Facebook, the largest social network in existence (400 million users and growing) is growing its own email system, codenamed Project Titan. Details are a little thin, but articles from Techcrunch and other sites on the Web indicate that Facebook’s mail system is going to be an actual, standards-compliant mail system with POP3/IMAP and SMTP with users getting an @facebook.com address.
Here’s the zinger: if Project Titan is adopted by its userbase, it’s going to absolutely devastate your current email marketing efforts. Deliverability will go out the window. Open rates will drop to near zero. Your email won’t even get to users, much less get read.
Why?
Simple: Facebook will throw out the book on email deliverability because it will likely be the first mass-user email platform that is whitelist-based. In other words, you will NOT be able to send to a user unless they have given you explicit permission to do so.
This is already baked into Facebook. Messaging and privacy are very limited on Facebook. Brands and companies have to resort to Fan Pages and pay per click advertising to gain any leverage among the user base.
A Facebook email system is likely to verify that you, the sender, are friends with the recipient before allowing your message to even show up in their inbox.
more....
