Email and the hairline economy

Anyone who denies that we are in a recession probably still thinks there were nuclear weapons all over Iraq. Never before have we seen debt levels like this, in both business and consumer sectors. Oil prices will never fall significantly. Inflation is here to stay. Property prices will continue to fall.

In fact, it may well be that we all have to make significant changes to our lives and businesses. No bad thing, perhaps. This could be the wake-up call that we need.

So what does it mean for email? Well, I think it represents an opportunity – for email to mature as a medium in NZ, and for many businesses and organisations to undergo a long overdue traditional media cost cutting exercise, and dramatically improve their communications impact and efficiency into the bargain.

I predict that in 12 months time the volume of legitimate commercial email in NZ will double. I also predict that unsubscribes will rise dramatically as recipients make more aggressive reading decisions based on impact, content, presentation and relevancy.

Smart email marketers will increase segmentation, email design will change considerably to increase initial impact and allow for mobile view, writing for email will become a highly valued skill, and 90% of businesses and organisations sending email will continue to skimp on costs and trust their own in house knowledge, leading to even higher unsubscribe rates and lack of return on investment.

The 10% who value, and employ skilled email agencies, will beat the recession, and emerge all the stronger.

You heard it here first.....