It was approximately 20 years ago when I sent my first email. The thrill of compiling it, making sure it was well written with good spelling and grammar, ensuring it looked neat and tidy before lingering over the ‘send’ button for an eternity, unsure what would happen when I finally took the plunge. I remember it taking forever for my inbox to ding and a reply to land - no doubt the sender was in just as much awe as I was - and the anticipation was incredible. Twenty years on and days filled with 100+ messages arriving in my inbox, email has dominated the working environment and the majority of people’s workplace output ever since.

However, with the predominance and abundance of social media activity in recent times - of sharing, posting, updating, commenting, liking, complaining and communicating through the multiple channels that exist it - and the many more that are being created as I type, it is easy to see why sending an email feels old hat. Not much has changed in the email process over the past 20 years, as apposed to social media, which becomes more frenetic daily. As social media channels  buzz, flash ping and fizz minute by minute, email continues to be the trustworthy, non-flashy, dependable carthorse messenger - free from hashtags, @ symbols, emoticons or 6 second video clips, that delivers your message to your recipient in a clear, calm and clutter-free manner.

The ‘antiquated’ delivery of email, sets itself away from the instant wonders of social media and still has a huge amount to offer marketers today. 

The statistics gathered by various surveys support this stance:

• Over 50% of people say that they read the majority of their emails

• 81% of users read email on mobile devices

• 77% of consumers prefer permission-based marketing communications via email

• 45% of email recipients in the past 12 months has made at least one purchase based on a promotional email

• Emails that incorporate ‘social sharing’ buttons have a 157% higher click-through rate

Email marketing is still highly effective and can also acts as a gatekeeper - persuading consumers to interact with their social media channels.

The key considerations are getting the email content and its look & feel right and producing the email in a way that it can circumnavigate the plethora of sensitive email filters and ‘spam catchers’ meaning that your email can arrive safely into the designated inbox and will not be condemned to a life of junk-land obscurity. With over 65% of recipients stating a preference for well designed image-heavy emails - photos, diagrams, info-graphics etc, and with the challenges of ensuring your promotional emails weave their way past the intricate and sophisticate web of spam filters your email campaigns should be placed in the hands of experienced marketers that can ensure that emails still lead the way of your online marketing strategy