Google has brought email to its natural next step with the launch of Priority Inbox. Through Google’s email service, Gmail, users are now able to activate Priority Inbox which creates a new folder in their inbox. By using a special algorithm, Gmail is able to prioritize your email for you. As you use Gmail the algorithm gets better and better at identifying which emails are important to you, and which ones are not.
In the BtoB world this may not seem like such a big deal since most companies use a professional email service like MS Exchange. However, Yahoo and Hotmail have already announced plans to offer a similar service, so it’s not going to be long before it’s a plug-in for Outlook or other professional email clients.
What should be concerning for email marketers is the algorithm that Priority Inbox, and the services that spawn from it, use to determine what you consider a priority. How will it know that you like emails from Old Navy, but not Apple? Or that you prefer emails from your crazy uncle but not the enormous amount of forwards your father in law sends you (hint, hint). As a side note, why is it that every email someone forwards me is almost always completely bogus? You don’t need to watch NatGeo to know that Mars will never appear larger than the moon in the night sky.
So, how is Priority Inbox going to sort this all out? Simple, the algorithm is going to analyze your behavior. It’s going to monitor what emails you read or click on and what emails you never read or always delete. I am sure there’s more to it than that, but like the infamous Disney Vault, we’ll never get a peek inside. However, the technology it utilizes is similar to a service Gmail already uses to deliver relevant ads to your Gmail user interface. It does this by analyzing the subject lines of your emails and displaying ads with similar subjects. Personally, I can’t decide whether the whole thing is a bit too invasive or if it’s pure genius. I suppose a little of both. But the reality of today’s world is that your privacy hinges entirely on a user name and password, and the integrity of the service behind it.
Once Google Priority becomes a general email reality and every email client is doing the same thing, the rules of email marketing are going to change. As emails pour into your new priority inbox, your regular inbox is going to be demoted to some sort of spam-like folder that only houses emails of little importance. Once that happens, only the best email communications are going to make it through. Picture a gatekeeper deciding who gets in to your office and who doesn’t.
This doesn’t mean that all email communications will be stopped at the door. Remember, it’s based on the user’s behavior. The trick will be to make sure that people who receive your emails are expecting them and want them. It’s sort of ironic because this new technology may make email marketing more difficult, but only as difficult as it already should be. Marketers focused on targeted, personalized and relevant communications will need only to continue their best practices.
I think this change also enforces the need for an integrated marketing approach. Email is cheap and easy, but the effectiveness can also be less than stellar. However, using email in combination with direct mail, or personalized URL’s can produce a highly effective campaign. It may take many months or even a few years for other email clients to adopt this technology, but make no mistake, it is the future of email. So you really need to decide if you want to ride this train all the way to last stop and watch your email ROI dwindle, or jump onto a new track and give your campaigns new life.
