The 7 Levers for Email’s Exponential Expansion

Published June 1, 2024

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What’s Not Going to Change

Here is a memorable quotes Jeff Bezos:

I very frequently get the question: ‘What’s going to change in the next 10 years?’ And that is a very interesting question; it’s a very common one. I almost never get the question: ‘What’s not going to change in the next 10 years?’ And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two — because you can build a business strategy around the things that are stable in time. … [I]n our retail business, we know that customers want low prices, and I know that’s going to be true 10 years from now. They want fast delivery; they want vast selection. It’s impossible to imagine a future 10 years from now where a customer comes up and says, ‘Jeff I love Amazon; I just wish the prices were a little higher,’ [or] ‘I love Amazon; I just wish you’d deliver a little more slowly.’ Impossible. And so the effort we put into those things, spinning those things up, we know the energy we put into it today will still be paying off dividends for our customers 10 years from now. When you have something that you know is true, even over the long term, you can afford to put a lot of energy into it.

“What will not change in the next 10 years?” I was thinking about this quote in the context of email. The need for a push channel for brands will not change. Not everyone is going to remember the brand and come on their own to a brand’s properties. Brands will always need a mechanism to remind customers; they will always need push messages to attract them to the website or app. While new channels like SMS, RCS, WhatsApp have grown in the past few years, the power of the email channel has not diminished. Yes, spam, inbox clutter and attention recession have impacted the efficacy of email, but there is no channel quite like it for branding, engagement, and persuasion.

The problem has been that marketers have been taking email for granted and not being smart about its usage. There has been little or no innovation in the channel itself. Time has stood still on both sides. But change is afoot. Because email will not go away – not for the next 10 years. The email ID remains one of the two public identities we have; the second being the mobile number. Doing anything on the mobile means either having one’s own app (for, say, push notifications), or relying on telco-controlled channels (SMS and RCS), or a private entity’s platform (like WhatsApp). There is no open communications channel like email. It is not going away. What is needed is innovation to make it better.

In this series, I will bring together my past ideas (see the Email 2.0 section) with some new ones to explain how and why email is likely to witness big growth going forward. It has been around as a marketing channel for over two decades, and the next decade is going to be its best!

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Six Innovations

There are many innovations coming to the world of email to create a completely new platform and experience: AMP, Atomic Rewards, AMPlets, Action Ads, AM (Microns), and AI. Here is a short summary of the first five (from my E3 essay).

AMP: AMP revolutionises Email 2.0 by introducing app-like functionalities directly within emails, leading to significant increases in user engagement and in-channel conversions. This technology allows users to perform actions within their inbox, eliminating the need for redirecting to external landing pages. In practice, this has resulted in a 5-15X increase in user actions in campaigns run by Netcore, showcasing the potential to transform email interaction and commerce.

Atomic Rewards: This feature introduces gamification into emails by offering micro-incentives (Mu) for specific actions taken by recipients, such as opening an email or providing data. These rewards can be aggregated across different brands to ensure meaningful value, thereby enhancing engagement. By including these incentives in email subjects, Atomic Rewards create a compelling reason for recipients to engage more with promotional emails, adding an element of fun and surprise.

AMPlets (Dynamic Engaging Footers): Recognising emails as advertisements rather than mere content, Dynamic Engaging Footers aim to make emails more appealing by including interactive elements such as games and puzzles at the bottom. This approach, inspired by the engagement strategies of newspapers, seeks to capture recipients’ attention and encourage interaction, thereby redefining the traditional, often overlooked, email footer.

Action Ads: This innovative ad format is designed to monetise emails by enabling actions such as form submissions or payments directly within the email. Action Ads are personalised, triggered by push messages for immediate visibility, and facilitate in-place interactions, paving the way for a new revenue stream for brands and the creation of an “email media network.”

