National Clothesline

The affordability of e-marketing, along with the explosion of social media and the desire to trim costs in the midst of a recession, has prompted many small companies, including drycleaners, to slash their traditional direct mail budgets.

According to Mintel Comperemedia, a research firm that tracks direct marketing, U.S. consumers received about 5.2 billion pieces of direct mail in the third quarter of 2009, a 27 percent decline compared with 7.1 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Some business owners who were quick to write off direct mail as too pricey or “a thing of the past,” have had to re-think their decisions.

For example, The Wall Street Journal featured a story recently about a company that thought it would be a good idea to eliminate its annual direct mail budget in favor of an e-mail approach to prospecting and regular customer contact. But after swapping snail mail for e-mail and experiencing an immediate 25 percent drop in early orders compared with the same period a year earlier, the company president admitted “We realized we had made a huge mistake.”

The president of the company first blamed the economy for the drop-off until she started hearing from customers that they never got their “reminder” in the mail. Fortunately, a quickly launched postcard campaign was able to recoup most of the lost business.

The declining economy coupled with the rise of new technology has many small business owners and managers trying to figure out how they can integrate Web marketing techniques such as e-mail campaigns, banner ads and social networking sites with the more traditional but costly direct mail approach

In fact, the new media has opened a whole new playbook on what’s the best way to communicate with customers.

Here’s a quick comparison between e-mail and direct mail.

With e-mail, one of the most attractive features is the cost. Let’s face it, e-mail is cheap, which is why spammers love it so much. They don’t care that the response rates are low because their costs are negligible. But when you run a business, you depend on a high response rate. You need orders.

E-mail is fast… in two ways. First, your production time is minimal. As soon as you get an idea to test, you can write a motivating e-mail, and hit the send button.

Second, your prospects get your e-mails instantly so they are able to respond much sooner than is possible with something that is posted through snail mail. Increased speed, from start to finish, means you’ve turned yourself into a super-agile marketer.

E-mail is an easy way to test. Because of its speed, you can get virtually instant answers to your marketing questions with the click of a mouse.

For example, will a percentage offer work better than dollars off or will you be able to get a similar result by offering premium door-to-door service? By segmenting a group of prospects with an e-mail test you'll have an answer.

Or suppose you’ve written two great headlines but can't decide which one to go with? Just do some e-mail testing and get your answer fast!

On the downside, e-mail messages must be short since e-mail readers want information quickly. In addition, your creativity is very limited when using email, even with HTML and color images.

The biggest drawback, however, has to do with the all-important target. Great e-mail lists are almost impossible to find and the only really good list is your house list, if you even happen to have one.

Direct mail offers a more positive environment. When you read your e-mail, you're usually sitting at a desk staring at a monitor and you're busy. When you sort through your postal mail, you're probably much more relaxed. What’s more, even at its worst, "junk mail" is not as bad as “spam.”

With direct mail you have all the space you need to get your message across and the medium is easy to navigate. For example, with paper and ink you can write a lengthy sales letter and your readers will stay with you. They will not stick with you in a lengthy e-mail.

Direct mail is a tangible medium. This means you can design and produce pieces you can hold in your hand… like a colorful flyer or a testimonial sheet filled with customers raving about your service. You never know what's going to capture a reader's interest or attention.

With an e-mail you get pixels on the screen and nothing more.

Of course, the major downside to direct mail is the expense. Postage is sky high and heading higher. Printing often costs a ton of money and there are list rental and letter-shop costs to consider. Not to mention creative development.

If you weigh the pros and cons, you see that e-mail and direct postal mail both have their advantages.

Lately, direct mail has been in a bit of a decline, partly because of the economy and partly because e-mail and the electronic media have made inroads. It is very likely that direct mail will be making a strong comeback as spammers continue to destroy a legitimate marketing channel. So keep on testing e-mail, but don't neglect the proven, money-making power of a letter package or self-mailer!