The Return of Direct Mail…?

I am not sure if “snail mail” will make a comeback necessarily, but I think it has its advantages. I must admit I love the convience of email and the internet, but it is nice to get a real letter in the mail every now and then. My grandmother is the only one who actually sends me letters in the mail (she doesn’t have a computer)! I love getting them though…it seems so much more personal!
As far as marketing goes, I think it is almost as easy to throw away something you receive in the mail as it is to delete a spam email. I think either way, if people don’t want to read it they won’t.

I honestly don’t see how it could. If I had to estimate, I receive easily as much “spam” snail mail as I do email these days. In fact, with my increased knowledge of where and where not to post my email address on the Internet, my amount of spam email has decreased dramatically.
I honestly don’t know what the solution to these dilemmas with direct marketing are. Mass-mailing and emailing may need to just be done away with. I imagine people can easily identify these materials, and tend to not give them a second glance, if even a first.

I am not sure if “snail mail” will make a comeback necessarily, but I think it has its advantages. I must admit I love the convience of email and the internet, but it is nice to get a real letter in the mail every now and then. My grandmother is the only one who actually sends me letters in the mail (she doesn’t have a computer)! I love getting them though…it seems so much more personal!
As far as marketing goes, I think it is almost as easy to throw away something you receive in the mail as it is to delete a spam email. I think either way, if people don’t want to read it they won’t.

These days it is so easy for email to be marked as Spam. Anything coming from a user other than Auburn to an Auburn email account, for example, is usually marked Spam. A lot of email accounts automatically filter it so you don’t even see those emails unless you make a point to.
Even so, snail mail is easy to sift through and just trash when you get it. I don’t think snail mail is a good answer. While it could be considered, it is just as easily trashed as Spam in your inbox is.

Snail Mail….When did it die? either you just moved or you have no public record. The variety has gone down, no catalogs for parakeet diapers, and amazing offers, the run of the mill crapola ranges from credit cards, bank loans, and other finacial nonsense including but not limited to the ‘open immediatly’ under pain of oral surgery to ‘our records indicate’ that you did not respond to our last offering, etc.
The prose has gotten worse, you wouldn’t feed these things to your dog, and if you were having a real bad day you wouldn’t even bother wrapping them around a brick and writing Return to sender.

Call me old-fashioned, but I love checking my mailbox for “snail mail!” A postcard from a friend, a letter from Mom or a package from grandmother always puts a smile on my face!
A self-proclaimed stationary addict, I often send hand-written notes and letters via USPS rather than email. Often times, a letter pulled from an envelope reflects the thought and personality of the sender.
Like Nicole, spam clogs my mailbox and my inbox. Letters with ridiculous financial offers are much more likely to catch my eye while I have them in my hands; although, spam in my email doesn’t stand a chance! If my spam protection doesn’t catch the annoying email, it automatically gets hit with the delete button.
In my opinion, snail mail can still be an effective communication tool when used in moderation by a company. A personalized letter speaks volumes! However, companies must understand they must only send mail when there is something valuable to say to their market.

I don’t get anywhere near as much junk direct mail as I do spam, and that makes it more bearable. That, and there’s something really exciting about getting those envelopes of cupons, nothing better than knowing you got a free large sprite with the purchase of your pizza or a $10 off the next $50 you spend at Express or The Limited. I think that people are more willing (if just by an iota) to at least look longer at the outside of an envelope or scan a postcard than they are to read a spam email, It’s so easy to delete emails by ’selecting all’ with barely a glance.

My mass communication class recently covered advertising and direct mail was one of the most responsive forms. Honestly, I look at “snail mail.” Spam and other Internet advertising are annoying and mostly go ignored. I don’t know what will happen but for advertisers focused on the bottom line “snail mail” is hardly a step backwards.

Some people still don’t have the Internet or an e-mail address. “Snail mail” is all they have to count on. I believe these people look at their mail to see if it catches their attention. Of course the bills catch their attention, but if other junk mail is displayed right it will get some looks too. I know my mom looks at all of her mail, even the junk, and so do I.

