The Verdict’s In! – Printed Mail Rules

When it comes to direct marketing – especially to prospects – there’s no mail like the printed mail.  Email does not bring the same response as receiving a piece in the mail box.

There are two major reasons for this.  First, people are afraid to open mail from an email address they don’t know.  Fear they could get a virus.  Fear they could have their computer hacked and sensitive information could be acquired.  Fear they could receive a cookie which tracks their internet activity.  In today’s electronic age, it is very easy for unwanted problems to befall computers just by opening unknown emails.  Is it really worth the potential risk?

Second, most people like to receive information about a new product or service via paper.  From the prospect’s point of view, they do not want to waste either their time or supplies (ink and paper) by printing the information themselves.  Seldom do you want to read the information on the computer screen.  You generally want to take it elsewhere and read it leisurely with less eye strain. 

From the direct marketer’s perspective, you get an added bonus when you use direct mail instead of email.  Your recipient receives a mail piece with your desired design and layout, type selection and sizing and maybe color that they might not see if they were to print the piece on their own computer.  Remember, for someone new to want your product or service you have to make your piece attractive to them, approaching your pitch from what the product or service can do for them.  If you make the prospect do the first work by printing the piece, you’ve lost an edge you can never get back.