Email is Not A Viable Acquisition Tool in the Way Direct Mail is

In this article, Chris Marriott says that email is not a viable acquisition tool in the way direct mail is for a couple of reasons:

• anti-spam legislation
• it's not as easy to get your email address as it is your postal address.
• even if a business has your email address, you can opt-out of that first prospecting email and be free forever from further offers.

According to Chris:

"email is the most cost-effective retention, cross-sell and loyalty tactic in the universe, but it is not a viable acquisition tool in the way that direct mail is."

So how do you generate demand through digital channels, and at the same time incorporate the targeting of direct mail?

"The real workhorse of demand generation on the web is targeted display advertising. For the time being, this is the digital successor to targeted direct mail. And in today's world there are many different approaches being applied to targeted display ads -- behavioral and contextual being the two with the most promise. In both instances, marketers deliver ads based on knowledge gleaned from either the actions of the user -- a visit to one website can be the basis for serving ads to that person on another site -- or the content consumed at that particular moment -- an article on the latest tech gadgets brings up an ad for a new smart phone."

There's lots more to say about the many improvements in display ad targeting, but the point I'm making is that the next time you hear someone at your company suggest replacing direct mail demand generation with an email program, make sure he or she understands that targeted display advertising is the better road to travel for demand generation on the web.

Once your display ads have hooked that new customer, and you get him or her into your email database, then enjoy the universe-dominating cost-effectiveness of email for retention, loyalty and cross-sell. And if you work with a digital agency that is proficient in both email and targeted display advertising, you're already off to a great start in "going green!"

Read the full article on iMedia Connection.

Comments

[Alec Saiko]

I would like to partially disagree with Mr. Marriott's claims.

Firstly, the existence of an anti-spam legislation doesn't mean it undermines the legitimate use of email, as well as it being an acquisition tool (think viral campaigns on the web). Direct mail world has things like MPS, which are far more regulated.

Secondly, if you get (buy) a postal address of a customer and start sending mailpieces, that might be treated as dodgy as sending unsolicited emails. It is also a lot easier for a prospective customer to give out an email address rather than postal address if you ask for one on the website.

Thirdly, you can opt out of direct mail by the means of MPS - and that would legally opt you out of ALL direct mail, not just from the mail sent by a particular company.

All in all, while targeted display advertising is a powerful tool for prospective customer acquisition in a search engine-dominated world of traffic, the importance of viral campaigns and social media is on the increase, and in conjunction with a simple email acquisition form it can bring even better results - consider one post on Digg that drives traffic to an email collection form on the website.

The email nowadays has evolved considerably (both on technical and legal standpoints) to be taken on par with direct mail and can bring at least the same, if not bigger, ROI.