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We’ve all heard the term that has been attached to traditional mail since the rise of email in the early to mid 90s – snail mail. Personally, I can’t stand the term. Sure it’s cute, perhaps even a bit tongue-in-cheek, but is it not also somewhat damaging to the direct mail industry at large?

Obviously, there is no denying the fact that email is a vastly quicker way to communicate, and is much more efficient for delivering quick messages and exchanging casual and/or general business correspondence. Email revolutionized the way that we connect and has made the world a much smaller place when it comes to issues of communication (though it’s still a long walk from New York to California). Moreover, many forms of social media are already extending what email started, allowing messages to flow through multiple channels simultaneously.

But, as we have stated before, traditional mail is not dead. Far from it. Direct mail remains a legitimate, and comparatively uncluttered means of communicating your message.

So, why would we want to go around affixing the word “snail” to it? The term is certainly not all that flattering, and gives an impression of mail being this old, drudging medium on it’s last legs, slowly waning beneath the shadow of the newer and vastly superior email.

But is this really the case?

As a child in the 80s, I remember hearing minor frustrations over the receipt of junk mail. It was occasionally seen as an inconvenience to have to wade through unwanted flyers and promotional packages, but it was rarely more than a minor annoyance. The grumpier among us might complain to their mail carrier or put out “no junk mail” signs on or beneath their mailboxes, but by and large, most people just accepted junk mail as a natural part of life. Sometimes, there was even something interesting.

Fast-forward 20 years, and into the 21st century. Email has become tremendously popular. It seems like everybody has their own email address. Many people have several. If we computed the amount of data that was being exchanged every single day, the number would probably be staggering.

Amidst all of this wonderful exchange of information, however, a new evil was born as the world was introduced to Spam. And we’re not talking about that sketchy, pinkish meat substitute here. We’re talking about unsolicited emails, usually trying to convince us to buy something (pharmaceuticals, cheap watches or body part enlargements, for example), to scam us out of our money, or even just to maliciously install viruses on our computers through innocent looking attachments.

The world at large has revolted. Spam has become more than just an annoyance. It has become a hated, digital epidemic.

As a result, entire companies have sprung up with the sole intention of fighting Spam, creating software filters to identify and capture Spam messages and prevent them from filling up your inbox. And it’s not just email anymore! Blogs are being spammed, as are social media sites, and there is business in building Spam protection for these channels too!

I don’t know about you, but I am not aware of a single product or service that is uniquely designed to prevent “junk” mail from arriving in your mailbox! There’s no secret agent hiding in or around my mailbox, preparing to snatch away all the unsolicited flyers and postcards.

Granted, there are things that people can do on an individual level, such as placing a “no junk mail” sign beneath your mailbox, but there is nothing at the level of Spam protection.

Okay, my purpose in this article is not to degenerate into another rant about the benefits of mail over email. That argument has been made before. My point is simply to suggest that maybe it’s time that we in the direct marketing and advertising business work towards dropping the snail from our mail – or, if necessary, wrenching it away with all the force that we can muster.

Because, honestly, contemporary mail and delivery services can be surprisingly fast, especially when working with more premium products. Obviously, until someone invents a manageable and foolproof system for teleporting objects Star Trek style, the delivery of real, tangible objects will never occur with the near instantaneousness of email. But that doesn’t mean that we have to emphasize the relative slowness of traditional mail by tacking on the snail word.

Let’s just let’s just let mail stand on it’s own two feet. I think it’s strong enough that it might surprise a few people.

Tagged As: Direct Mail snail mail