Emails are an inseparable part of marketing and communications. Right from sending out offers and deals to informing your customers about your new products, Emails hit the right keys when it comes to getting the right message across and they have developed over the time in design, communication and messaging strategy since its inception.
How it all started?
Emails started sometime in 1971 with the first text email being sent out. Little did they know that a feature as basic as this would revolutionize the way people communicated with each other. It all started way back in 1971 at MIT with the first email being sent out on ARPANET. Over the years, email has traversed through many changes like the transformation of plain text emails to HTML emails, an introduction of responsive emails, and the latest nuptial between HTML and CSS, which changed the whole scenario in 2014 – introducing interactivity in email.
The initial emails were purely textual in nature with information simply typed and sent. Consequently, these emails were restricted to being personal in nature. Meaning, back then, emails were sent only for interpersonal communications and this remained unchanged till 1990. It would be safe to say that the year 1990 was a year of revolution for emails. HTML emails were introduced for the first time.
The introduction of HTML gave users the liberty to visualize their message. Majorly, use of tables in HTML emails gave them the upper hand at aligning the text better, adding images and then buttons for a call to action.
As the years went by, more technology and innovation were infused into making emails better and more powerful. From embedding contact lists to customized email addresses to adding videos into the email, emails have a come a long way.
Emails Today
Emails today are responsive and focus not ONLY upon delivering their message across, but also creating a superlative experience for the recipient. Responsive adaptive and visually appealing emails are now easy to construct using HTML and CSS. Emails have evolved in terms of their purpose as well. In the early 2000s, it was a mandate to use emails as a promotional tool, flooding users’ inboxes with promotional emails, thereby adding feed to the Email police- SPAM filters.
Key highlights of Present Day Emails:
1. Purposeful
From the point of view of intent, emails have grown more purposeful in nature. They no longer harp the brand vision and product features every single day gnawing at the user’s patience. Service emails, transactional emails and triggered emails have turned the tables, making emails a personal branding necessity than just a promotional accessory.
2. Visual
Use of GIFs, videos, and pre-designed email templates have taken email marketing a notch higher.
3. Tied with SMS
The emergence of SMS marketing and its marriage to emails have made email marketing more synchronized and personal. SMS is already personal in nature and is a 24/7 channel of communication with your customer if done right. Use of emails in sync with SMS has upped the game for marketers into getting a glimpse of what the user really wants to hear about.
Future of Emails
While emails today are responsive and adapted to every type of visual element, the future looks promising. Emails in future will be one step ahead in terms of being cross functional and responsive on high end devices like smart gear, VR, Google glass and such. Moreover, now that emails are triggered, it would be safe to expect emails to be automated, smart with a great deal of personalization.
While emails are evolving every passing day, what are you doing to cope with it? Check out Juvlon’s advanced email marketing suites to keep up with the latest trends.