NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Is it OK to send postcards to prospects?
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Is it OK to send postcards to prospects?
Mark J. Welch, Esq. (markwelch_at_ca-probate.com)
Thu, 09 Jan 1997 15:48:06 -0800
At 09:36 AM 1/7/97 -0600, you wrote:
>>To give my opinion to your direct question, it's been
>>my experience that "postcard" sites require one to go
>>from the "delivery" email to the postcard site itself,
>>just to see the picture. I think it's counterproductive to do
>>this for business use * * *
>
>I agree. Electronic Post cards are a novelty. Not very many people look at
>them even when sent by a friend. We built a post card server for a Microsoft
>project last summer. The number off post cards sent was low, but the number
>retreived was surprisingly low. Most people did not even see their postcards
>(because they had to go get them)!
In mid-December, I began getting "Holiday Greeting" messages telling me
that "Joe Schmoe has sent you a holiday card, go to www.whatever.com
to retrieve it." In eachc case, I had never heard of the person who had
sent me the card, and it quickly became clear that these companies were
using contests that created an incentive for people to send huge volumes
of email to strangers' addresses culled from usenet newsgroups -- with
the company undoubtedly using the data to sell email mailing lists.
The one time I tried to retrieve a "card," the server crashed midway
through.
Those promotions (and there were at least 3) created enough "badwill"
that I think it would be completely counter-productive to use any
similar technique (such as a digital postcard) for some time to come.
If you're going to ask someone who has expressed interest in your
company to go to the trouble of going to look at a web site, why
not send them back to YOUR web site? Put up a nice "Welcome
Back - Thanks for Your Inquiry" page, perhaps with additional
information or "electronic coupons" or something.
-- Mark J. Welch, Attorney at Law, Pleasanton CA
-- http://www.ca-probate.com 510-462-8483
-- Email is not legal advice, and is not confidential.
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