In the corner of my office sits a dull
dedicated technology device called a “Fax Machine”, its real name is in fact
“Facsimile”. It’s presence is tolerated in case we need to communicate when
Facebook fails, the SMS feature on my phone implodes or the email goes down.
It
occasionally does make whirring noises and prints off a page from a marketing
company or business that hasn’t heard of email or the internet.
I am sure that if I asked my teenage
children what a fax machine was I would get a quizzical look with a raised
eyebrow. They were popular in the mid 1980′s and were a “must have” for every office and even came with the
amazing ability to print in color. Marketers were quick to use them to bypass
snail mail with calls to action and produce leads for sales teams.
Email replaced fax machines as the Internet
became ubiquitous. It is still the prime communication tool for companies and
Chief Marketing Officers have email marketing right at the top of their list
for effective and efficient marketing. According to a Study by the Centre For
Media Research CMO’s had email marketing at the top of the list in their plans
for 2010.
But there is a trend emerging that should
give people pause for thought to not sit on their laurels but continue to
evolve their messaging habits and marketing tactics as the way we communicate
continues to morph .
Zuckerberg announced a "Modern New Messaging System" that would
address emerging trends in communication announcing “High school kids don’t use
email, they use SMS a lot. People want lighter weight things like SMS and IM to
message each other.” A comment I read on a blog recently by a university student
reflects the winds of change” I’ve never sent a proper email in my life, email
is too formal”
So when we are looking at how we
communicate we really need to think about what our audience’s preferred channel
for receiving and sending messages is and consider messaging with Twitter,
Facebook or even YouTube. There is now more than one way to get your message
out you just need to find the right selection of communication channels for
your markets.
Don’t expect email to disappear as
my 1980′s generation fax machine device still has a place in my office it’s
just that it is not as relevant as it used to be.
Email is not going away any time
soon but things “are a changing”
What do you think?… is your communication
relevant?
