Where do you think email is headed as a business tool?
The Future of E-Mail
Where do you think email is headed as a business tool?
By: Steven Rich, MBA
For many years email as a business tool has been the main method of communication between businesses. The main reasons: emails are free to send & receive, fast to deliver, keep permanent records and file history logs, easy to type and edit, convenient, and are accepted worldwide. Emails are cheaper than long distance phone calls, faster than regular postal mail, and more convenient than face to face meetings with better record keeping of the communications.
Alternatives to emails
Since the invention of emails, other forms of business communication emerged such as Skype, Instant Messaging, Whatsapp, and similar offshoots. Are these systems superior to emails?
Critics of emails argue that emails take too much time and that brainstorming with actual conversations is superior. One problem with emails is the writer’s tone of note can be misinterpreted. Or, often a simple question leads to back and forth questions asking for clarification which wastes time. In addition, reading and answering numerous emails every day is time consuming making it an inefficient system. A five minute phone call or video conference on Skype between business persons can avoid misinterpretations often seen with emails. Voice, expressions, and body language may convey a stronger message than by email.
The popularity of emails
Email marketing has been a popular form for businesses to reach potential clients and customers for years. Pitney Bowes claims that e-marketing campaigns are still the easiest way to reach potential customers.
According to Campaign Monitor, email marketing has been generating the highest ROI for the last ten years in a row. Thus, email as a business tool remains viable.
The future of emails
Email technology has advanced to create more personalized automation programs. “hyper-personalization” is a new buzz word used for advanced technology email programs by communicating more relevance in terms of the right person, right content, right time and right channel, according to René Kulka, a marketing guru who has written a book about E-Mail Marketing.
Jordie van Rijn, an Email marketing consultant predicts future advances in Marketing Automation making them more “personalized” for businesses to target potential customers.
Looking ahead 5 years
Email as a business tool will continue to be important. Besides being more personalized, future email programs will focus on data protection from hackers and protection of recipients’ privacy. Automation programs will better track the delivery system and user experience back to the actual purchasing of products or services of the sender and calculating the ROI for the entire email campaign over the long term. Mobile devices will become the main method for opening emails.
Copyright © 2016 – Steven Rich, MBA