Recent Writings
Here are excerpts from three recent essays which are relevant as we think about how to rethink ads in emails.
Solving the Email Open Problem: “Think of the fun page in a newspaper. Even now, many newspapers have a page of puzzles, astro quotes, comics, and more. It is to create a habit that makes people pick up the paper and open it. As they do so, they see the ads. Email marketers need to think similarly. A “game” magnet is needed in the email subject and a “fun” magnet is needed in the email footer to drive engagement… What the footer does is create something I find “useful” – always. For these few seconds that I engage, I get something interesting. Or it just serves as an attractive distraction in the busyness of daily life. Different strokes for different people. The key objective remains the same: no email unopened.”
I discussed “Action Ads”: “Brands can also have ads in the email footer. They can be ads promoting internal products or external non-competing brands. There are four attributes that set these ads apart: they are linked to PII (personally identifiable information) so they can very targeted, they are in “push” messages and thus don’t want for user action, all actions are in-place (and not requiring a clickthrough to a landing page), and they can support payments which means the ads could drive impulse purchases.” Think of these as the 4 Ps – PII, Push, in-Place, and Payments.
Emagining E3 Ecosystem: Every Email Engaged: “E2 is about how to make the email body more engaging with forms, carousels, accordions, and shopping carts. E2 is about eliminating the clickthrough to a landing page. E3 is a bigger idea, solving the problem of attention recession and converting AdWaste to brand profits. E2 is for a single brand to adopt; E3 is about transforming the business model of email. E2 and E3 complement each other perfectly…[E3] is the universal solution to ensuring every email is opened and engaged, thus taking email open rates from 10% to 100%. This is because the E3 packaging is made for the recipient, the person behind the email address. In doing so, E3 also creates a digital media network for monetisation of attention – just like Google and Meta have done. E3 providers can subsidise the cost of sending the email and in fact share ad revenue with brands (list owners), thus turning the traditional cost structure on its head and fostering a new era of monetised engagement, creating a new revenue stream for email senders (brands) and email service providers (ESPs).”
FAB: A New Model for Enterprise Software: “FAB [is] a model which challenges the traditional B2B enterprise software paradigm: Free, from paid, Alternative business models, which help with monetisation for the software vendor, and Better, meaning that the free product offering is superior to the paid solution… E3 enables monetisation by allowing brands to include interactive ad formats within emails, facilitating in-email actions like form submissions or payments… [It] introduces an alternative business model for email marketing via an “email media network” that generates revenue through embedded interactive ads (built around 4P: PII, push, in-Place, Payments), and thus democratises access to quality email marketing for brands of all sizes.
I added: “E3 is a win-win for consumers who find something useful in every email and for brands who can now build hotlines with their existing customers and thus reduce their dependence on adtech for customer acquisition and reacquisition. It is an excellent example of the FAB approach in action, particularly in the B2B space, where such innovative models are less common. By offering a free, engaging, and superior user experience, E3 challenges traditional email marketing paradigms and introduces a new way for businesses to connect with their customers. The alternative monetisation strategies within E3 not only benefit ESPs and marketers by creating new revenue opportunities but also enhance the user experience by making emails something to look forward to, rather than just another message (or more correctly, an ad) in the inbox.”
We now have the foundational thinking to do some new thinking about ads in emails.
