Email spam may be increasing the effectiveness of direct mail marketing
By: Mark HaslanApril 21st, 2010
Since the advent of email in the early 90s, email marketing has become a popular way for many marketers to spread the word of their product to consumers. The benefit of email marketing is obvious, especially for small businesses – they no longer have to spend money on marketing materials and postage.
The effectiveness of email marketing may be waning, though, warns marketing expert Sarah O’Leary. In a recent article for the Huffington Post, O’Leary argues that consumers who tune out spam mail may be more receptive to direct mail.
Before the internet, admail was one of the most popular forms of direct marketing, says O’Leary. Marketers would target entire zip codes, overwhelming consumers with messages for every type of product. This lead to consumers tuning much of it out, often trashing mail rather than opening it.
According to O’Leary, email marketing is currently going through the same phase. The overabundance of unsolicited email is leading consumers to ignore it in the same way. With an increasing number of email providers offering their users spam filters, O’Leary says that getting to the customer with an email message will only become harder in the future.
This shift in marketing strategies may be causing consumers to open up to traditional direct mail, claims O’Leary. Because many marketers have shifted their marketing budgets from traditional mail to email, consumers are receiving a lot less postal mail. O’Leary suggests that marketers may be able to cut through the clutter by using conventional direct mail marketing tactics.
"If you want your message to be read over a quiet cup of Joe in the peace and quiet of potential purchaser’s home, don’t light up the keyboard and hit "send." Instead, look to the past for a new way to break through the clutter," advises O’Leary. "Tell the youngsters in the office that you’re kickin’ it old school with USPS."
Next time a small business owner wants to send a message to a potential customer, they may want to consider envelopes instead of emails.
Another advantage that traditional mail has over digital mail is that it can appeal to a reader’s sense of touch. A recent article from the marketing news site What They Think suggests that a marketer can do that by using high-quality materials for a brochure or thick paper for business cards.
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