The Power of E-mail
It is hard to believe that just over 50 years ago e-mail didn’t exist. Whether for business or personal use it has managed to ingratiate itself into every day life. So, how has it become such a staple of our lives and what is the power of the e-mail?
At the crux of it, the power of e-mail is that it provides us with a fast and economic channel through which to communicate with an audience. Whether targeting one person or a group of people you have a tool at your fingertips that can allow you to communicate easily in real time.
Editors and journalists are often on tight deadlines so a phone call may not be the best way to approach them. Why not send a well-structured e-mail instead, which allows them to respond in their own time? This way, you can get your message across while kick-starting your relationship with the journalist on a more positive footing.
Some news channels are updated 24 hours a day. E-mail has the power to distribute your information quickly, while also allowing you to attach documents and multimedia files, creating one timely and convenient package for your reader.
Furthermore, if you want to use e-mail to reach a wider audience, there are mail programs which allow for mass distributions to be sent out at the click of a button. These programs also offer detailed reporting, which makes it easy to track which of your contacts have seen and engaged with your e-mail.
E-mail has continued to thrive as a means of communication throughout the social media revolution. There are 3.3 billion e-mail accounts, while social media clocks in at just 2.7 billion accounts. An editor may follow your Twitter account or be part of a LinkedIn group but relying on social media to form relationships and communicate can come at a cost – you risk losing the ability to personalise your messages to the individual.
E-mail is still key for sharing information, and will continue to be a powerful tool that can be integrated into any PR strategy.