Has Direct Mail Lost Its Edge to Email?

Direct mail seems passé in today’s email driven marketing world. Why spend diminishing marketing budgets on design fees, printing and postage costs when you can zip an email campaign off in minutes? Be wary of the desire to concentrate your marketing campaigns online. While email and other forms of social media have made it easier and more cost efficient to connect with your consumer, direct mail may be your best bet to reach your consumer with a fresh, trusted message.

According to a nationwide survey commissioned by Promo magazine, young professionals (18-to 34-years-old) prefer mail nearly two-to-one. The reason? Privacy. This group’s over exposure to email and the Internet has likely fostered a discriminating view toward online solicitations – chiefly via emails, which are often perceived as a nuisance and deleted.

Furthermore, according to the Marketing Design Group, direct mail is often more effective at enticing the deeper consideration required to convince your consumers that this investment will pay off. If you are launching a new product, soliciting your services or requesting any other big time or money decision from your consumer, direct mail is the way to go.

With increasing postage costs and mailing restrictions, be sensible as to when a direct mail marketing piece is needed. Making a company announcement or offering a discount on services? Stick with an email. However, if you are asking your consumer to spend big dollars on your services or to buy a new product, direct mail is the preferred marketing tactic. Although new technologies and social mediums are creating a whole new dialogue in marketing, direct mail has not lost its influence with the consumer.

Are you looking to create a cost effective yet efficient integrated marketing campaign? ProMoter Inc. can help develop valuable direct mail pieces as well as attractive emails. Contact us at 502-562-1969 or visit us online at www.ProMoterInc.com.

Build Relationships, Target PR Emails for Best Results

Josh Bernoff recently blogged about a common issue facing reporters, bloggers (and apparently analysts) your PR office should be aware of... the high frequency of irrelevant emails invading inboxes. To truly understand the issue, Josh conducted a study in which he tracked every PR email he received for a two week period – a total of 114 emails regarding 88 different companies. His results were surprising. More than one of five emails was completely irrelevant. About half of those emails received were related to industries he used to cover (over two years ago). Only 27 emails were deemed relevant with a staggering four qualifying as interesting news Josh would look into.

The point to this study? PR practitioners should abandon the tired, old practice of creating large distribution lists and sending releases out in bulk. Target your releases to those reporters who will find the information most relevant. Better yet, personalize your pitches to increase the likelihood of coverage. In an increasingly digital age, easy and fast have become the mode of operation for PR practitioners. However, building quality relationships with reporters is the most effective way of getting your news heard.

To read the complete list of findings from Josh’s study check out the following link: http://blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/2009/02/three-quarters.html.

Looking to use PR to boost your company’s image? Contact ProMoter Inc. at (502)562-1969 or online at www.ProMoterInc.com. ProMoter Inc. has over 25 years of experience getting your message heard through effective public relations services.

Social Media Monitoring with Google

Overwhelmed with the variety of services, blogs and sites available via the wondrous World Wide Web? Feel like you don’t have time to participate in social media? Are you clueless to the ongoing online conversation about your industry, business or client? Well, it is time to rethink your position on social media and the importance of Web monitoring. Monitoring your company’s Web presence along with site activity is a basic tenet for marketing in a social media age. And, it couldn’t be easier!

Google provides users with two valuable (and free) resources to effectively test the waters of social media monitoring without having to dive in head first – Google Alerts and Google Analytics.

Google Alerts (www.google.com/alerts) will send you emails with links to Web pages (including blogs) that mention your company name. Set up is easy and you are able to control the frequency of the alerts along with the number and variety of keywords to which you are alerted. Feel free to expand upon your company name and include your products, competitors or generic industry-related terms.

Google Analytics (www.google.com/analytics) generates detailed statistics about the visitors to your Web site. The service is aimed at marketers so it is easy to use and interpret. Google analytics can track visitors from all referrers including search engines, display ads, pay-per-click, email marketing, etc. The statistics provided are very detailed and customizable.

Other, more advanced, social media monitoring services are available. Check out this article for a “Quick and Dirty” guide to setting up social media monitoring. (www.socialmediaexplorer.com/2009/02/18/a-quick-n-dirty-guide-to-setting-up-social-media-monitoring/)

Be sure to contact ProMoter Inc. for your Web-related marketing needs including Web design and email marketing campaigns. Give us a call at 502-562-1969 or visit us online at www.promoterinc.com.