AM (Microns): Described as “micro-newsletters,” Microns emphasise the importance of consistency and relevance in email communication. By sending brief, informative content at the same time each day (hence the “AM” reference), brands can integrate into the daily routines of their audience. This strategy, complemented by features like Atomic Rewards and Dynamic Engaging Footers, aims to boost open rates and ensure that emails are not just seen but also read and acted upon.

AI is the sixth innovation. What AI lets us to do is craft messages (including AMPlets) at scale for a “segment of one” – by creating a Digital Twin. As I wrote: “Envision a hyper-personalised AI companion for each customer, not just mirroring their actions but also predicting future behaviours (‘next best actions’) with remarkable accuracy. This advanced AI agent delves deep into individual customer data and journeys, using AI-driven insights to foresee and shape future interactions. It dynamically engages with the brand for tasks like tracking purchases, managing service requests, and filtering offers. This embodiment of the “segment of one” philosophy leverages AI to craft unique, waste-free experiences that maximise customer lifetime value.”

These six innovations will bring forth a new email – what I have called E3. “E3 can work with content which is HTML (E1) or AMP (E2). It 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).”

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Growth Cogs – 1

Building on E3 with its innovations, let us discuss how we can get more from email. Remember: one of the key prizes is the $250 billion AdWaste – half of marketing budgets being wasted because of wrong acquisition and reacquisition.

My seven growth cogs are centred around getting more (a) users (b) brands (c) usage (d) opens (e) data (f) actions (g) revenue.

More Users: In many countries, email IDs are almost as many as mobile phones, but email users are a smaller fraction. We use WhatsApp daily because it solves the problem of 1:1 and group communications. What can be done to get more consumers to use email daily? The answer lies in creating a mass-market “killer app” for email. I discussed this in my essay: An Email 2.0 Newsletter for All. An example: imagine getting a quiz in your email inbox every 12 hours which you can play and learn. One such example is QShots, the current affairs quiz. Imagine an expanded version which covers GK, thematic topics, test prep questions, word and math questions, and more. Further imagine if these questions could be tailored to what each of us wants to learn. Would that not bring in many first-time consumers into the world of email?

More Brands: There are many brands/businesses which are still not building direct relationships with their customers. While some do collect mobile numbers, many still do not ask for many identity information. Think FMCG companies, think small businesses. This is a “blue ocean” opportunity for email. As I have discussed in the past, there is no better form of communication that email from a cost and RoI perspective. So, there is an opportunity to grow the brands which use email for branding, communications, engagement, and eventually, commerce (in-channel conversion).

More Usage: Brands who are using email are missing many moments when they can send us email and strengthen their top-of-mind recall. Every brand needs to identify key points in the customer journey (pre-purchase and post-purchase) where emails can be sent. [See Microns: Making B2C Emails Better and Microns and Brands: Made for Each Other.] Emails need to become a habit in the lives of customers and this will only happen if a content-rich E3 email is sent daily at the same time – just like media companies do.

More Opens: Getting recipients to open emails is the biggest challenges faced by brands. This is what I have discussed in my essay Solving the Email Open Problem. The E3 envelope is the magic solution to drive email opens and creates “hotlines” to solve the attention recession problem: Atomic Rewards (Mu) as a “subject magnet” which creates an incentive and gamifies opens, and AMPlets to create a “footer magnet”. AI-driven personalisation will also improve outcomes. Marketers need to change their frame of reference from accepting single digit open rates to ensuring no email is ever ignored.

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Growth Cogs – 2

More Data: The key to N=1 personalisation lies in collecting data. The focus for long has been on first-party data, but the most valuable data is what customers give on their own volition to brands. Every email (especially transactional and triggered emails) must have a footer which enables brands to collect zero-party data – either via forms or via “hot or not” surveys. Brands can offer Mu as an incentive for providing the data. The better the data, the sharper will be the personalization – and that will improve the odds of emails being opened and engaged.