Perhaps I am running counter-culture. Direct mail is an essential part of the marketing mix; as essential as advertising, public relations, email, the corporate website. The important thing as marketing counselors is to help our companies know when to use what mix of communications media to achieve the goals within the budgets. Direct mail plus telemarketing has always been a powerful one-two punch. Regrettably, much of it is poorly conceived and poorly targeted with totally irrelevant messages and offers that would inspire no one to take action. The challenge we all have is to master the combination of techniques we have at hand, do them exceptionally well, make them contextually relevant and, when possible, entertaining or informative (or both).
I think as counselors we should be very, very careful before we knock any communications medium — even if we don’t like to get them in our mailbox or on our TV or radio. Just make the message contextually relevant to a precisely selected target audience and the medium will perform.

If I get a coupon in the mail, I am much more likely look at it and use it than if I recieved one via e-mail. It is more convienient, because you don’t have to print it out first. Therefore, I think that snail mail is the way to go from an advertisers stand point. People are much more likely to pay attention to it.
On that note, I think that all thank you letters should be hand written and mailed, not printed out or sent by e-mail. If someone took the time to do something that deserves thanks, then you should take the time to properly thank them.

Mass Emailing is Dead.
The gig is up. I believe that mass emails serve no purpose in todays society unless the recipient is expecting it. The public is well aware of spam.
In fact, there is a good chance that a company’s credibility could be damaged through this form of advertising. I don’t know about ya’ll, but when I see a respected brand sending emails, I wonder, “Is business that bad for them?”

Whereas “snail mail” may be more effective, the costs go way up, and that method is also useless if it’s being sent to the wrong people.

My thought is that old school “snail mail” is the best way to get your message across.

I refuse to take phone solicitations, and I delete the little e-mail spam that my ISP doesn’t catch. I’ve now stopped supporting door-to-door fund-raising campaigns except local kids.
That only leaves snail mail, advertising or word of mouth if you want to reach me (and I don’t listen to commercial radio).

I posted earlier, but am posting again. I think “snail mail” can reach some people…if it is well-planned. Some people are sick of spam and just delete it…most people I would think. I think targeting people carefully with snail mail is key since it is so expensive to send out compared to sending out a message via email. If it isn’t well-targeted, it will be thrown out and a waste of the sender’s money.

As much as I love getting snail mail, I get so many credit card offers these days that I pretty much toss anything that doesn’t look like it pertains to my life. The only time I open up other things is when the envelope is thick or lumpy, because then I think that maybe I’m getting free stuff. So if marketers want me to open something from them, it might help them to enlose a prize or something. Or coupons. Coupons are great. If you print “Coupons Inside!” on an envelope, I’ll most definately open it.

Direct mail may be expensive, but the ability to target specific geographic regions is a definite advantage to this particular method of advertising. I will echo the opinion of my peers when I state that we view Spam as more of an intrusion upon our Internet browsing rather than an informative or eye-catching tool. Nevertheless, they both gather profits, so the practice will continue and evolve.

I think snail mail could make a comeback, but only if the creative boundaries are broken. Just as with traditional marketing and all the other forms of communication that have been deemed dead or useless these days, anything can have potential when a little creative license is used. The post office will mail just about anything. My mother has written messages on and mailed me everything from a giagantic rubber bouncing ball to a plastic flip flop–and not in a box! Anything that a Sharpie can write on is fair game to her. The postman just places a sticker on the item and into the mail it goes! Items like this that come in the mail could be labeled “snail mail” but are also far from the norm. Again, it’s “thinking outside the box” that keep companies alive, and snail mail is no exception.

I do not think that it could make a come back. We are exposed to abnoxious amount of messages each day (at least I think it is abnoxious) Between the radio, tv, internet, spam, billboards, etc., the last thing people will want is to have their mailboxes filled at their homes and in their e-mail boxes. I find myself throwing away all of the junk mail I receive no matter where it comes.

I think Maggie is right…It probably won’t make a comeback. I don’t think there is anyone who truly likes snail mail. I, too, get annoyed at all of the junk mail in my mailbox and email inbox. At least I hope it doesn’t make a comeback!

I don’t know if snail mail will make a comeback for direct marketing. It is just as easy to throw away a letter as it is to delete spam mail. However, I do recall a letter my mom received in the mail. It resembled a wedding invitation and when she opened it, it was announcing the wedding of Cingular and AT&T Wireless. I thought that to be a very creative form of marketing. Had it been through email, it would not have had the same effect.

I agree with the group that thinks snail mail will not make a comeback. We are so accustomed to the digital forms of communication now. Unless it is a truly innovative piece of advertisment, it seems as though pieces that come from the mailbox go directly to my hand and into the trash can.