5 Macro Trends That Are Altering Email
by Loren McDonald , Thursday, June 4, 2009  Trend forecasts are the columnist's last resort at the end of the publishing year. Here, at the midpoint of this year, I'd like to look at five macro trends that promise far-reaching impact on your email program.
1. Globalization: The evolution to a global economy has picked up speed over the last decade. English in its many variations is the Internet's universal language, but your company does business in the languages of your prospects and customers. "Think global, act local" has never been truer.
Acting locally with your email program goes beyond language translation. It incorporates customs, tone, offering the right products and services, local hours and support and knowing that Independence Day is not a universally celebrated holiday.
2. Ubiquity and speed of content distribution: Speed kills. The Internet dramatically changed the role of newspapers because news doesn't wait for printing presses and delivery trucks. Now, user-generated content distributed via Twitter, Facebook and blog posts and comments make content not only instantaneous but everywhere.
Whether you are a news organization, retailer or B2B company with a monthly newsletter, you need a new approach. Consumers and businesspeople alike have adopted Scoop Nisker's famous line from his book: "If You Don't Like the News, Go Out and Make Some of Your Own."
If you wait too long, the marketplace will own and shape your message. Instead of making the news, you'll react to it. Email is still faster than print, but other channels beat it for immediacy, collaboration and user-generated content.
3. Economic downturn: The global economic downturn has killed or bankrupted major corporate institutions, slowed consumer spending and lengthened business purchase cycles. While the economy is expected to recover in 2010, consumer spending levels might not rebound for several years.
The impact on marketers is clear. Jittery management is demanding more aggressive marketing, including obscene frequency of email sends to try to squeeze blood from the consumer stone.
We've also seen email become a discount channel, with "free shipping and 20% off" as the baseline. Sorry, you've trained me so well, I'm not buying for anything less than 40% off.
4. Attention distraction: Not to make light of a serious disorder, but many in our society suffer from content ADD. We check emails on our BlackBerrys at stoplights, shop on Amazon while watching "American Idol" and eating dinner, take notes and post tweets on our iPhones from our seats at conferences.
This information explosion and its distractions have led to a decrease in time and patience. The four-page direct-mail letter has been replaced by 140-character Twitter offers. SMS, Twitter, blogs, online video and social networks compete with the inbox, and inside it, for attention.
Your email message might lose out to the 160-character text message and the 140-character tweet if you don't come to the point quickly, with content that's visible no matter which platform or configuration your subscriber uses.
5. Humanization of companies: Several developments come together in this trend:
Transparency -- Secrets are hard to keep these days. Before you can say "Should we issue a press release?" your company gaffe will be a top video on YouTube. More than ever, transparency is vital for instilling trust in your brand and communications.
Personality -- Using executive personalities in ads, such as Lee Iacocca of Chrysler and Dave Thomas of Wendy's, was once the exception, not the rule. Today, many at your company, from product manager to CEO, likely are putting a face on your company with blogs and Twitter accounts (think online shoe retailer Zappos).
Direct-to customer-communications -- Social media has made it even easier for companies to communicate directly with customers and prospects. Although marketers are beginning to question social media's revenue impact, its effect on other communications is obvious and likely permanent.
Next Up: Strategies to Make Email Prosper
All five trends represent both challenges and opportunities for the email marketer. In my next Email Insider, I'll outline strategies you can employ now to address these trends and build a stronger email program.
In the meantime, take it up a notch!
| Loren McDonald is vice president of industry relations for Silverpop, a leading provider of engagement marketing solutions for both BtoC and BtoB marketers. |
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