Regardless of whether you’re launching new product or service, new business or simply want to refine your targeted audience and gain new customers, a question arises whether you should conduct your marketing campaign using old-fashioned mail method or new digital media, e-mail. Of course, you have to consider your customers, type of product or service and budget. But, which media will help you reach out to greater number of people?
In today’s world where high-tech and social medias have high influence, you may think that e-mail is a great way to generate sales and establish a better ranking on the market. And yes, e-mail is cheap and fast but it is also spam-prone, which is why majority of online users read only messages from known sources such as co-workers, family and friends. In addition, emails limit creativity as they need to be direct and short what may not work for your marketing campaign. And when it comes to email lists, no they are not a reliable source as many brokers claim. In this case, you’re better off with direct mail list most mail house service companies offer as they are more accurate and always up-to-date. But, when deciding between direct mail marketing and e-mail, ask yourself this – why growing number of large high-tech companies regress to the old way of communicating with clients?
In the last few years, direct mail has gotten an image of being the black sheep of marketing as many put it under ‘not sophisticated’ and ‘not working’ categories. Also, with a lot of attention being put on environment, mail got labeled as not being Eco-friendly. Then why do large scale marketers mail millions, if not more, articles? It must be because mail is probably one of the best return on investment avenue. It may not be as sophisticated as e-mail, but it has the basics that marketing agents need to achieve positive results. It is controllable, targetable, creative, inspiring, compelling, etc.
Regardless of how advanced we want to be, with certain things we all stick to basics. And mail is one of them. There is still a notion among majority of world’s population that whatever arrives in a sealed envelope is important. Recent surveys prove that over 75% of people regularly open and read their mail and claim that it is easier to take in information received via mail then the one received by e-mail. Another advantage of mail is that it allows creativity and is more personal thus relates to customers more than an e-mail does. Also, a colorful flyer or brochure will certainly capture your customer’s attention. And let’s be honest, we all still look for promotional letters afraid not to miss out on big discount, new product or event. Thus, mail will continue to be important and will stay No.1 marketing tool for long.
