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| Print/Mail Center Management Tips |
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September 2008
Greetings!
Direct Mail vs Email (Part 2)
RAPID DELIVERY Nothing can beat email's 24-7 availability. Marketers that want to send messages out in the middle of the night or on a holiday simply schedule it on a computer. In many cases, the emails are delivered almost immediately. The delivery standards for USPS Standard Mail are not guaranteed. Not even First Class mail can reach consumers within a dead-certain small window of time. If the timing of a message is indeed that critical and down to a matter of hours, then email is probably a good choice. However, it might be pointed out that although not guaranteed, the Postal Service has been able to demonstrate remarkable delivery consistency for specific geographic regions. Once a mailer knows what to expect, the presentation of the mail at the Post Office can be scheduled to coincide with necessary timing for the promotion. The vast majority of marketing pieces that are mailed are perfectly effective when delivered within a 3-4 day window. If you want to find out more about the advantages and limitations of Standard Mail, give me a call.
RESPONSE RATES ROI Computing the costs for direct mail is pretty straight forward. We can usually compute an accurate cost- per-piece by adding up the prices of list acquisition, printing, finishing, and mailing. Most of the costs of sending email, on the other hand, are not easily broken out by project. The expense of purchasing and maintaining servers, managing changing customer email addresses, managing or outsourcing outbound email campaigns, etc. are all generally combined for multiple campaigns or even multiple business units within a corporation. This makes it nearly impossible to compute a cost-per- email for a particular campaign. Although the expense of distributing the messages seems to be almost zero because there are no paper or postage costs, email is definitely not free. Measuring response rates and the volume of sales generated by either marketing method is fairly easy. Multiple versions of direct mail or email can be tracked separately so that marketers can refine their communications effectively. Traditionally, direct mail response percentages have outperformed the results generated by email.
CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS
Conclusion
It is clear that the best path to successful marketing is
to take advantage of the strengths of both methods of
communication. Marketers can capitalize on short-
term impulse buyers and on more long-term behavior,
and they can provide the variety of buying experiences
that physical and electronic presentment can enable.
Buyers can be driven to the internet by direct mail and
vice versa, opening up new sales channels.Direct mail will continue to be a viable marketing channel in the future. To make sure it does, those of us in the business of producing and distributing documents should use all the tools available to selectively compose and target the messages and make sure the pieces get delivered in evolving, cost- effective, operations. There are a lot of details that must be addressed in order to get the best results from a direct mail marketing effort. Missing the mark on just one critical item can turn the best offers into big disappointments and a waste of time and money. Print/Mail Operations Managers that are trying to prevent their marketing applications from migrating to email cannot afford such errors. If you can't keep a close eye on the jobs yourself, consider getting some help to make sure the workflow ensures accuracy and catches mistakes before they leave the building. In case you missed the announcement, my new book was released on August 1. Take This Job and Stuff IT! - A Practical Guide for Document Operations Managers has been well-received. The publisher is currently shipping copies to document professionals like yourself. Simply visit www.print mailconsultants.com and click on the links to read an excerpt or order your copy. Visit Our WebsiteSincerely,  Mike Porter
Print/Mail Consultants
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