Is Direct Mail Becoming … Extinct?

In this day of supersized technology, marketers and business owners might be starting to second guess their direct mail marketing. It is easy to see why direct mail is under the microscope, with e-mail campaigns, blogs, and Web sites with links to and from all areas of the Web, direct mail just looks so … yesterday.

Or is it? The goal of marketing has always been to reach prospects and customers alike, with campaigns that resonate with them and their needs, as well as to enforce the message or brand the marketer is trying to convey. A well thought out marketing campaign, may or may not include various forms of media, i.e. radio, TV, billboard ads, mass transit advertising, direct mail, and now E-mail campaigns, blogging and Web marketing. The point is good marketers have always layered their plans with multiple forms of marketing, with the goal of reaching many different prospects and customers, over a wide cross-section of demographics. Isolating marketing plans to just E-mail or Web marketing campaigns may not reach all of the intended audiences. Remember, there are still many prospects and customers who have not yet embraced all that technology has brought forth, and direct mail is still an excellent tool to reach out to this group.

I guess when all is said and done, I will continue to create a marketing plan that incorporates all that technology affords me, but direct mail will still hold a spot in that plan!!