E-mail Marketing

Most emails get deleted faster than you can say “twitter,” but people still read personal letters. Okay, so maybe they toss out the semi-personalized form letter after reading the first few lines. But it still gets opened and scanned over, and if the letter appears to be meant specifically for them, it gets plenty of attention. This is very different than the reaction given an email even though emails always have a name on them. Why?

I think it has to do with a perception of value. It takes very little effort to send an email. My inbox is full of them every morning. Unless I already have a relationship with the person who sent the email, I don’t give it much thought before hitting the delete button. It doesn’t have enough perceived value to justify my time. The media downplays the value of the message.

Unsolicited emails are like junk faxes. They remind me of the recorded message I sometimes get: “Your call is very important to us; please stay on the line and someone will assist you shortly.” Five minutes later I am saying: “Hey, if my call is important to you, answer the d… phone!” The action, or rather inaction, tells me exactly how important my call is. So it is with emails. You can blast out emails by the thousands, but that won’t give the recipient the idea that his needs are important to you.

If you want your message to get attention, pay more attention to the people you are sending it to. That doesn’t mean you should never send emails. By all means, use every tool in your toolbox. Just don’t expect the screwdriver to be a very good hammer. Your online marketing effort should be teamed with direct mail. How important is that? It is so important, even Google uses direct mail. Give your prospects something they can hold in their hand.