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Tomorrow’s email marketing Bill Thompson [email protected] www.andfinally.com

Tomorrows Email Marketing

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Tomorrow’s email marketing

Bill [email protected]

Why me? Tame geek

Recovered programmer Trainer and course developer

New media pioneer PIPEX ‘Internet ambassador’ Guardian website, 1994

Commentator, critic, broadcaster BBC News online, World Service, New Statesman

Online marketer Arts Council England, ArtsProfessional,

openDemocracy.net

The big question Does email have a future?

The answer is ‘yes’ - so please stay…

What should you be doing? If you use email to reach customers or

subscribers, how will it affect you?

What might email look like? Some speculation and extrapolations

We can see what’s coming

‘The future has already arrived…it’s just not evenly distributed yet’

Forget the old models… Building a new information ecology

Old niches are vanishing New conditions prevail A time for adaptation

Email can survive Find a new niche as the environment shifts Offer continuing value to users

That begs the question…

What is email? We think we know

The assumptions we have may be wrong We may want to rethink email

Defining electronic mail Message exchange To named recipient(s) With persistent storage of received items

Protocols and techniques don’t matter Which means we can change them Which also means we can dispense with them

The Information Ecology Email does not stand alone

Part of a set of communications services Different characteristics Different uses Overlapping audiences

Email not for everyone Children and the US prefer IM

Instant gratification? Sense of presence?

Where does email fit? Solid. Stable. Reliable. Boring?

A future for email? Let’s consider tomorrow

How will the network change Which tools will emerge What place could email have?

Extrapolation is not good enough The trends are not linear Disruptive technologies erupt like volcanoes Sometimes the unexpected happens

Storing traffic records may deter email use IM interoperability is finally happening.

Need to use our imaginations And have ‘informed courage’

A possible (likely) tomorrow Fast free wireless in the West

Free at the point of use

Pervasive network, portable devices Access to information whenever you want it

Flexible portable screen technology Sony’s reader is just the start

Not a perfect world: A digital divide as severe as today Millennium development goals still far off

This is already happening…

Sony Reader

Prefer it flexible?

Google Video Store What happens when this is how we get

programmes?

QuickTimeª and aTIFF (LZW) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Or this is what we watch..

QuickTimeª and aTIFF (LZW) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Wind up and go… How will the world be different when a

billion children have a $100 laptop? Wireless Ebook reader Open source

* Neal Stephenson, http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.10/spew.html

Welcome to the Spew* The Internet provides all data

One data pipe Multiple meanings

Screens still dominate Flexible, portable, projecting Some use of VR, retinal lasers, neural links

Email is part of the infosphere

The media landscape alters Doing it ourselves

Blogging Podcasting YouTube and MySpace

Getting what we want Music downloads Video distribution Pirated software/games

Looking for immediacy Instant messaging; blog comments

More than just words Broadband supports multimedia

Photo-sharing on Flickr Video uploads to YouTube

A new new media landscape… What place do existing players occupy? Who will make money? Who will tell the truth?

How will we reach people? Lots of choices Lots of ways of getting it wrong

Where does email fit in? The e-environment is changing

New content New tools New services New modes of interaction

Can email find a niche? It faces big issues Reliability Trust Effectiveness

‘Every man’s spam diminishes me’

(apologies to John Donne)

What are we going to do about unwanted emails, spoofed addresses and clogged up mailboxes?

What are we looking at…

Spam is a symptom

Differential diagnosis Shows that existing standards are perceived

to be failing Is this an accurate perception?

Shows that email is poorly controlled Can we put new systems in place?

Shows that people still value email But they are not sure it can deliver

Trust and control

Trusted computing architectures Built into current generation PCs - Lenovo Accessed through next gen OS - Vista, Mac OS Provide low-level validation of executables Provide low-level authentication of services

Who trusts whom? Trusted systems used to control content playback Restrict user freedoms to serve rights holders May be resisted by consumers

Authentication and identity Next generation network coming soon

Based around IPV6 Authentication and encryption built in

A tool for evil? Monitor all traffic Better filters No anonymity Preferential routing

A tool for good? Spoofing much harder

Giving email space to breathe Many of the problems go away

Regulated networks, trusted PCs Authenticated users, validated servers

Replace quickfix solutions Sender Policy Framework, Sender ID and

Goodmail certificates all go away Integrated into applications and servers

Legitimate use of email communications will be simpler in a trusted world

Reaching customers What is email good for?

Asynchronous - read when you want Personal and personalised Permanent - can be filed

Need to build on these strengths Don’t use email when other tools will do Let your users choose

Email newsletter vs RSS feed Text only or HTML email Message granularity

Too easy to lose people’s trust

The future is well-fed Already see moves to feed-based services Still waiting for the right technology

RSS is a broken protocol Cannot scale to meet our real needs Does not respect network model

The next stage will work Feed-based publishing from CMS Content delivered in format of choice

Newsletters, websites, blogs, email All different views of the same information

One CMS to rule them all Content belongs in databases

Structured Managed Controlled Full range of reports

Provide content through a range of services Web, print, streamed, downloaded Email becomes one of the options

Email becomes part of the hypertext

I link, therefore I am

The user experience For those who want it, it’s the same

Outlook or other client Send and receive ‘messages’

For those who want more, it’s there New email notification to any device Send once, read anywhere services Full sender authentication at host server

Email marketing must adapt Need a more sophisticated view Need to understand what technology offers

Where next? Two-pronged strategy

Maintain the status quo Plan for the disrupted future

Make the best of today’s email Proper list management Effective list software Proper marketing input where needed

Be there when tomorrow arrives Observe the trends Design new systems around new capabilities

How do we cope? Look to the wired world

Most of the time network is ‘just there’ Bits are as boring as electrons and water Everyone online

Except for the poorest 4 billion

Accept what is going on Engage Embrace Extend

Work with the grain of the system Email has a future - you just have to create it

Thank you.

Questions….