More Actions: An increase in opens will lead to a concomitant increase in actions. Marketers can further improvise by using AMP in the body of the email (what I describe as E2 emails). Search inside email, magic carts to enable shopping without clicking out, showing recommendations in emails based on real-time customer actions, offering EMI calculators – all are examples of AMPlets which can increase in-mail actions. Every ask for a “clickthrough” out of the email to a landing page on a website or app creates friction and sees actions drop by 90%. The key is to think “inbox commerce” (and inbox banking, inbox insurance, and do so on). [See The Coming of Inbox Commerce and Email Shops can Transform eCommerce.]

More Revenue: The icing on the cake is the ability to monetise every email and move to a scenario where the email program is no longer a cost centre but a money generator for brands. I have discussed this in my essay, Ads in Emails: Some New Ideas. I wrote about the 4 Ps which are the foundation for email ads: PII, Push, in-Place, and Payments. One can think of a 5^th P for “Premium”. The power of lead-generation, helping with reactivation, getting email subscriptions, and enabling commerce via email ads will lead to these ads being most prized after among all the possible ad formats. As I wrote: “With E3 Ads, the business model of email can also be transformed – from “some CPM” to “Zero CPM”. E3…has the potential of being the single channel to address all use cases: acquisition, engagement/retention, and reacquisition. It can do it far more efficiently than current methods. Success with E3 is what can help brands in their Profipoly quest.”

These seven E2 and E3 growth cogs can multiply the power and monetisation of email. Emails are priced between 10 and 30 cents CPM in volumes (about 1-3 paise per email). Marketers look at a ROAS of a few times that from email. With the seven levers we have discussed, it should be possible to amplify the outcomes by 10X or more. As I said at the start, the best days of email lie ahead. For the first time, new thinking and technology is laying the foundation for a channel which can power the shift from customer annoyance to customer delight, adtech to martech, from acquisition to retention, and therefore from losses to profits.

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AI Inputs – 1

I then asked the three AIs (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) to provide their takes on each of the seven growth cogs.

Growth Cogs

ChatGPT

Here are my strategic suggestions for each of the seven growth cogs concerning email marketing, offering a broad perspective on enhancing each aspect:

1. More Users: To increase the user base, brands should focus on the value proposition of emails. Demonstrating clear, immediate benefits within the email itself can attract more sign-ups. For instance, exclusive content, early access to sales, and personalized discounts can draw in users who might not otherwise subscribe. Email campaigns should be optimized for various devices and user-friendly to cater to the mobile-first audience. Furthermore, integrating email sign-ups seamlessly into other digital interactions, such as during purchases or account creation, can naturally increase subscriber numbers.
2. More Brands: To engage more brands, especially small businesses and those unfamiliar with the benefits of email marketing, providing simplified tools and clear guidelines on how to launch effective campaigns could be essential. Offering case studies and success stories can also help illustrate the potential ROI from email marketing. Service providers might consider creating tiered service levels to make entry-level options more accessible, combined with education on scaling up email efforts as business grows.
3. More Usage: To drive more frequent usage of email, brands could implement automation tools that trigger emails based on specific customer actions or time intervals. This ensures consistent contact without requiring constant manual input. Additionally, offering templates and drag-and-drop builders can help brands create engaging content more regularly. Emphasizing the integration of user-generated content and interactive elements can make emails more engaging and likely to be opened.
4. More Opens: Improving open rates can start with optimizing subject lines to be more engaging and relevant to the recipient. Personalization goes beyond using the customer’s name; it involves tailoring content to their past interactions and demonstrated preferences. A/B testing different subject lines and sending times can also provide valuable insights into what works best for specific audiences. Another tactic is to re-engage users who haven’t opened emails in a while with a special offer or message appealing to their interests.
5. More Data: Increasing the collection of quality data involves creating a transparent value exchange. Users are more likely to provide information if they understand how it benefits them, such as through personalized recommendations or discounts. Including interactive elements like polls, surveys, or quizzes in emails can make the process of providing information fun and engaging. It’s also important to ensure that data privacy and security practices are transparent and robust to build trust.
6. More Actions: To enhance the actions taken from emails, incorporating clear, compelling calls-to-action (CTAs) is critical. These should be visually distinct and strategically placed within the email. Employing dynamic content that adapts based on the user’s past behavior or current stage in the customer journey can make emails more relevant and increase engagement. Simplifying the user journey within the email, such as through one-click actions and streamlined forms, can significantly reduce friction and enhance conversion rates.
7. More Revenue: To boost revenue from email marketing, integrating advanced segmentation and targeting to deliver highly relevant advertisements and offers can be particularly effective. Exploring partnerships for cross-promotional content can also open new revenue streams. Furthermore, implementing tiered email content, where premium content is available at a higher subscription level, can attract a more dedicated segment of customers willing to pay for exclusive benefits.

