Are social and mobile killing email? You might be surprised…
I was challenged to give my thoughts on this article in ClickZ by Simms Jenkins, titled, “Digital’s Great Teenage Misunderstanding“.
Now, before I start, I should clarify that Simms is one of the foremost email experts in the country, an all around smart dude and someone that I have had a bit of fun debating with over the years on email vs. social. He recently hired @ryanptuttle which only continues to prove to me that he knows what he’s doing. Plus he’s got a great book that you should read.
In the article, Simms is essentially taking Zuckerburg to task for his quote, “High school kids don’t use e-mail, they use SMS a lot. People want lighter weight things like SMS and IM to message each other.” The point Simms is making is larger than just debating Zuckerburg’s quote though, as we’ve all heard (and many of us have said) that email is dying mainly because young people don’t use it, preferring social and mobile.
I’ll first start by saying, email isn’t dying. I don’t see a future any time soon where email isn’t a part of our lives.
BUT, fax machines also aren’t dying. Neither are the paper and pen. Sure, we will still use these things in the future, but that doesn’t mean their importance in our lives isn’t becoming more and more diminished over time. They are, and I believe email is as well.
Yes, as pointed out in the article, teenagers become adults and join the work force and get an email account. This doesn’t exactly prove the point that teenagers aren’t using email much anymore. And if you’re trying to market to teenagers today or anytime in the near future, email isn’t going to be a very effective channel for you. Especially if its mostly seen as a way you communicate… while you’re at work.
Another point in the article is to show tweets by others that make a comparison to email such as:
- Most teens don’t have kids, there will be no children in the future #e-mailisdeadanalogy – @mostew
- Kids don’t drive. Therefore, cars will soon cease to exist. #e-mailisdeadanalogy – @MartinLieberman
Uh, right. But the point is, don’t try to sell diapers or cars to teens and kids.
Where I think I’ll agree with Simms (though I don’t want to put words into his mouth), is that email is still one of, if not still the, most efficient and effective marketing mediums. It just is. Will people use less email going forward? I think the answer is obviously yes. Is that because of social media and mobile (sms)? Has to be a contributing factor. However…
I could make the argument that this is going to be the best thing to happen to email since CAN-SPAM. Think about it, why do most people hate not love email? Spam. Spam is so widely spread because its so cheap for the spammers. Barely costs anything. Oh but wait, what’s cheaper than sending an email? How about posting a tweet or a Facebook post.
Yup, suddenly spammers are going to have an even cheaper way to annoy people. And they can reach more people through social media. And there are dumber younger people using social more than email. People that are more likely to fall for their spammer tricks.
So is social killing email? Nah. But its still fun to mess with Simms ;)
Jeff – Thanks for taking the bait. I think we can all agree that the future of email involves mobile and social and all demographics digital consumption habits are changing. Digital marketers that do not evolve with them will be left behind.
For some good stats, eMarketer had a nice timed story today: Social Media Is Not Killing Email
https://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008254
Thanks for your thoughts and compliments here. Either way, meet at the corner of Peachtree & 14th in 20 minutes so I can throw a water balloon at you.
-Simms Jenkins
First of all, fax machines *are* dying. That’s mostly a nitpick, but there is an underlying lesson there. Faxes are dying because there are a dwindling number of situations in which they are the preferred method of communication. Other than a couple of expense reports that still require it, I avoid fax machines as much as humanly possible. If I can scan something and send it as an attachment, that’s far preferable. On the other hand, pen and paper is certainly not dying, because there are plenty of times when scribbling down a quick note, or sketching out a rough diagram, is most easily done on paper. I suppose it’s possible to envision a future where shopping lists have all moved to Evernote, “while you were out” messages are delivered via text, and diagramming gets done on the iPad, but the convenience of pen and paper will give it plenty of staying power.
So the question is, is email more like pen and paper or more like faxes? I think it’s clearly the former. After all, in the decade or so since email became universally available, we’ve seen the introduction of IM, texting and Facebook messaging, all of which have improved on certain aspects of email, but none of which have undermined its core benefit. I just don’t see that changing anytime soon.
Yes, the eMarketer report does maintain that email is the primary marketing communications. But, what personally interests me more is what will be the primary marketing communications in 2 years so that we can work hard to be the best in that when its peak comes.
Instead, see Comscore’s research (posted via Techcrunch) from early February 2011 that says that YOY decrease in email usage in the 12-17 year old demographic was 59% (!). However, the age demographic immediately next to it (18-24), which affirms your hypothesis that kids do transition into actively using email as they are working in their first job or entering college.
https://techcrunch.com/2011/02/07/comscore-says-you-dont-got-mail-web-email-usage-declines-59-among-teens/
I’d like to know more about how colleges and universities are finding the most success in interacting with their students. In the meantime, it looks like middle school and high school students are either not on email or are abandoning it if they are, and Zuckerberg is correct (this time).
Social and mobile are definitely changing the way email is used. I would argue that Facebook Messages place will be in the vein of truly inter-personal communications. I doubt Facebook would even consider including support for HMTL rendering b/c it would completely contradict Zuckerberg’s theory. I would bet that most teenagers use SMS or messaging on Facebook over email for figuring out where they’re going to hang out on Friday night.
With all due respect to Gmail’s Priority Inbox initiative, my mobile phone is where i prioritize my emails. The only limiting factor is what i’m capable of doing on my mobile device. Soon, as mobile e-commerce and mobile applications take further grip, we will be doing our holiday shopping via smartphones.
All that being said, i’m counting on email not being dead b/c that’s what i am doing for a living. :-o