Say what you will about snail mail being inefficient and so 20th century. Despite the woes of the U.S. Post Office, snail mail still offers business marketers virtues unmatched by electronic delivery — virtues like deliverability, aesthetics and even affordability.
When you mail a catalog, you probably don’t worry about it arriving in your customer’s mailbox. But when it comes to email marketing, a message sent doesn’t necessarily mean a message delivered.
Research has shown that one out of every six marketing emails never reaches an inbox because it is blocked by a spam filter. Can you imagine the uproar if the post office lost one in six catalogs or bill payments?
High email rejections aren’t entirely the fault of Internet service providers. They’re simply trying to protect people from “lucrative” opportunities to claim their $600,000 in a Nigerian bank account.
Compare the number of email scams you get to the number of chain letters you receive. A lower cost of entry usually means a lower quality of participant, and this seems to be the case with e-marketing scams.
If you do market with email, you can optimize the chances of your message being read by avoiding words like “free,” “prize” and “bonus.” Staying away from excessive punctuation and ALL CAPS can improve the chances of your e-message being delivered.
The tactile benefits of snail mail shouldn’t be overlooked. I recently ordered a magazine on a tablet device. Yes, it was cheaper and the print quality was remarkably good. But have you ever tried to tear a recipe out of a tablet? If that sounds silly, consider that experts say “recipes” are one of the main reasons people read company newsletters.
Don’t forget the “valuable coupons” in printed communications. I know there are QR codes that offer discounts, but digging through my purse for my Fresh Idea card is challenging enough. Don’t make me surf the Internet in the check-out line.
Finally, consider affordability. Assuming one in six messages is never delivered, and accounting for the cost of purchasing an email list and hiring someone to manage your email program, an e-marketing campaign may not be as cheap as it appears.
Then there’s the disposability consideration. Green enthusiasts, I hear you. But if we didn’t have paper to recycle, where would our recycling efforts be? And consider that an email can be deleted with the touch of a button, whereas a printed piece tends to linger.
First, the offer gets to languish on the counter for a while where others may see it. And even when it makes it into the trash, until the garbage man haul-eth away, there’s still hope. Just ask the clothing store where I redeemed a juice-stained $25-off coupon last week.
Postal rates are going up. On Jan. 22, you’ll pay one penny more for a first-class stamp — the first increase since May 2009. Acquiring a customer for 45 cents versus annoying them with another email? Investing in printed marketing might make for some good cents!
Susan Miller is owner of Ewing Miller Communications, an Anderson-based marketing and public relations firm. Her column appears in the Herald Bulletin on Thursdays. Write to her at susan@ewingmiller.com.
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