These strategic suggestions aim to utilize email marketing not only as a tool for communication but also as a significant driver of business growth and customer engagement.

Claude

As an email strategy consultant, here are my responses to the 7 growth cogs:

More Users: To get more consumers to use email daily, brands should focus on creating valuable, engaging email content that provides utility to users. This could include personalized content recommendations, interactive features like quizzes or polls, and exclusive content or offers not available elsewhere. Additionally, brands can consider integrating email with other popular digital channels like social media to cross-promote and drive email signups. Gamification elements like points, badges, or leaderboards can also encourage regular email usage and foster a sense of community.

More Brands: There is significant potential to onboard more brands, especially smaller businesses and FMCG companies, onto email marketing. Brands should be educated on the cost-effectiveness and strong ROI of email compared to other channels. Email service providers can offer easy-to-use, affordable email marketing tools and templates to lower the barrier to entry. Additionally, showcasing successful email marketing case studies from similar businesses can help demonstrate the channel’s power and convince more brands to invest in building direct customer relationships through email.

More Usage: To increase email usage, brands should map out the customer journey and identify key touchpoints where email can add value. This could include pre-purchase activities like product research and recommendations, as well as post-purchase interactions like order confirmations, shipping updates, and product care information. Brands should also experiment with triggered and transactional emails to stay top-of-mind. Consistent, high-quality content delivered at the same cadence can turn email into a habit for customers.

More Opens: Improving email open rates is critical, and the E3 innovations like Atomic Rewards and AMPlets can be very effective. Brands should also focus on crafting compelling subject lines, using personalization, and testing different approaches. Monitoring engagement metrics and continuously optimizing the content and cadence can further drive open rate improvements over time.

More Data: Collecting zero-party data directly from customers through email is a powerful way to drive personalization and relevance. Brands should offer incentives like rewards or exclusive content in exchange for customer information, profiles, preferences, and feedback. This data can then be used to create highly targeted, valuable email experiences that customers are eager to engage with.

More Actions: Leveraging AMP technology to enable in-email functionality and “inbox commerce” can significantly boost customer actions and conversions. Brands should experiment with features like search, product recommendations, and purchase capabilities within the email itself to reduce friction and drive higher engagement. Continuous A/B testing and optimization of these interactive elements can uncover the most effective approaches.

More Revenue: The ability to monetize email through innovative ad formats like Action Ads and Premium Ads can transform email from a cost center to a revenue generator. Brands should work closely with email service providers to explore these new ad opportunities and develop strategies to maximize the value of their email lists. Careful targeting, personalization, and measurement will be key to driving strong returns from email advertising.

By focusing on these 7 growth cogs, brands can unlock the full potential of email and create a powerful, customer-centric channel that drives business growth across acquisition, engagement, and revenue.

Gemini

Here’s my take on the growth cogs, approaching them from the perspective of an email strategy consultant:

1. More Users: Gamification & Utility

• Go beyond quizzes: While quizzes can be engaging, explore broader gamification elements like points, badges, and leaderboards for tasks like opening emails, completing surveys, or referring friends.
• Focus on utility: Make email a one-stop shop for micro-tasks. Integrate features like bill payments, appointment scheduling, or loyalty program management directly within emails.

