By Susan Breslow Sardone
"Email? That's not safe, either. I turn on the [computer] today, and the AOL guy comes on and says, 'Welcome. You've Got Anthrax.'"
- David Letterman, 10/29/01
Despite the fact that not a single piece of commercial mail has been shown to carry anthrax, and the number of tainted letters is low, the public has become leery of unexpected packages. According to a survey cited in a recent Forrester Research report, 25% of consumers are not opening direct mail as a result of the recent threats. To help counteract this, Forrester has recommended marketers focus on email marketing programs.
In contrast to the Forrester findings, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) issued a white paper both in print and online at www.the-dma.org that stated response rates have not been affected by the anthrax scare. Nonetheless, the same White Paper acknowledged, "some firmsreport increasing reliance on email marketingto help offset some of the projected losses from potential drops in response rates from direct mail campaigns.
Several firms that anticipated a 5-10% fall off in mail orders indicated that they would be increasing expenditures on e-mail marketing efforts by as much as 10%." Furthermore, this trade group representing the $528 billion direct-mail industry encouraged members to "Utilize an e-mailcampaign in conjunction with a letter drop to notify consumers that mail will be coming."
Once-wary competitors, email and printed direct mail advertising have moved closer to one another following the postal anthrax outbreak. If these new-found allies haven't exactly vaulted across the digital divide and embraced yet, they have at least shaken hands and acknowledged their common goals.
While the convergence of email and printed direct mail appears to be a logical step, there are major obstacles to that happening as quickly as marketers would like. "Having email addresses for typically only 30% to 40% of their customer base, even the most sophisticated email marketers will not be able to quickly shift their direct mail efforts to email," Forrester warns.
To facilitate this, the Council for Responsible Email, the largest coalition of email service bureaus, list providers, and marketers, has created a committee to help direct mailers append email addresses to their mailing list files. Accomplishing this goal may not be simple or inexpensive. While Forrester recommends marketers "encourage consumers to receive their emails by gathering email addresses at all customer touchpoints," other tactics including postcard requests and capturing email address via customer service or telemarketing agents - will also be necessary.
Even with a robust email database, the migration of a message from direct mail to email still poses problems: The email format isn't tactile, like a beautiful catalog, or portable without a device. More disconcerting is the spam glut. By 2006, the average user will receive 1,400 spam messages, according to a Jupiter Media Metrix study. Forrester has noted that many recipients have trouble distinguishing between spam and opt-in email.
H. Robert Wientzen, DMA chief executive, believes, ``Email is growing as a marketing tool, but it will grow as an additional channel, not as the only channel. I don't think that email will ever fully replace direct mail.''
Still, email marketing firms are reporting increased interest from new and existing customers. Encouraged by circumstance to coordinate instead of compete, email and direct mail may yet emerge together as strong partners.
Copyright © 2001 Susan Breslow Sardone