EyeMail CEO Lisa Jones will attend and speak at the MailCon 2022 email conference from January 11 to 13 at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Jones joined MailCon to explain her career ascent into email and what the future of email marketing holds for the industry.
Tell us a little about your background and how your experience has landed you on the path to email marketing.
I am originally from Montgomery, Alabama. I started my career working at NASA as a Logistics Specialist. After a few years of managing technical resources and gaining industry experience, I decided to move to Atlanta to advance my career in the telecommunications industry at BellSouth Mobility, today known as AT&T. I worked with various architecture project teams when splitting area codes was a big deal and so was the release of the Blackberry phones. I think this is where I first fell in love with email as Blackberry had cornered the market with “emails on the go.” I was sold!
While at AT&T, I also learned various areas of the business and progressed in the role of Supplier Diversity. In this role, I was responsible for working with women and diverse minority-owned businesses to identify and manage contract opportunities with suppliers. My background has afforded me the amazing opportunity to work in many areas of business at various stages. I am not a developer or a coder, but I am proud that I am a visionary who knows how to plan and execute to make the magic happen. I was fortunate to have a wealth of experience managing and communicating with highly skilled and talented technical resources to build a solid global team.
I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of becoming an entrepreneur, but I was never sure how I would reach this stage of my journey. My greatest fear was living my life without having the ability to reach my full fabulous potential. My narrative was about to change.
How did EyeMail come about?
My journey started one summer morning when I received a phone call at 8:24 in the morning. My life was forever changed in one communication, as my sister in Alabama shared the news that my mother had passed away at home, alone, at the age of 61. During this time of extreme grief, while at the same time going through a divorce, it gave me a chance of stillness and self-reflection to redefine my life’s direction and purpose.
My new mission was to create a company that would honor my mom’s legacy and deliver value on a global scale. As one communication changed my life, I decided to start a company that inspires connection and engagement.
I realized as a global community, we communicate in many ways. However, with email, in one click, a message could be sent anywhere in the world. I was sold again!
I started researching email marketing for endless hours. I signed up for 150 Fortune Brands marketing emails to understand exactly what the experience was like in receiving various types of marketing communications. Upon review, all of the email experiences delivered the same experience. I realized I did not feel inspired to click to further engage with the communications. In essence, I did not feel special.
We all deserve to feel special. At that moment, I understood the need to start a brand that would give email a voice, like a personality that inspires action and connection. This would include the ability for full video up to 60 seconds to play automatically inside the email at 15KB in size, with no clicks to external sites to increase engagement and conversions. EyeMail was born.
Editor’s note: Examples from EyeMail on before and after examples:
What does EyeMail do to stand out in the competitive world of email marketing?
We as a company are aligned to holistically focus on the customers’ needs in delivering value and innovation. Delivering on our brand promise helps up to soar like an eagle. Our niche focus is to deliver a compelling and engaging communications experience via EyeMail technology that brings results to drive customer value. EyeMail is uniquely positioned because it has built agnostically as a key component of our inclusive design and works with all of the leading email service provider companies in the market.
What is the driving force behind your marketing innovation?
The driving force behind EyeMail is our belief system and values. We believe that your messages deserve to be seen, heard, and felt. Our driving force is our global team from various parts of the world and our unified commitment that we believe we can make an impactful difference in the lives of our customers and partners. This is our authentic brand belief and inspiration that drives us forward every day to continue to create and deliver innovations in email, mobile, and the pending release of video in text messaging.
How would you respond to marketers who say that email marketing is dying or in constant competition with social media?
I love this question because it raises so many interesting discussion points. My belief is email is here to stay and thriving more now than ever. Email remains the most preferred and personal channel of communication across all demographics. A person’s email address is their most permanent identity on the internet. Such a powerful statement. Your email inbox is to be cherished for a very long time. I believe that email will continue to evolve with new features and options, and I am sure that some who believe email is dying will take a second look and discover something new. I also believe that generally, consumers don’t think email is dying; they just are bored with the status quo email experience and seeking something to compel their interest level and engage more in their email inbox.
How do you feel about incorporating monetization into email campaigns? For example, is it practical to include video ads and paid content in newsletters?
When I think about the email inbox, it’s personal, and it’s sacred to you. We, as a global community, are inundated with so many messages vying for our attention from so many different channels. I believe the email inbox should be a safe place that is within your control. Let’s think about this as well, according to a study from Microsoft, the average attention span of a Goldfish is nine seconds, and people now generally lose concentration after eight seconds. Do consumers really want to spend more time in their inbox sifting the inbox clutter and important messages to compete with viewing ads?
How do you monitor the impact or success of each email campaign beyond just Open Rate, Click Rate, CTR, or other metrics?
We measure the impact or success based on the list growth rates, establishing benchmarks for an increase in conversions and customer satisfaction based on their goals to accomplish. Also measuring churn rate, the percentage of subscribers who may leave a list in a given period.
What is the best engagement method to use in email marketing to encourage opt-ins and conversions?
Create opportunities for feedback and surveys. Double opt-in is a confirmation step.
What is one new development that reshaped email marketing in 2021?
The pandemic continues to impact email marketing strategies and how marketers communicate in a more empathetic humanistic manner. Also, prior metrics around the best days and times to launch an email campaign are still to be redefined going forward.
What is one new email marketing trend that will become a big thing for the industry in 2022?
EyeMail continues to focus on innovation as part of our brand DNA. We constantly think about ways the EyeMail experience may be more inclusive and accessible. According to the World Health Organization, there are over 466 million people who have disabling hearing loss.
One exciting new email marketing trend that we continue to see gain traction and adoption is closed captioning on EyeMail campaigns. This will allow a broader captive audience to engage with the brand experiences while watching the video in email experiences and following along in the inclusive journey.
What is the future of EyeMail as the email marketing industry continues to grow?
The future of EyeMail evolves around evergreen innovation and continuing to listen to our customer base to understand what is important to their communication experience. We will continue to expand our footprint globally both within our team and accelerate our international customer base. As email continues to grow, one fact is certain — that EyeMail will continue to create and deliver compelling and engaging experiences that inspire action and connection.
