There is a reason Emile and I didn’t name After Offers, After Emails.
We looked at the world around us online and realized that, someday, people might be using something different than an email to communicate with their customers and prospects.
Perhaps, in five years, the offers won’t be asking for an email address at all. Maybe it will be asking the user to follow them on Snapchat, get a message via Facebook Messenger, get browser notifications or join a Slack group.
We’re always on the lookout for the next thing, tool or service that will become THE thing everyone will be using to communicate.
Every day we’re experimenting, testing and doing our unscientific focus groups to see what people think. Instead of sending someone a PDF, I’ll ask them if I can send it to them by Facebook Messenger. Other times I’ll tell them I’ll send them a text with the link. Or, how about you join our Slack group and I can give it to you there?
Their response 99.9% of the time: “Uhhh, can you just email it to me?”
Walt Mossberg posted today about how email is changing. His argument is that, while email is still ubiquitous it is simply a pain in the butt and, while not there already, is on the brink of being replaced.
I just don’t see that.
Internally in companies, other tools are certainly taking a greater percentage of the communication pie. But ask anyone to send anything outside that group and 100% of the time the easiest way to do that is by email.
Until my mom asks me to send that photo I told her about by another way, email will remain king.
But we’re also ready for the day Mom asks us to send that vacation itinerary to her by Skype or Slack.