Email Direct Marketers Look at Self-Destructing Email

Self-destructing email is proving beneficial to lawyers who need to protect privacy, but there’s talk that email direct marketers could benefit from the technology.

Lawyers are using Echoworx Corp.’s “secure send” option to remove time-sensitive e-mails from a recipient’s inbox and to confirm that the right person opens a letter, DMNews reports.

Some marketers think it could prove useful for EDM campaigns too. For example, a message for 15 percent off within the next week could disappear at the sale’s end when the content is no longer relevant. Rather than having an inbox full of messages from one retailer, consumers would see only the latest one, giving the impression that the retailer isn’t bombarding them with marketing promos.

Others disagree: “Destructible e-mail is counter to the objectives of most marketers, who want to engage a broad audience,” said Luc Vezina, director of strategy and product management at e-mail services firm GOT Corp. “Destructible e-mail may come in handy for publishers who want to place restrictions on the number of people who receive e-mails. However, effective marketing campaigns encourage the sharing of emails.”