What is contributing to the shifting ISP landscape? Over the past several years, there have been monumental changes in market share. ISPs are continually evolving and changing their products and services to bring the best value to their customers. Many domains that had been on the decline have now been acquired by larger entities, which adds to the shifting. Here at GreenMail, Inc., we’re aware of these significant changes and we’re here to help sort out what’s happening.
In the Beginning…
Let’s begin with the major ISPs. Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, and Yahoo! maintain their hold on the market share. However, the amount of market share each one holds has changed several times.
According to research and data in 2012, Yahoo had the largest share of the market coming in at 37%. In 2015, Gmail gained the lead. Both Hotmail and AOL declined in popularity. They’ve declined 4% and 2% respectively.
Gmail – A Leader in Keeping Customers Happy
Pleasing customers has been the goal of Gmail ever since it was created. They have made several changes over the years, including:
- Gmail Tabs. In 2013, Gmail overhauled the user interface. Tabs were introduced as a way of organizing and sorting the inbox. You can now sort your mail between the primary, social, promotions, updates, and forum tabs. Personal messages are found under Primary.
- Quick Action Buttons. Action buttons appear in the email’s subject line. They allow you to do things such as track a package, confirm your subscription, submit a review, or any other action associated with the email. The buttons help customers take action quickly.
- Easy Unsubscribe. Gmail now displays an “Easy Unsubscribe” option in each email, which expands on the “List Subscribe” feature. When “List Subscribe” appears in the email header, there’s an embedded link that sends a request to unsubscribe back to the sender, along with the user’s email address.
In addition to these changes for Gmail subscribers, marketers and email service providers can benefit from their own set of features, including:
- Postmaster Tools. With this tool, marketers can view various metrics on their sent emails, and possibly spot deliverability issues. This data comes straight from the source (Gmail) and allows marketers and ESPs to make informed decisions that will improve their email campaigns.
Do These Changes Matter?
Gmail isn’t the only ISP that’s updating their services. Microsoft, Yahoo, and many others are also keeping a close eye on customers’ needs – and each one has released their own feature upgrades. They are constantly fine-tuning their services to make sure that email subscribers receive only the mail they want to receive, and that everything else filters into junk and spam folders.
As we help businesses that are reliant upon email marketing strategies, GreenMail, Inc. realizes that it’s wise to stay informed about the ISP industry. Features like “easy unsubscribe” and “quick action buttons” may affect your email list retention rates. Learning how different email interfaces look and display your emails, can help you plan the best strategy for your e-marketing campaigns.
– GreenMail Team
