Re: Direct Marketing: Snail Mail vs Email

From: Lisa Mullennix <lmullennix_at_laughingbird.com>
Date: Wed 26 Jul 2000 13:07:22 -0700

DALENE STANDER <entco_at_cis.co.za> WROTE:
> We see ourselves as not spamming as we customize every
> e-mail to the exact address of the company on our
> database. The main question is how does the corporate
> world perceive the less personal e-mail to a personal
> letter.

Hi Darlene.

My first thought is...your version of "not" spamming
seems to be in a gray area. Although you are
personalizing your data, those companies still have
not given you "permission" to send them that info.
Therefore, regardless of how valuable that info might
be to these companies, it may be perceived as spam.

Next, you might consider who in the company would be
receiving this email. If you send to the general
address listed on their site (e.g., info_at_company),
your chances of being perceived as spam are likely
much higher than if you determine who in the company
might wish to see your info and send it directly to
that person's address, and of course, use their name.
If you are able to determine a specific person to send
your info to, then maybe you could make a brief phone
call to ask if they would be interested in your
info...then send it to that person, who has just given
you permission to do so.

Finally, in regards to the company's perception of
email versus snail mail, I'd say again that it depends
on who is receiving the mail, how many emails/letters
that person has stacking up, and whether that company
is new to the internet, a tradtional brick and mortar,
or is a web-based company only. If a company's been on
the web for awhile, then it is likely that their
business literally "works" on the web...that is, they
do a majority of their research on the web, everyone
in the company has their own email address, and they
seek services on the web, etc. Given this, the options
are that they may completely ignore snail mail
(perhaps believing that anyone who sends snail mail is
not very internet savy) or that snail mail will really
stand out (because their email boxes are overflowing
and they rapidly delete messages without reading them
anyway). Maybe someone out there has found some
research on that last thought?

Regards,
--
Lisa Mullennix, Informations Manager
Laughingbird Productions

The Logo Creator software!
http://www.thelogocreator.com
Create professional web logos in minutes...no graphic design
experience required!
mailto:lmullennix_at_laughingbird.com





Received on Wed Jul 26 2000 - 15:07:22 CDT