Despite its status as ‘vintage’ in digital terms, email still reaches more than 4 billion users worldwide today and generates some 306 billion communications per day, almost half of which are in the professional context.
As we mark the 50th anniversary of the sending of the first email, Validity Inc. takes a trip down memory lane to look back on the major developments brought about by this humble technology in the corporate world.
# 1 - Greater agility in communication within and between companies
Email has completely changed the way companies communicate. Engineers working in the 1960s and 1970s on ARPANET, the Internet's forerunner network, were already able to leave notes about their studies in email boxes. But it was in 1971 that Ray Tomlinson envisioned a more direct form of communication by sending messages from one user to another. He then created email, ushering in a new era in communication.
Of the more than 300 billion emails currently circulating each day, almost half are related to work activities (124 billion), which means that an employee receives an average of 120 emails per day.
# 2 - The ability to reach a large audience immediately
In 1978, Gary Thuerk, a marketing manager at Digital Equipment Corp., had a brilliant idea as new computers hit the market. Instead of going through the slow and expensive process of printing information, mailing it and confirming receipt by phone, he decided to enter around 400 recipient email addresses and executed the first mass mailing.
At the time, the ARPANET network was owned by the US Department of Defence, so a senior Pentagon official accused Thuerk of a "flagrant violation of the use of the network.” Despite this reprimand and complaints he received from some recipients, the campaign generated $13 million in revenue for Thuerk's business.
# 3 - Concrete steps to evaluate the effectiveness of each campaign
Email became popular in the 1990s, in the first half of that decade it was mainly used by universities, public administrations or for corporate communications. Its boom took place in the second half of that decade, when the advent of HTML led to the launch of the first free, web-based email service in 1996, which was owned by Hotmail. Until the late 1990s, emails were written in clear text, then the advent of HTML introduced the possibility of using different fonts, colours, images and formats.
Since then, many companies have offered such services, but the real revolution came in 2004, with the launch of Gmail. This platform became the leader in the email market, responding constantly and quickly to user needs. At first, it offered a large storage capacity and powerful filters to fight against spam, then adapted its content to different media, introduced research into messages and allowed the development of interactive applications such as the AMP (Accelerated Mobile Page). Since its creation, Gmail has continued to be an unstoppable innovator, consistently deploying new technology and functionality for its users. This constant drive for innovation and the fact Gmail is now comes pre-installed on every Android handset sold has solidified its status as the dominant player in email.
# 4 - Better knowledge of the subscriber's needs
As email became more accessible to the public, companies began to use it indiscriminately, saturating recipients with messages. In the early 1990s, various governments and companies therefore took steps to avoid this situation.
Data quality and spam reporting complaints have become important factors in determining a sender's reputation and highlight the importance of identifying the needs of recipients in order to send them relevant content. At the same time, technology made it possible to better understand consumers and thus send in 2001, the first behavioural email.
Since that time, data relating to consumer preferences has been used in the design of email marketing campaigns, and as a result companies have worked harder and harder to get to know their subscribers better in order to drive engagement.
# 5 - Personalisation of the message
As technology has evolved, email has incorporated new features to communicate with target audiences. Today, technologies such as AMP allow marketers to deliver web experiences directly to subscribers’ inboxes by incorporating interactive elements such as dynamic displays, confirmations, and links to purchase, among many more. With this type of technology, brands have the opportunity to harness the potential of augmented reality, for example by recreating traditional physical in-store experiences through test-before-purchase services. This technology has been well employed by brands such as Ray Bans and MAC which enable customers to try on sunglasses and test lipstick shades online respectively. Another great recent example of the application of augmented reality is Pandora giving subscribers the opportunity to try on jewellery virtually as they make the Valentine’s Day purchases.
Over the past five decades, email has established itself as an essential ally for businesses. It has helped to improve internal and external communication and made it possible to establish a direct dialogue with consumers. The development of technology has also provided email tools to better understand recipients, analyse their behaviours and preferences, and ultimately strengthen the bond with them.
It’s for all of these reasons that email is consumers’ preferred marketing communication channel today. So much so that in a situation as exceptional as the coronavirus pandemic, all companies have turned to email to maintain dialogue with their audience. At Validity, we are confident that email will continue to evolve and provide businesses with the efficiencies they need to succeed.
