I am an active member of the Brown University Alumni Association – I had a great experience at Brown and love engaging with fellow alumni, especially young graduates who are interested in advertising and marketing. Recently, I spoke to our Alumni team on how we can better engage recent graduates – and make them lifelong friends of Brown.

I examined ways that younger alumni like to communicate and stay in touch – and of course the results were not especially surprising. Younger people eschew email in favor of texting and social media. They especially enjoy engaging in online communities where they can share ideas and perspectives as well as forge deeper connections with other like-minded individuals. In fact, certain Brown online communities are so active that many alumni are still leaving comments on content that was posted way back in April. Perhaps the most active Brown online community is the one focused on Public Service – I’m proud to report that my fellow Brown graduates still want to change the world for the better.

But what really has me intrigued is the parallel between forging lifelong connections with Brown alumni and building that same type of rapport with pet owners. Yes, I know that’s random and probably doesn’t make much sense, but let me explain.

I work with a large CPG company that offers a premium line of dog food. To promote this brand in Europe, they send monthly emails chock full of sage advice on how to provide proper nutrition to our canine friends. As the email campaign progressed the open rates declined by more than 50%. You see, the time that consumers are most interested in reading those emails is when they first adopt a puppy and need that advice right away. They aren’t sticking around waiting for another email on dog nutrition though. Instead, they are finding other online communities that offer more advice on how to raise a good dog.

So what’s the lesson? If you really want to forge lifelong connections with consumers, forget the static email. Offer relevant, useful content via online communities that lets them share and exchange information and perspectives.

And, while we are at, let’s look at measurement a little differently. How long consumers engage with a piece of content and stay with the online community is just as important as the email campaign open rate metric. In fact, the former will most likely eclipse the later over time. Email has become your dad’s Oldsmobile, indeed.

Now, not everyone shares this viewpoint. For another perspective, see Jeanne Jennings’ article “Email Marketing: I am not dead yet” in Marketing Sherpa http://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/email-marketing/email-not-dead-yet.

What do you think? Is email the Oldsmobile or a classic BMW?

– Ben Arno, VP of Engagement, Organic