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Should You Trade Print for Email?
July 3, 2008

E-mail has surpassed traditional direct mail as the most commonly used type of direct response marketing, according to a new poll of major U.S. companies by Direct Partners, New York. The survey found 35% of companies mainly use e-mail for direct marketing, 25% primarily use traditional direct mail, and 21% use other methods, such as packages, statement stuffers or free-standing inserts.

Does this mean you should abandon print in favor of email? No! Keep these other factors in mind, as reported by Fundraising Success magazine:

• Direct-mail campaigns generate a higher initial response rate.
• Predictive analysis in direct mail is more accurate, so you are able to reduce risk.
• Direct mail-only donors tend to renew at higher rates than online-only donors (although multichannel often are your strongest donors.

Moreover, according to a June 2008 study by the Direct Marketing Association (“The Integrated Marketing Media Mix”), more multi-media campaigns include email as a marketing component than direct mail (79.1% for email vs. 75.4% for direct mail). However, direct mail generated 29% of the revenue, compared to 21.6% for email.

So before you jump onto the email bandwagon at the expense of print, think it through. The cost savings for email might not be a good trade.

Have questions? Comments? I'd love to hear from you. You can email me at htollvr@aol.com. For more information on primers for marketers and small businesses on digital, 1:1, and Web-to-print technologies, visit www.digitalprintingreports.com.

Posted by Heidi Tolliver Nigro on July 3, 2008 | Comments (0)