2. More Brands: Personalization & ROI

• Showcase success stories: Highlight case studies demonstrating the effectiveness of email marketing for similar businesses.
• Focus on ROI metrics: Move beyond open rates and clicks. Emphasize metrics like customer lifetime value (CLTV) and revenue generated from email campaigns.

3. More Usage: Triggered Emails & Micro-Moments

• Automate triggered email sequences: Leverage automation for abandoned carts, welcome messages, and post-purchase follow-ups.
• Target micro-moments: Identify micro-moments throughout the customer journey where a relevant email can provide immediate value. Examples include shipping updates, product recommendations based on recent searches, or personalized birthday offers.

4. More Opens: Subject Line Optimization & Pre-Headers

• A/B test subject lines: Continuously test subject lines with different lengths, tones, and emojis to identify high-performing options.
• Craft compelling pre-headers: Utilize the pre-header text alongside the subject line to create a cohesive message and spark curiosity.

5. More Data: Interactive Content & Zero-Party Data

• Use interactive content: Incorporate polls, surveys, and preference centers within emails to gather valuable zero-party data directly from users.
• Offer incentives for data: Provide rewards (discounts, early access) in exchange for user data, building a culture of information exchange.

6. More Actions: Interactive CTAs & In-Email Actions

• Go beyond basic CTAs: Experiment with interactive CTAs like image hotspots or countdown timers to increase click-through rates.
• Leverage AMP for in-email actions: Utilize AMP for features like product carousels with “add to cart” buttons or interactive forms directly within the email.

7. More Revenue: Advanced Segmentation & Sponsorship Opportunities

• Segment for targeted advertising: Develop sophisticated audience segments based on demographics, interests, and purchase behavior for highly targeted email ads.
• Explore sponsorship opportunities: Partner with relevant brands to offer sponsored content or product placements within high-performing email newsletters.

By implementing these strategies alongside the innovative features you’ve outlined (AMP, Atomic Rewards, etc.), brands can unlock the true potential of email and achieve significant growth.

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AI Inputs – 2

I next asked the three AIs (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) to provide their takes on what was missing from my list of growth cogs.

ChatGPT

1. Integration with Other Marketing Channels

Growth Cog: Cross-Channel Harmonization

Enhancing integration with other digital marketing channels like social media, SMS, and push notifications can create a seamless user experience and amplify messaging. By harmonizing messages across channels, brands can engage users more consistently and effectively, using email as part of a holistic marketing strategy.

2. Advanced Personalization Techniques

Growth Cog: Predictive Personalization

Leveraging machine learning and AI to predict user behavior and preferences can significantly enhance personalization. This goes beyond reacting to past behaviors, allowing brands to proactively offer content and products that the user is likely to need or want, thereby increasing engagement and conversions.

3. Sustainability Practices

Growth Cog: Eco-friendly Email Practices

As consumers become more environmentally conscious, they favor brands with sustainable practices. This cog involves optimizing email marketing practices to reduce digital waste (e.g., reducing email frequency, segmenting lists to avoid unnecessary sends), and communicating such practices to consumers to enhance brand reputation.

4. Enhanced Security and Privacy

Growth Cog: Trust and Compliance

In a digital age where privacy concerns are escalating, ensuring and communicating robust security practices can be a significant growth driver. This includes compliance with international data protection regulations (like GDPR), implementing advanced security measures, and transparently communicating these practices to increase trust and engagement.

5. Interactive and Rich Media Content

Growth Cog: Email Experience Innovation

Developing emails that include rich media (like embedded videos) and interactive elements (such as in-email shopping capabilities) can transform traditional emails into engaging experiences that drive higher interaction rates and conversions.

6. Real-time Content and Offers

Growth Cog: Dynamic Content Adaptation

Including real-time content such as live inventory updates, countdown timers for sales, and dynamic pricing within emails can create urgency and increase relevance. This cog focuses on making emails more timely and contextually appropriate, which can drive immediate actions.

