Email is free, isn’t it? It might seem that way, since there’s no charge to your credit card each time you hit that send button. But that’s just it, the cost of sending an email both in terms of the time it takes out of our day and even the environmental impact is hidden.
So how can you work out what the cost of email is to you personally? More importantly, why does it matter?
Granted, email will never be truly free. Email also remains one of the most effective marketing methods in existence, offering a typical $36 ROI for every $1 spent, so yes we still very much need it! That said, by realising that email isn’t free, it can allow us to make much better choices, both in terms of business and the environment.
Here are my thoughts as the CEO of GoSquared, where our core focus is delivering our email and messaging software for subscription businesses.
Hopefully my post will help to reshape your relationship with email for the better.
“If you’re not paying for the product you are the product”
Sending email is not free in many ways. This also includes in terms of the data that can be gathered by other parties along the way.
For instance, an email provider such as Gmail is “free” for good reason. A large chunk of the company’s $16.86 billion revenue it reported in a single quarter alone, came from scanning and indexing messages to deliver targeting advertising to its users.
For UK Gmail users, plans have even been announced to store user data in the US to bypass EU data protection laws.
This is in stark contrast to how we do things here at GoSquared, with GDPR compliant solutions at every turn including with our email platform.
Time Is Of The Essence
Did you know that the average person checks their emails 15 times a day? Then if you add in all the time responding to emails, and even constructing email campaigns the costs soon add up.
If you aren’t using a tailored email platform such as GoSquared Engage, the time you spend hovering over your inbox could be costing you more than it’s making.
This is especially the case as our tool benefits from audience segmentation, allowing you to send the right message to the right people, instead of crossing your fingers with a ‘send to all approach’.
Environmentally Friendly Email
As we know, email is not free in terms of the impact to the planet either. This was highlighted by London recently experiencing its hottest day on record.
Improving sustainability is even more reason to ensure that our emails work smarter and not harder. Technology including email platforms may require energy to work, but that’s not to say technology itself can’t be used to improve what we do and how we do it.
The future focus needs to follow this mantra, so that we can get even better at what we do, without the environment being a casualty of our success.
Email may not be free, but reading this post is highly valued and appreciated by us!
I realise there is some irony if you are receiving this post via email. I hugely appreciate you subscribing, and I hope it was worth the cost on this occasion.
If so, you might just be interested in GoSquared Engage, our email and messaging software for subscription businesses. Ironically, you can try Engage for free!
