Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 14:58:38 -0400
Cc: meyer@newslink.org
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In a discussion about whether more people would prefer to receive news by
email than by accessing a website, Eric Meyer at 07:56
PM 9/17/96 -0500, wrote:
>They would indeed -- for a while. At least that's what I found when
>I looked into this about a year and a half ago. Eventually, people
>stop opening up the e-mail message, too, particularly if they get a
>lot of e-mail. Most get deleted unread.
Please explain your methodology, Eric. My company spent 2-1/2 years
researching this issue and came to a quite different conclusion -- so
different a conclusion that the company switched from working on web-based
to email-based content services, at expenses of several million dollars.
As for whether or not people stop opening emailed content, that is generally
true in two cases -- both mistakes on the part of the emailing company:
1) When the content that you send them is too broad, not individualized to
their own interests. What's the point of offering people the top world and
national news headlines or briefs by email? They might initially enjoy that
for a few days or weeks because of (as you pointed out) the novelty of
receiving these in a new medium, but they'll soon realize that they can get
this news more quickly on radio & TV and in more detail by reading a newspaper.
2) When the frequency of emailing is improperly chosen for the type of
content. For examples, if a consumer requests emailed local weather
forecasts, but gets sent an updated forecast every hour, that consumer is
going to get aggravated. However, if that consumer requests any business
stories or press releases concerning a stock the consumer holds, that
consumer will prefer to receive each stories or press releases right away
(when he can call his broker), rather all in a group that evening or the
next day.
Individualization (packaging) is vital. I'd be bored receiving the day's top
world news stories by email, but if you email to me SIMBA Media Daily,
Outing's Stop the Presses!, Computer News Daily, all sports stories about
the Boston Red Sox, the Boston weather forecast, and any stories or press
releases about the stocks I hold, then you'll have an avid reader and have
saved me the work and time of navigating to these things online,
particularly on most days when I don't have time to websurf.
And the timing of each of those individualized transmissions has to fit both
the nature of the content and the usage a person would make of the content.
A general rule of thumb: email naturally fits *between* broadcast and print
media. Email can't deliver news as quickly as can a broadcast or in as much
detail as can a publication (or a website), but it can certainly deliver
news more quickly than the next morning's newspaper and in more detail than
a broadcast. That is email's natural content habitat.
_________________________________________________
Vin Crosbie Freemark Communications, Inc.
Director of Content Development
crosbie@freemark.com 125 CambridgePark Drive
(617) 492-6600 x211 Cambridge, MA 02140 USA
(617) 492-6622 fax http://www.freemark.com
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