The evolution of email
Part 1 of this series discussed how Email 2.0 is a Tesla-like innovation, changing the customer mindset from ‘delete’ to ‘delight’, driving engagement and habit creation, and powering exponential, forever profitable growth.
Here’s a recap of what I wrote about Email 2.0 in the recent past: “Even as email service providers (ESPs) move up and down the stack to add offerings like CDP (customer data platform) and martech features (journeys, orchestration, omnichannel personalization), the core email channel itself is evolving. The triad of AMP, Ems, and Microns – what I term as Email 2.0 – will transform how customers engage with emails and help brands continue their quest for deepening customer relationships.” I added: “Email 2.0 will bring creativity back into email – brevity, smart copywriting, simplicity of design, and story-telling. It is about persuasion and nudging, rather than hard-selling. It is about getting attention first and brand building, rather than jumping straight into pushing for a purchase.
Microns use the subject line to create excitement about earning rewards and grab attention in an inbox of otherwise same-to-same subject lines. Ems limit the display area to a mobile screen, driving the need for a single, sharp message. AMP offers the opportunity to bring in interactivity – a touch or a swipe which draws the recipient in.” I also discussed new ideas like Hooked Score, Atomic Rewards, and Progency.
Ever since I wrote the series on ‘Email 2.0: The Fulcrum for Fixing Five Funnel Frictions’, I have been thinking much more about Email 2.0 and its potential to enhance the user experience and solve the attention recession problem. In this series, I will reframe the Email 2.0 discussion around five innovations: Hooked Score, Atomic Rewards, Ems, AMP, and Progency. Together, they can engineer a habit revolution, convert the end customer’s ‘delete’ mindset into ‘delight’, and make email cool again.Channels like email retain their importance in the world of Instagram and TikTok because email is a push channel, and emails are sent to identified users. Push channels are important because they help bring customers back to brand properties (website and app). Without engagement on push channels like email, SMS, and push notifications, brands will be forced to use intermediaries like Google and Facebook to reach out to their own customer base at prohibitively high costs. Push channels are an integral part of the ‘omnichannel personalization’ vision that brands have.
My company, Netcore Cloud, has been involved in the world of email marketing for more than 15 years. We began in response to requests from our enterprise customers to help them do ‘mass mailing’ to lists – since we already had email expertise and were helping set up and manage their internal email servers. Through these years, email kept growing and growing. Now, Netcore serves over 6,500 customers across 40 countries and delivers 500 million emails every day. Email’s success has helped Netcore extend into additional layers in the martech stack – Gen AI, automation, journey orchestration, analytics, personalization, and nudges (product experience.) Having been among the ‘originals’ (early Email Service Providers), Netcore is now at the forefront of reinventing email as Email 2.0.
Email benchmarks
Netcore will be publishing its Email Benchmark Report 2024 soon. Here are some of the key points about it:
- It is the most-awaited and most-extensive report in the email industry based on the study of 100 billion emails.
- In-depth coverage of 18 industries across various business verticals such as BFSI, eCommerce, entertainment, media, OTT, and more.
- Industry best practices to enhance inboxing/deliverability and lower the bounce rate to derive maximum benefit from email marketing campaigns.
- Industry best practices to improve clicks and interactions, along with insights on the best/worst days to send marketing emails for different industries.
- Detailed explanation of spam and its calculation; proven strategies to reduce spam and unsubscribe rates for better customer retention and CLV.
- Global performance with geography-specific click, bounce, and spam metrics across the Americas, European Union, emerging markets, and India.
- Deconstruction of the 2024 Guidelines update from Gmail and Yahoo! Mail and step-by-step recommendations for ensuring compliance.
- Predictions for 2024, including Inbox Commerce, Gen AI, shifting focus to zero-party data, sender verification via BIMI, and Blue Tick.
- The future of email with exciting developments such as Email Shops, Segment of One, Augmented Reality, and Emotive Content Emulation.
As mentioned in the report, the average click rate witnessed across industries was 2.48 %. In other words, for every 100 emails, just about 2 emails are clicked through to the brand website or app. And these numbers are for the channel with the best ROI! Without their push messages being seen and acted on, it’s little wonder that brands, facing a serious attention recession problem, are pushed towards new customer acquisition. And yet, the focus for brands is on optimizing acquisition and not building a better pipe. This is the biggest mistake being made by brands. By shifting budgets from adtech to martech (and Email 2.0), brands can reduce AdWaste through a better hotline, ad targeting, personalization, and intent data. This is where Email 2.0, pioneered by Netcore, comes in. Netcore’s enduring legacy of innovation, growth, and relationships gives it a unique position to envision the future.
Continued in Part 3
