For some of us, email may seem ancient since we’ve never really lived without it…it’s always been there. For the rest of us, there was a life before email and we do remember hardcopy inter-office memos and mail systems.  Either way, email has affected the way we do business and promote goods and services in profound ways. So, happy birthday email, born on August 30, 1982, via a US Copyright, issued to VA Shiva Ayyadurai for a “computer program for electronic mail system”.

While email has been around for a while now and may not seem as on-trend as Social Media, it remains an effective and relevant marketing communication tool. It is both an immediate and targeted messaging vehicle with an exceptional ROI, upwards of 4000%, according to several research studies.  That should not be surprising considering that 94% of all Internet users go online specifically to read and send emails, the most utilized internet activity, according to a 2/11/13 Center for Media Research Brief.

Food and beverage marketers have relied on promotional emails and should continue to include them in their marketing and promotional efforts. The task is to create promotional emails that recipients want to read and share. Successful promotional email campaigns are based on creating content rich emails that spark consumer interest not only in the product or service being promoted, but in the content that surrounds promotional messaging. Here are three very important marketing objectives to keep in mind when developing a promotional email campaign:

1. Break the “sell” monotony: messaging focused on content breaks the monotony of the “sales pitch”, with visuals and other meaningful content that supports the brand and product.

2. Create consumer relevancy: content rich email can create consumer relevancy by providing interesting and useful information that relates back to the brand and product.

3. Facilitate consumer sharing: content rich emails, even promotional ones, can encourage social and viral sharing, extending the reach and shelf -life of promotional emails.

As we celebrate email’s birthday, food and beverage marketers should continue to include this powerful communication tool to not only sell, but build brand equity and extend consumer awareness.