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Obviously, we all want to spend our money wisely and enjoy the best returns on our marketing investments. As it turns out, sometimes this involves spending less in hopes of getting more, or at least getting the same. We certainly don’t want to get less!

I must say, I chuckled to myself when I read Matt’s recent post, entitled “Crush The Snail: Just Call it Mail”. There is a strange irony about referring to conventional direct mail as snail mail when comparing it to email. Email may arrive in the recipient’s inbox much more quickly, but which do you think delivers the best results?

The general expectation is often that when you send your newsletter out via “e” it is going to be read. Well, there are some interesting statistics that are now showing that, unless your newsletters are eagerly awaited by a group of highly qualified subscribers, you might just be spinning your wheels. The clever email campaign that you worked so hard to produce might just be evaporating out there in cyberspace.

Before continuing further, I do want to stress that email has its place for business communication, and that we use it at Highland Marketing to deliver “mission critical” information. For example, when we prepare our annual Comparative Analyses of Canada Post Products and Rate changes, we send out download information via email to clients, selected prospects and associates. Similarly, if there are significant changes to services that may impact short-term planning for certain clients, we may also opt to communicate this via email.

However, the purpose of these communiqués is to share helpful and relevant information that might impact design, costing and other direct marketing decisions. Granted, this is promotional in that it fosters goodwill, but it certainly does not replace the ongoing conventional direct mail programs that our company uses.

In addition to the foregoing, I also want to emphasize that there are some excellent opt-in programs out there relating to health, hobbies, lifestyles etc., and subscribers eagerly open emails from these trusted sources. These are not the types of emails that I am referring to in this article.

So, getting back to the topic at hand, I first want to draw your attention to an interesting case that was discussed in an article in the January 12th edition of the Wall Street Journal, titled “Firms Hold Fast to Snail Mail Marketing”.

A company decided to swap conventional mail for email to promote its discount program for early orders. The company quickly noticed a 25% drop in sales as compared to the same period for the prior year. Additionally, many customers called in to say that they did not receive their reminder of the sale in the mail. Realizing the downside of having opted for an email program, the company subsequently sent out a postcard mailing, which served to recoup the 25% loss.

Looking at a cost of $20,000 for its conventional direct mail program, the company anticipated great savings and similar sales results by opting for an email program. The end result, though, was a significant drop in sales and some customers left wondering why they did not receive their sales notifications in the mail. Unfortunately, this is a perfect example of spending less and getting less.

The case above is supported by statistics cited in a research study conducted by Canada Post in late 2009 titled “The Value of an Integrated Multi-channel Marketing Strategy”. I did not have to read the entire comprehensive set of results to see that there is still an overwhelming preference for direct mail in Canada, as can be seen in the following numbers:

The remaining 50% is made up of other media (TV, Radio, Newspaper, etc.), with the next highest coming in at only 12%.

Interestingly, the same document compared statistics for open rates and I was startled when I read the following:

Not surprisingly, the biggest winner in this category was SMS (Short Message Service), better known as text messaging, at 42%. While text messaging is a first cousin to email, it currently occupies a different niche in the communications world and is somewhat restricted in its ability to deliver robust marketing messages, although there are some markets that do lend themselves to this medium. Functionality may also be a factor in that some mobile phones require that the text message be opened before being able to delete them.

From the foregoing, we can see that Canadians do show a strong preference for direct mail over email and I think the reasons for this can be summed up in three words: mistrust, congestion and inconvenience.

Mistrust

If we go back to the mid-nineties, many of us were “newbies” to this thing called the Internet. We were keen to be “on the web”, and willingly shared our email addresses. Unfortunately, many of us were also a bit naïve, and failed to see the pending onslaught of unwanted emails. It all seemed to change quickly, though, as offers for a myriad of products ensued, some legitimate and others perpetrated by the same telemarketing scoundrels that have duped unsuspecting seniors out of their retirement savings.

As technology has advanced, so has the use of graphics, allowing us to create stronger visuals within our emails. Unfortunately, it has also allowed scammers to produce messages with copycat email addresses that have the look and feel of major financial institutions, as they continue to use email for illegal and underhanded purposes. There is no doubt that there is a stigma surrounding certain types of emails and association with these elements can result in a negative perception on the part of the reader. And, sometimes, it can also be very difficult for legitimate email marketers to penetrate the spam filters and other defenses that many of us have set up.

Congestion

Those that follow this blog may also remember our post titled “Is Email Creating Higher Visibility for Conventional Mail?”, in which we stated that “many people who did not market via conventional mail before are now marketing via email.” These are not necessarily spammers. Moreover, they consist of many smaller players who would or could not spend the money on print, prep and postage for conventional mailings, but have perceived an opportunity to legitimately promote their businesses inexpensively via the “e” channel. Of course, when we combine these with those that have swapped conventional mail for email, general email correspondence, and the many spammers that are out there, we can see why the “e” channel has become clogged with a plethora of messages of all sorts and sizes.

Inconvenience

Lastly, it is important to stress how often the matter of basic inconvenience is overlooked. Many professionals catch up on their reading in the evening. If your electronic newsletter is received on someone’s office computer, they cannot simply toss it into their briefcase and take it home with them, unless they print it off before hand, which they are not likely to do. Also, most professionals have very busy schedules and it is not likely that they will set time aside to read your “e” newsletters during office hours. In addition to its portability, many people simply prefer the touch and feel of conventional mail and the convenience of being able to pick up a newsletter, magazine, brochure or some novel marketing piece to flip through it or examine it at their leisure.

Conclusion

So, when we consider the elements of mistrust, congestion and inconvenience, we can clearly see why most Canadians prefer conventional mail over email and why the investments in glitzy email design, lists and distribution often provide minimal returns. The reality is that most readers typically open emails from those they know and truly trust, and simply discard the rest.

Regardless of the approach that you take, good marketing takes time and money. You have to develop the concept, the graphics and the copy and integrate it into something that is visually pleasing, and this often requires contracting of outside resources. There is no doubt that it costs far less to deploy an email campaign, but if your emails are not being read, it is likely a false economy. Even if you do not print and mail an item, you will have wasted all of the money spent in the development of the piece itself. And, when you compare the results of the “e” campaign to a conventional direct mail campaign, you may well see a lower return per dollar investment.

That is simply not good for business.

So, call it what we may, it seems that good old conventional mail or “snail mail” remains the best bet for your direct marketing campaigns. And, when we consider how the market has evolved, many email campaigns might actually be using “fail mail” when the actual results are taken into account.

Tagged As: Direct Mail email