What is Bigger: Internet or Direct Mail?

Both types of marketing have pros and cons.

Marketing strategies differ from company to company, and the marketing that works best for one company won't necessarily work for another. While direct mail offers a way to send a tangible ad straight to a customer's house, Internet mail is a cheap, quick way to contact as many potential customers as you'd like. By weighing your options and choosing the best strategy for your business objectives, you have the best chance at influencing the right type of customer.

Prevalence

Web monitoring site Pingdom compiled 2009 data from a variety of websites and came up with statistics and numbers concerning direct mail versus email. While 177 billion pieces of direct mail are sent each year via postal service, 14.4 trillion pieces of Internet mail are sent to inboxes all over the U.S. That means email outnumbers direct mail, sending 81 emails for every one piece of direct, paper mail. This can be a double edged-sword. While Internet mail is certainly bigger in terms of prevalence, it doesn't make it automatically the best choice for marketing.

Cost

When it comes to marketing on a budget, Internet mail is king. You typically bear lower costs in an email marketing campaign. An email campaign requires simply graphic design, content creation and directory construction. If you choose direct mail marketing, you have higher costs for items such as graphic design, printing and postage. Direct mail or paper marketing is clearly the bigger investment of the two types of targeted marketing.

Media Types

Direct mail marketing allows you to use different types of media to market to your potential costumers. That's because the bonds of text and graphics don't limit you as they do in an email marketing campaign. As long as you're willing to pay the postage, by selecting direct mail marketing you can choose from flyers, magnets, free samples, calendars, pictures, cards and anything else that can be stuffed into an envelope. In situations where customers would benefit from additional media, both email and direct mail can be used concurrently for the best response, says Hans Peter Brondmo in his book, "The Engaged Customer: The New Rules of Internet Direct Marketing."

Spam Vs. Junk

Both direct mail and Internet mail marketing are considered "junk" and can be a nuisance to potential customers. Mailing and emailing lists are often purchased from list brokers, which may or may not have the best quality contacts for your specific purposes. For the best results, building your mailing or emailing list from interested potential customers gives you the best bang for your buck in targeted advertising. Whether it's spam email in the inbox or junk mail in the mailbox, you'll have the most success when you target those who have a need for your product or service.

References

• Pingdom: Email vs. Snail Mail
• OnMark Solutions: Email vs. Direct Mail… 5 Old Lessons for New Media
• "The Engaged Customer: The New Rules of Internet Direct Marketing": By Hans Peter Brondmo