First, it took the place of letters. Whether or not this helped their social skills, many people began using email in order to keep in contact with old friends. Hand-written letters are often a thing of the past and email has facilitated both short and long distance communication. It's so easy to type out a quick "Happy Birthday" email rather than sitting down to write a thoughtful and charming letter. You can never get away with a three-word letter but you definitely can with an email.
Second, email became integrated into mobile usage and smart phones. Mobile email = lifesaver. I'll even admit that I can't go 10 minutes without checking my email on my phone. Embarrassingly enough, my phone had to be sent back to Apple for 3 days and I still get the shakes thinking about it. Mobile email has made communication move as fast as the rest of the world already does. Businesses can now reply to one another within seconds, meaning that business decisions can now be made almost instantly.
Now, email is expanding once again. Many marketers are utilizing email to hit their consumers with stories and videos concerning their product. They are essentially turning this rapid form of communication into a mini-commercial. Statistics from the WebVideo Marketing Council say that "73% of [business survey] respondents thought video would raise clickthrough rates for their email programs and the same number believed video made email recipients more likely to convert."
Email video integration allows advertisers to connect with their loyal customers on an even deeper level. It makes a relationship that much easier and increases the potential for word-of-mouth. The following graph details businesses' ideas on the best way to integrate video into email marketing:

There still are a few things that need to be hammered out however. For one, marketers are finding it hard to integrate this new idea into their strategies. It doesn't sound too hard to merely put a video in an email but companies must make sure the video works with the content, attracts viewers to click on it, and actually increases sales before they give it the go-ahead. Also, it's proving to be extremely costly. This chart shows the results of businesses surveyed on their biggest challenging with video email integration:

The next time you see a video on the Internet or see a link to one in an email, think about how you respond to it. Do you want to click on it? Does it upset you that a business is using your personal email to advertise even more? More likely than not, your reaction will mimic many others in society. My only question is what in the world is email going to do next? So far, it's been quite surprising!
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