Turn on ye ole Javascript to add ratings in this low-budg app.

So, this is my panel and here's a few shreds more information.

In spite of all the excitement about social media, no one has really focused on the impact that it might have on 'traditional' eCRM - particularly email marketing.

Legitimate email marketing (not spam, obviously) is a great marketing channel - for many companies emailing their customer list is the cheapest single way of getting sales.

But what happens if email starts to get a bit old hat? Opportunities like Facebook Messaging and Twitter are exciting - but they have a different dynamic. In some respects they simply aren't as good - you don't really refer back to an old tweet, but I'm forever digging up old emails. And Facebook groups are a cheap way to communicate (i.e. free) - but you don't have any tools to target people within a group: you basically have to spam the whole member base.

All in all, I think this is a subject that's worth scratching our heads over for a while. And if anyone is in the UK in three weeks time, I'm going to be doing a shorter version of this session at Ad:tech in London.

Can't wait to hear about this topic!

Did anyone hear Simon Waters talking about this at Ad:tech last year?

Interesting debate- is email dying, and will coexistance of multiple means to market ultimately permit targetted communication according to demograhics? We should address these issues now before we find we are drwoning in the "e-mustard gas" of the 21st century

"e-mustard gas" - yikes!!

Seriously we do need to think about this stuff - if email feels a bit slow and ponderous, what hope does long-form content like a book have.

"Continuous partial attention" is now the norm - but it might be a state in which everyone - marketers, content providers, my mother - ends up losing out.

My daughter (13) is a regular & savvy Internet user, yet she only ever looks at her email account around once per year, when I remind her to. All of her online communication is done via social networking sites and instant messaging. I myself struggle to keep up with communications via email, Facebook, Twitter (and even, occasionally, Myspace), and can see why the Internet users of the future are likely to cut this down to fewer channels.

I agree with Dan's comment. Its going to be an interesting twist for all communications mediums to become relevant for generations to come who are more about broadcasting than listening to being broadcast to. They're less open to be spoken to and more demanding of how they are being spoken to and .. are highly critical of what's being said. I think Mike hits the nail on the head to try and read the trend upfront and gauge future directions and indeed - - the future construct of CRM through across additional forms. Look forward to it.

Has there ever been a time when teenagers would have thought something called 'Twitter' was going to be cool?

Just think of the creative copy that'll need to be dreampt up to deliver the message in is it 150 characters?! On the button and thinking ahead.

Did anyone hear Simon Waters talking about this at Ad:tech last year?

Can't wait to hear about this topic!

yeah.. Can't wait to hear about this topic!