Why Direct Mail Works Better Than Email

When it comes to both communications and marketing practices you’ll find that the challenge is getting information out to a large amount of people in a short amount of time. The obvious solution to this problem came in the form of the internet, especially as people began to engage in a various email campaigns. This become so popular that various websites and companies began developing software for this specific purpose. You could organize lists and contacts and send out your emails to large amounts of people in one click. Not only that but you could put in setting  to personalize the email, for example by addressing each email user by their given name. For example instead of ‘dear potential customer’ it could replace the line with “Dear Dan’ or ‘Dear Susan’ and all the emails contained the individual name as if you wrote it yourself. This became a very popular way of marketing, so much so that it became grossly overdone.

The advantage of an email campaign is that it’s simple, quick, and of course very cheap. You don’t have to stuff and address envelopes, pay postage, and it’s a bit easier to obtain an email address online as opposed to trying to dig up a home address without violating someone’s privacy. It’s also an instant send. So why use direct mail instead?

Emails are Easier to Miss

Since so many companies capitalized on the email scheme, it led to people receiving hundreds and even thousands of email solicitations from various companies about various products. This would later be termed “spam” so they invented the spam filter, and other ways of blocking unwanted emails. So your email could end up in a spam folder, or simply meet the delete button, since one glance at the subject line will tell them what to expect. When people are staring at a screen they’re also more likely to keep scrolling and miss the information. With direct mail you will be guaranteed that your recipient will both see and handle your message as it will be in their mailbox, not a virtual storage space where they can mindless scroll, or in a spam folder where they may never see it at all.

People are Tactile

People are more likely to remember and interact with something they can see and TOUCH. By sending a direct mailing you can know that your message will be handled physically. It may go in the garbage, but not before curious hands may produce curious eyes that might be more likely read what you have to say.

Mailings are Personal

An email generally lacks any warmth or personality. People generally appreciate a personal gesture with a friendly touch. This is especially true for some of the older folks who still prefer to receive letters in the mail rather than what they see as impersonal emails.

Mail Will Always Be Around

Chances are people will always live in buildings (houses, apartments, etc.) these physically locations will have the capability of having things delivered for the desired convenience. In other words there will always be addresses and ways to mail things to them. While email may always be around for business and other practical purposes, less people are using it for personal reason. More and more people handling all of their communications on their phones (texting, calling aps, Skype etc.) or on social media, say through Facebook messages. It’s sad to say, but while email may never die, it’s definitely on its way out from being a common means of communication. Mailing isn’t going anywhere soon, unless of course we upload ourselves into a cyberspace like the Matrix.

As you can see there are many reasons to utilize direct mailing rather than email. It’s a tried and true method of delivering information, and it’s not going anywhere soon.