It’s an emerging debate that looks set to become more widespread in the future – which direct marketing method is most effective: traditional direct mail campaigns, or new generation email marketing?
Direct mail is sent to businesses and consumers every day and is used by a very wide range of organisations and industries. A mailing in the post, often accompanied by a letter, has become a proven and accepted way of targeting your audience, with consistent conversion rates of about 1-5%. However in recent years direct mail has attracted criticism over the environmental impact it can have, and the annoyance caused by misdirected mailings.
Email marketing using opt in data is less widely used at the moment, but is growing more rapidly in popularity than almost any other direct marketing tool. A growing range of good quality opt in, and in some cases double opt in lists are becoming available, as are a wide range of email broadcast services. But this new marketing medium has already been tainted by abuse and association with the practice of spamming or junk mailing.
So what are the relative merits of each of these contrasting direct marketing methods? Continue reading ‘Direct Mail or Email Marketing?’ »