by Jim Ducharme It’s not hard to explain the popularity of online email marketing software for users. Years ago your email address wa...
by Jim Ducharme
It’s not hard to explain the popularity of online email marketing software for users. Years ago your email address was like your phone number. It was tied to your access provider. When you changed from one provider to another, you had to get a new email address. Email addresses have become the most reliable personal identifier we have online. Being able to keep one regardless of change has become a must.
This hasn’t been a “slam dunk” transition. People were wary about online email marketing software because they see their inbox as a very personal place. These web based clients run on a communal web connection. Our own software which we perceived as more personal because we “owned” it.
The old mindset meant that spam control was inconsistent in so far as it depended on the developers of the desktop client you were using to make changes to fight spam. Some were more aggressive than others in providing tools and options for users to deal with unwanted email.
However, with web based email clients hosting huge numbers of users around the world. The impetus to deal with such issues is much, much greater. The pressure from users to free up their inboxes from detritus of marketers who either don’t respect the inbox or even the laws meant to protect the users of same from abuse.
And because we are dealing with such huge client numbers, the effects on legitimate marketers by such changes are huge.
Gmail is constantly attacking the spam issue and according to a recent post at Mashable, are developing something you may have only heard of in episodes of Star Trek: Neural Networks – these neural networks mimic human thinking and learn. Gmail expects them to be especially effective at dealing with “phishing scams.”
They will also be releasing new tools for qualified high volume email senders. Enhanced analytics to improve their content and avoid the more effective (some might say more aggressive) filters.
This hopefully means for all is that email marketing managers will create more relevant and valuable email and users will get more out of their email inboxes because of less clutter.
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