What valuable insight can 3 young adults who were not even born when Ghost Busters or E.T. were originally released provide to email marketers?
Last week, MediaPost hosted the Email Insider Summit on Captiva Island, FL. Close your eyes and imagine 150 email experts - people who spend a significant portion of their day thinking about email - sequestered on a remote Florida island for 72-hours. (Ok. Open your eyes now. Back to the real world.) Over 3 days, we dissected the email ecosystem, discussed industry insights, swapped best practices, deliberated over the new FTC CAN-SPAM regulations, debated co-registration and list rental, recapped the current state of the industry and speculated about the role email will have in the future.
One of the most intriguing panels at the Summit - Next Generation: Does Email Have a Future? - involved these 3 extremely well-spoken, intelligent students from Ball State University (BSU). For over an hour, the entire room was captivated by three people with a combined age of less than 60.
Is Facebook For Real?
The panelists began by talking about IM and texting; however, the discussion quickly turned to Facebook. August Miller, a Junior at BSU, said that he has a Facebook tab open at all times. His day starts and ends with Facebook. Amanda Pollard, a graduating BSU Senior, believes that “social networking is less professional.” She said that there is something fundamentally different about email; “it’s more professional.” Brandon Prebynski, a 2nd year graduate student at BSU, said he is more hesitant to open email than check a social networking site. According to Brandon, social networking is more fun; email is secondary. He thinks of email as “usually advertising, but not just to say hi; that is reserved for Facebook.” Brandon admits he uses Facebook whenever there is a free moment.
“Junk it’”
August introduced me to a new phrase - “junk it.” Wow, I feel old. Apparently “junk it” is the term for when a consumer clicks on “Mark as Spam,” “Junk,” or “Spam.” When asked why August doesn’t unsubscribe from emails he doesn’t want to read, he voiced his concern (a common misperception) that “if I click unsub, they will validate that I am a true person, then they will continue to spam me.” Amanda shared that she “rarely unsubscribes” as she may need the information in the future.
Will Facebook Change Email?
I believe that Facebook and social media/marketing will change email, but certainly not kill email. Social media is a huge opportunity for many businesses (read how Wofford College effectively uses it). All three panelists separated Facebook from email. They believe that Facebook is for “fun” while email is “more professional.” All admit that when they enter the workforce they will focus more on email and less on Facebook.
August confessed that he doesn’t call his grandmother ever. He only emails her. In fact, he doesn’t even know her phone number. Summed up best by Austin, “Sometimes its hard with old people, ya know? I’m just saying.”
Some other great resources and takeaways from Email Insider Summit:
MediaPost Raw: Live coverage from the Summit
BeRelevant: Tamara’s live blogging on Day 1 and Day 2
RetailEmail.Blogspot: Chad White’s “insights and learnings”
DJ Waldow
Account Manager at Bronto
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Good stuff DJ!
Just from reading your summary, I think another important take away is that students spend so much time on these networks so engaging them on these networks to get them signed up for your mailing list is not only a great place to make that connect, but is practically your only option. You have to do a little extra work to meet them on their own terms in these “walled gardens”.