‘Email is Dying’

By AdStation | March 8th, 2016 | Categories: Email Marketing
Email Dying

This is a statement that I hear almost daily – email is dying. And almost every day after hearing this statement, I ask the person whose mouth it came out of how many times they check their email each day? And usually, we go back to having an intelligent adult conversation at that point. But sometimes I have to explain why email is not dead, not dying, doesn’t even have a cold. It is alive and well.

On an average day, consumers look at their phones 150 times. So, it is no wonder, with the power and advancement in technology, that people are constantly checking their emails. A survey published by Statista found that almost 34% of Americans check their email “throughout the day”.  This was an unknown amount of times because we are on our phones all the time and checking in regularly.

So, still think email is dying?

It isn’t, but it is changing. And the way consumers interact with email is changing, making it important to stay relevant.  With all of the various online tools and social media outlets, there is no guarantee that a consumer will visit these places, but they will check their email.  Email is still the fastest tool marketers have to directly interact with their customer base. And with nearly 4 billion email accounts worldwide, it is no wonder why email marketers are still alive and well.

Email marketing has been reported to be a consumer preference with regard to permission-based marketing by a landslide 77%, including the 15-24-year-old tech-savvy group.  Coming in second place in the same survey about how people want to receive marketing messages, Direct Mail at 9% and text messages at 5%.

It is also widely known that email marketing sees about a two times return on investment over traditional and other online marketing. Why is that? Because it is still the most affordable platform on a marketer's budget.

Wondering why all the talk about email being dead when it is obviously very alive?

The part about emails that IS dead is the way they are formatted and how a message is conveyed. The traditional methods are not cutting it as the digital consumer becomes savvier and more demanding.  There are a few key components that are imperative when making sure that YOUR email marketing efforts don’t fail.

  • Make sure you are giving your consumer reliable information. With the rise of the internet it is too easy for someone to look up a fact and dispute what you’ve said. This means you lose credibility and trust with your clients.
  • As we’ve mentioned before, pay attention to your open rates, opt-out rates and neglected email rates. These numbers will tell you a lot about your email campaigns effectiveness.
  • Ensure that your message transcends all of your marketing platforms. Consistency across all areas of marketing is important, builds trust, and will make you a reliable source for future information.

Tom Fishburne said it best, “the best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.”

Genuine, informative information conveyed in a reliable and consistent way is going to be part of a winning email marketing platform.

Long live email!