As we mark the 50th anniversary of the sending of the first email, Validity Inc. takes a trip down memory lane to look back on the major developments brought about by this humble technology in the corporate world.
# 1 - Greater agility in communication within and between companies
Email has completely changed the way companies communicate. Engineers working in the 1960s and 1970s on ARPANET, the Internet's forerunner network, were already able to leave notes about their studies in email boxes. But it was in 1971 that Ray Tomlinson envisioned a more direct form of communication by sending messages from one user to another. He then created email, ushering in a new era in communication.
Of the more than 300 billion emails currently circulating each day, almost half are related to work activities (124 billion), which means that an employee receives an average of 120 emails per day.
# 2 - The ability to reach a large audience immediately
In 1978, Gary Thuerk, a marketing manager at Digital Equipment Corp., had a brilliant idea as new computers hit the market. Instead of going through the slow and expensive process of printing information, mailing it and confirming receipt by phone, he decided to enter around 400 recipient email addresses and executed the first mass mailing.
At the time, the ARPANET network was owned by the US Department of Defence, so a senior Pentagon official accused Thuerk of a "flagrant violation of the use of the network.” Despite this reprimand and complaints he received from some recipients, the campaign generated $13 million in revenue for Thuerk's business.
# 3 - Concrete steps to evaluate the effectiveness of each campaign
Email became popular in the 1990s, in the first half of that decade it was mainly used by universities, public administrations or for corporate communications. Its boom took place in the second half of that decade, when the advent of HTML led to the launch of the first free, web-based email service in 1996, which was owned by Hotmail. Until the late 1990s, emails were written in clear text, then the advent of HTML introduced the possibility of using different fonts, colours, images and formats.
Since then, many companies have offered such services, but the real revolution came in 2004, with the launch of Gmail. This platform became the leader in the email market, responding constantly and quickly to user needs. At first, it offered a large storage capacity and powerful filters to fight against spam, then adapted its content to different media, introduced research into messages and allowed the development of interactive applications such as the AMP (Accelerated Mobile Page). Since its creation, Gmail has continued to be an unstoppable innovator, consistently deploying new technology and functionality for its users. This constant drive for innovation and the fact Gmail is now comes pre-installed on every Android handset sold has solidified its status as the dominant player in email.
# 4 - Better knowledge of the subscriber's needs
As email became more accessible to the public, companies began to use it indiscriminately, saturating recipients with messages. In the early 1990s, various governments and companies therefore took steps to avoid this situation.
Data quality and spam reporting complaints have become important factors in determining a sender's reputation and highlight the importance of identifying the needs of recipients in order to send them relevant content. At the same time, technology made it possible to better understand consumers and thus send in 2001, the first behavioural email.
Since that time, data relating to consumer preferences has been used in the design of email marketing campaigns, and as a result companies have worked harder and harder to get to know their subscribers better in order to drive engagement.
# 5 - Personalisation of the message
As technology has evolved, email has incorporated new features to communicate with target audiences. Today, technologies such as AMP allow marketers to deliver web experiences directly to subscribers’ inboxes by incorporating interactive elements such as dynamic displays, confirmations, and links to purchase, among many more. With this type of technology, brands have the opportunity to harness the potential of augmented reality, for example by recreating traditional physical in-store experiences through test-before-purchase services. This technology has been well employed by brands such as Ray Bans and MAC which enable customers to try on sunglasses and test lipstick shades online respectively. Another great recent example of the application of augmented reality is Pandora giving subscribers the opportunity to try on jewellery virtually as they make the Valentine’s Day purchases.
Over the past five decades, email has established itself as an essential ally for businesses. It has helped to improve internal and external communication and made it possible to establish a direct dialogue with consumers. The development of technology has also provided email tools to better understand recipients, analyse their behaviours and preferences, and ultimately strengthen the bond with them.
It’s for all of these reasons that email is consumers’ preferred marketing communication channel today. So much so that in a situation as exceptional as the coronavirus pandemic, all companies have turned to email to maintain dialogue with their audience. At Validity, we are confident that email will continue to evolve and provide businesses with the efficiencies they need to succeed.
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