THE FUTURE: WIRELESS E-MAIL, STREAMING AUDIO AND VIDEO
According to eMarketer's 2001 eWireless Report, e-mail was by far the most popular Internet activity conducted over wireless devices. The report indicated that 69 percent of wireless Internet device owners in the United States used their devices for e-mail, compared to 32 percent for research, 26 percent for games, 25 percent for news, 24 percent for general entertainment, and 21 percent for shopping and buying. Other reported activities included obtaining sports scores, making travel arrangements, looking up stock quotes, and paying bills.
Wireless e-mail marketing has the potential to become the "killer application" for wireless devices. Special offers delivered by e-mail to wireless devices would enable a mobile user to purchase an item by clicking on a link within the e-mail message. Another potential wireless application would be to deliver commercial e-mail messages based on the mobile user's location. Among the technical issues that e-mail marketers must overcome to effectively market to mobile users is that e-mail delivered to a wireless device looks much different than e-mail delivered to a regular computer.
Future applications and features in commercial e-mail will include streaming audio and video. In May 2001, e-mail marketing firm Yesmail.com introduced software that would allow clients to add audio capabilities to their e-mail. As rich media content becomes more common in commercial e-mail messages, marketers can look forward to higher response rates and new ways to interact with customers and prospects.
FURTHER READING:
Berkowitz, David. "How Is Direct Marketing Faring? Survey Says. . . ." eMarketer. July 25, 2001. Available from www.emarketer.com.
Centeno, Cerelle. "eConsumers Prefer eMail Newsletters and Coupons." eMarketer. June 6, 2001. Available from www.emarketer.com.
Cruz, Wil. "Video E-Mail Test Leads to Alliance." DM News. May 7, 2001.
"Don't Follow the Leader—Be One." Internet World. January 15, 2001.
Enos, Lori. "Washington State's Highest Court Upholds Anti-Spam Law." E-Commerce Times. June 8, 2001. Available from www.ecommercetimes.com.
Hardigree, Steve. "Opt-In E-Mail as Prospecting Source." DM News. May 21, 2001.
Jackson, Jonathan. "All eMail Is Local." eMarketer. July 31, 2001. Available from www.emarketer.com.
——. "Disregard At Your Peril." eMarketer. May 7, 2001. Available from www.emarketer.com
——. "eMail Is Our Friend." eMarketer. May 28, 2001. Available from www.emarketer.com.
——. "eMail Mistakes." eMarketer. July 24, 2001. Available from www.emarketer.com.
——. "Killer eMail." eMarketer. May 21, 2001. Available from www.emarketer.com.
Joffe, Rodney. "Merge/Purge of E-Mail Addresses." DM News. February 5, 2001.
The Kelsey Group. "U.S. Small Businesses to Spend $2.2 Billion on E-Mail Marketing by 2005 According to The Kelsey Group." May 22, 2001. Available from www.kelseygroup.com.
Regan, Keith. "Walking the Line Between E-Mail and Spam." E-Commerce Times. April 17, 2001. Available from www.ecommercetimes.com.
Schwartz, John. "Marketers Turn to a Simple Tool: E-Mail." The New York Times. December 13, 2000.
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