It’s a big topic of discussion these days – is direct mail dead? Has e-mail marketing killed it? Is social media marketing replacing the direct marketing paradigm?
Over and over, in publications, blogs and LinkedIn discussions, experts argue these questions…and I say, “Hold on! STOP!! It’s all the same thing!”
State-of-the-art personalization in Grandma's day.
Back in the day, direct marketing was junk mail – a printed letter was stuck into an envelope and an Addressograph machine applied the name and address using little metal plates.
In those days the DMA was the Direct Mail Association and mail was everything. But times changed. Addressograph plates gave way to inkjet and laser imaging and letters got a lot more personal. Toll-free numbers appeared … the every-present reply form became just one more way to respond … and the DMA changed it’s name to the DMMA – the Direct Mail Marketing Association – and then back to the DMA again. Only this time, its name was the Direct Marketing Association.
Of course, direct mail has always had competition. On-page ads, radio spots, television commercials, infomercials have all arrived without budging the direct mail packages out of our mail boxes. Even e-commerce sites haven’t slowed down the flood of catalogs and mailers I receive.
But of course, e-mail marketing and social media marketing have changed all that. It’s a revolution and they are killing direct mail DEAD!
Oh really?
This isn’t a revolution. It’s an evolution. These “totally new” marketing constructs are simply built about the foundation of basic direct marketing principles.
For example:
- Direct Mail marketing uses a targeted list of names and street addresses to reach
potential customers. - E-mail marketing uses a targeted list of names and e-mail addresses to reach potential customers.
- Social marketing builds a targeted list of names and e-mail addresses of potential customers who self-select by becoming followers, fans and friends.
Shall we go on?
- Direct Mail creates a dialogue between seller and buyer that demands a response using a printed material – typically a letter package or self-mailer.
- E-mail creates a dialogue between seller and buyer that demands a response using an e-mail message, landing page or website.
- Social marketing creates a dialogue between seller and buyer that demands a response using an ongoing conversation based on blog posts, tweets, event invitations and wall posts eventually linking to landing page or website.
E-mails are state-of-the-art today. But things always change.
Furthermore, smart marketers have already created ongoing strategies that use direct mail, e-mail and social media to form a seamless stream of messages that keep the customer focused on their products.
Here’s what I mean: I like to knit. So I get catalogs from a much-favored yarn manufacturer. When I first ordered, they asked for my e-mail address. I supplied it and began getting regular e-mail advertising that linked me to their e-commerce site. Then came an invitation to subscribe to their e-newsletter. I spend a lot of time online, so it wasn’t long before I became a Facebook fan and a Twitter follower.
Now I get fashion news from Twitter and patterns from Facebook friends. Or I see something I like in the e-newsletter and click through to print the pattern. I shop for the yarn I need in my paper catalog – can’t watch TV and surf the web at the same time just yet. Then I order the yarn I’ve chosen online – unless I have a question. That question sends me back to the toll-free number in the catalog, so I can talk to someone in real time to get my question answered and my yarn ordered at the same time. Finally, guess what? The yarn is MAILED to me – just like in the “good old days.”
See? It’s a seamless continuum of direct marketing messages and actions that gets prospects involved and keeps customers coming back. A continuum in which direct marketing principals are in use in every single step.
So, please, stop all the arguing about which tactic is better. E-mailing, blogging, Twittering and snail mailing are just the ever-evolving tactics of the highly targeted and personalized strategy we call Direct Marketing.
Direct mail is alive and kicking.
Although this year ONE of my clients has asked me to do a huge amount of email creative so far, whereas in previous years they were leaning all the way on the print side insofar as the types of jobs for which they needed my assistance.
The majority of my clients are still mailing – and I must say, I’m seeing a lot of DM creative launches in the works for the 2nd Quarter of this year.
Isn’t the issue one of cost? Entry level for email is low and for social networking it starts at zero!! How many advertisers will actually increase their spend proportionally to any increase in sales that advertising generates. We helped one company gain over £200 million in incremental sales and the next year they reduced the budget?? So it seems to me that rather than being strategic direct marketers who will weigh up the ROI on different media, the industry is dominated by cost. “I can send out 200,000 emails for £35k rather than send out 200,000 direct mail packs for £100k.” Hang the fact that direct mail could generate over 4,000 sales and email might be lucky to get 1,200!!!
David hit the nail on the head! Most clients are not using direct marketing as a strategy with a defined ROI goal. If they did then they would use the tactics such as email, direct mail, SEO, SEM or a combination of these. There has always been a problem with clients seeing direct marketing as a “commodity” based on cost vs. a revenue center where you first determine a breakeven point to then determine where you need to be in terms of response and sales rates in order to achieve maximum ROI. In most cases, direct mail will always generate more ROI than email.
Great article, Marjorie, and great observations from David and Carla, too. I agree with your assessment. Integrated, multichannel marketing is usually the way to go, but business owners (especially in the current economic environment) need a lot of encouragement to focus on ROI.