7. Community Building

Growth Cog: Community Engagement

Encouraging community interaction through emails, such as invitations to exclusive online forums or events, can build a stronger connection between the brand and its customers. This approach turns email subscribers into community members, fostering loyalty and enhancing customer lifetime value.

8. Lifecycle Email Marketing

Growth Cog: Lifecycle Optimization Developing strategies that target customers at different stages of their lifecycle with a brand—from onboarding to loyalty programs—can maximize the relevance and impact of each communication. This approach ensures that emails contribute effectively to moving users along the customer journey.

Claude

Email Infrastructure Optimization: Brands should focus on improving the technical infrastructure and deliverability of their email programs. This includes optimizing email templates, improving sender reputation, implementing email authentication protocols, and leveraging email analytics to identify and resolve any delivery issues. Enhancing the underlying email infrastructure can significantly boost the effectiveness of other growth strategies.

Email List Building: Acquiring new email subscribers is a critical driver of growth. Brands should employ creative tactics to incentivize signups, such as gated content, lead magnets, social media integrations, and referral programs. Additionally, they can leverage techniques like exit-intent popups, hello bars, and newsletter promotions to capture more email addresses from website visitors.

Email List Hygiene: Maintaining a clean, engaged email list is just as important as growing it. Brands should regularly clean their lists by removing inactive subscribers, re-engaging dormant users, and verifying email addresses. Employing list segmentation, re-engagement campaigns, and email preference centers can help improve list quality and overall email performance.

Email Program Automation: Automating key components of the email program, such as triggered messages, abandoned cart reminders, and post-purchase follow-ups, can significantly increase efficiency and relevance. By leveraging email automation capabilities, brands can deliver personalized, timely communications at scale, driving higher engagement and conversions.

Email-Offline Integration: Integrating email with offline touchpoints, such as in-store interactions, events, and direct mail, can create a more seamless, omnichannel customer experience. Brands should explore ways to capture email signups in physical locations, sync online and offline customer data, and use email to amplify and extend the impact of their offline marketing efforts.

Gemini

1. Accessibility and Inclusivity:

• Focus on accessibility features: Ensure emails are accessible for users with disabilities by incorporating features like alt text for images, clear and concise language, and proper use of heading structures.
• Multilingual options: Consider offering email content in multiple languages to cater to a wider audience and improve user experience for non-native speakers.

2. Security and Privacy:

• Highlight security measures: Clearly communicate the steps you take to protect user data and ensure email security. This can build trust and encourage users to engage more readily.
• Privacy-centric approach: Develop an email marketing strategy that prioritizes user privacy. Offer clear opt-out options and avoid bombarding users with irrelevant emails.

3. Collaboration and Community Building:

• Facilitate two-way communication: Encourage replies and feedback within emails to foster a sense of community and build stronger relationships with users.
• Partner with influencers: Collaborate with relevant influencers to create co-branded email campaigns that tap into new audiences and leverage the influencer’s credibility.

4. Analytics and Measurement:

• Go beyond basic metrics: While open rates and click-through rates are important, delve deeper into analytics to understand user behavior within emails. Track metrics like time spent reading, scroll depth, and clicks on interactive elements for a more comprehensive picture.
• Attribution modeling: Utilize attribution modeling to accurately measure the impact of email campaigns across different touchpoints in the customer journey.

5. Personalization Beyond the Inbox:

• Omnichannel personalization: Connect email marketing efforts with other channels like SMS or push notifications. Leverage user data to deliver a consistent and personalized experience across all platforms.
• Predictive personalization: Utilize AI and machine learning to predict user behavior and preferences. This allows for highly targeted content and offers within emails, increasing relevance and engagement.

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A fascinating spectrum of ideas to reimagine and build the new world of email, and therefore extend its reach, effectiveness, and market size exponentially! India with its low  email usage (relative to WhatsApp) but very high penetration of Android and Gmail can be the perfect first market to try out many of these new ideas. WINdia, anyone?!