is) such as Facebook and Spotify look to monetise they follow the interruptive model. To consume the content they want for free, users receive messages from brands they haven’t asked to hear from but who have paid the media owner.
And of course to brands email is beneficial. Email is the key way to reach their customers. Brands can send personal communications, mass communications, immediate communications, timed communications, long-copy messages, short notifications, service announcements, links to online content, dramatic images… the list goes on. Everything is under your control not a monopoly-holding third party. Each communication’s success and failure is measurable providing a clear path to optimise and drive stronger and stronger ROI.
Email is a massive part of consumers’ lives
In 2014 consumers spent an average of 2.96 hours per day using email (2.01 hours at home and 0.95 hours at work). A figure on an upward trend since the DMA Email Tracking Report started measuring it in 2010^^^^.
And should you have any doubts as to whether users are engaging with marketing emails: in 2014 average ROI for email rose 53% to £38 for every £1 spent and delivery, open, click and conversion rates all increased+. Is email dead? No, far from it: the vital signs are stronger than ever.
References
* The First Network Email. Ray Tomlinson.
** English Housing Survey - Households 2012-13. p10
*** Email Tracking Report 2014 - DMA UK. 1.6 p12
**** An Aging Instagram Tries to Win Us Back With Email “Highlights”
^ Twitter Buys Personalised Email Marketer RestEngine to Deliver Best Tweets Digest.
^^ Email Tracking Report 2014 - DMA UK. 2.2 p14
^^^ Email Tracking Report 2014 - DMA UK. 2.5 p16
Please login to comment.
Comments