That is a pretty startling question. And in that you no doubt have checked your
email dozens of times today, sent numerous emails out and gotten that many or
more in, to say that as a mode of communication that email is obsolete would be
a mistake. Email is no more obsolete
than letter writing or talking on the telephone is. But it is safe to say that its possible that
email is no longer cutting edge and its era as a primary tool for internet
marketing may be coming to an end.
When email first became a popular mode of
communication, it virtually changed the way communication worked in a way that
can only be compared to the invention of the telephone. Email combined the quickness of a telephone conversation
with the ability to document what was said of a letter writing exchange. At the time to be able to send an email that
reached the recipient's email box in moments time even if they were on the
other side of the world was mind blowing.
The internet marketing potential was
tremendous. As internet marketing became
a genuine mode of doing businesses, it grew up as the use of email grew
up. However there was trouble in
paradise and we probably don’t have to tell you what the problems were. It can be summed up in one word - spam. Spam is nothing more than unwanted email
communications usually from an internet marketer. The corresponding experience outside of the
internet is the solicitor phone call in the middle of dinner or junk mail and
both are just as irritating and unwelcome as spam marketing emails.
So in the last decade internet marketing
using email as the primary mode of communication with your customers has grown
in two parallel lines. The legitimate
side of email marketing and customer support has grown and become more sophisticated
and useful. Many businesses were able to
build impressive online business empires supported by email marketing and
ongoing email communications with a growing customer base. For thousands of online marketers, the idea
of conducting business without email communications with customers seems
impossible.
But it was the other parallel line that
grew like a cancer to the point that it snarled email communications and has
interfered with email deliverability for
the many legitimate email based internet merchants working in
cyberspace. The spam merchants working
with sophisticated mass mailing services and software have flooded email boxes
of every citizen of cyberspace to such an extent that without spam control
software both at the server level and at the desk top level, it is virtually
impossible to use email for routine purposes any more.
Spam control software has grown
exponentially as well and become powerful and sophisticated. It has also spawned a cottage industry which
has imposed a whole new cost of operations on every email user in the world who
wants to avoid the spam avalanche they will face if they go unprotected. This has created resentment and distrust in
the email system of communications in general and certainly toward online merchants
who wish to use the internet for customer service and marketing. To say that a few bad apples spoiled it for
everyone puts it mildly.
Because of this ongoing war between spam
operators and spam control software services, email deliverability has become a
tedious chore to maintain and without constant oversight, an internet merchant
can lose contact with its customers in short order. For that email has become obsolete as a valid
and easy to use tool for marketing and customer communications.
Meanwhile new forms of communications such
as instant messaging, VOIP and WEB 2.0 interoperability have started the next
wave of evolution in internet communications.
The chances are that we will see internet merchants move away from email
marketing to exploit these much more dynamic methods for customer
communications. And while email will
never die as a cornerstone of online communications, from an internet marketing
point of view, it is very much out of step with the times.
No comments:
Post a Comment