Rational Marketing

Tag: Email

  • A College Student’s View of the Mail

    Loyola University student Andy Dorsey describes his feelings about personal postal mail in an opinion-editorial.

    “Sure, it’s cheaper and easier to e-mail people, but it’s just not the same. When you see an e-mail in your inbox, you probably dread the homework assignment, request to attend an event or at the very least, the obligation of composing a reply.

    Letters are different. Maybe many of my peers have never gotten a true letter in the mail, but it’s at once an exciting and human experience.  Texting may have the advantage of instant contact, but letters are physical pieces of paper prepared for your personal perusal. They are objects that have traveled from their hands to yours.”

    Using direct mail to reach, even the youngest consumers, is great way to stand out and send some genuine personal messages.

  • The Hare and The Tortoise (or was it a snail)…

    A fable based on tomorrow’s thoughts…

    There once was a speedy hare who bragged about how fast he could run, how many people he could reach in a single mouse click. Tired of hearing him boast, Slow and Steady, the tortoise, (or maybe he was a snail) challenged him to a race. All the animals in the forest gathered to watch.

    Hare ran down the road for a while and then and paused to rest (on his analytical reports of 5 percent open rates and great return on investment because hey even if you make a few sales, sending all that email cost almost nothing). He looked back at Slow and Steady and cried out, “How do you expect to win this race when you are walking along at your slow, slow pace?”

    Hare stretched himself out alongside the road and fell asleep, thinking, “There is plenty of time to relax.” Or perhaps he decided go for a run on a treadmill, just for fun, staying in the same spot but moving furiously fast.

    Slow and Steady walked and walked. He never, ever stopped until he came to the finish line.

    The animals who were watching cheered so loudly for Tortoise (or was it the snail), they woke up Hare or did they scare him to try a different tactic? Hare  began to run on the road again, but it was too late. Tortoise (or was it the snail) was over the finish line, he won and is winning customers, sales and profits.

    The moral of this story is the quick easy fast fix does not exist and the reality is that Slow and Steady direct mail also known as “snail mail” wins.

  • Email & Texting or Marijuana?

    BNET recently sent an email, the subject line read “Which Is Worse for Your Brain: Texting or Pot?” That is quite a question.

    The post referred to a University of London study done for Hewlett-Packard that found that “infomania” — a term connected with addiction to email and texting — can lower your IQ by twice as much as smoking marijuana. Moreover, email can raise the levels of noradrenaline and dopamine in your brain by constantly introducing new stimuli into your day. When those levels get too high, complex thinking becomes more difficult, making it harder to make decisions and solve problems.

    Read all your email and text messages, and your mind becomes so drained that it’s a challenge to get anything else done. Sure, some of it’s important — and that’s precisely the problem. “The brain hates uncertainty,” says David Rock, the CEO of Results Coaching Systems and author of “Your Brain at Work.” “It’s literally painful to not download your email the moment you arrive at your desk in the morning. But once you’ve processed 30 or 40 emails, you’ve ruined your brain chemistry for higher level tasks that are going to create value.”

    In short, the brain’s capacity for decision-making was created for a time when people had less to think about. So now you have an excuse for not keeping up.

    These are interesting facts to keep in mind as you plan communication with your customers and prospects. Maybe this is one more reason to think about direct mail?

  • Paper Mail?

    Most of the information available to businesses and marketers is currently promoting “digital” communication. What about paper?

    Paper can be touched and felt.

    Print is persuasive. On paper, you can communicate at greater length (due to less eyestrain) and more depth – attention spans are longer for print.

    Paper materials prompt action.  There are examples that printed pieces drive sales through other channels, including web sales.

    Paper gets read when the recipient is in the mood, unlike emails, tweets, texts, or other updates which are usually read immediately or deleted.

    To get through, to stand out, to get read rather than skimmed, to trigger orders, printed postal mail is still a great way to use marketing resources.

  • Doing More with Less

    These days we are all doing more with less:

    • Squeezing the very last bit of toothpaste from the tube
    • Cooking more at home, using leftovers
    • Giving your time as Christmas gift
    • Finding joy in shopping bargains

    Direct mail has always been the advertising method that offers measurable results. Mail is scalable, you can send as many cards or letters as you can afford and have the resources to fulfill. In this economic climate, this is still true and more important than ever.

    We recently attended a seminar that talked about marketing. They spent a lot of time talking about websites, social networking, search optimization… Yes they are all important, yes they are more important now than ever before. However, they are not the only way you can and should interact with your customers and your potential customers. Do you have a valid email address from everyone who has purchased from you before? Does every one of your customers want your marketing messages in their email inbox? We know that different types of people respond to different types of messages from many sources.

    You need to be able to be found in the moment of purchase, that means when someone searches for you on the Internet, you are there. But what about being on the short list of possible vendors? Maintaining relationships with customers who have purchased from you before is less expensive than investing resources to capture and create a bond with a new client.