Direct mail marketers face several challenges. First and foremost, they get no respect. Almost everyone refers to direct mail as junk mail and many think it is bad for the environment. Second, their business has been negatively affected by the current economic conditions. The credit card companies who were responsible for mountains of solicitations have fallen on hard times and reduced their mail volume. Third, e-mail is replacing some direct mail as it is cheaper and offers the same measurability as direct mail. And now there is news of Postal Service carriers who did not deliver the mail entrusted to them.

According to a recent Associated Press article, one Postal Service carrier stored third class mail in his garage for six years. He was placed on probation and fined $3,000 but an e-mail marketing firm, MailChimp, paid the penalty. AP reported that Ben Chestnut of MailChimp said, “We’re doing everything we can to stop junk mail.”

3 Responses to “E-mail 1, Direct Mail 0”
  1. This kind of reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer refuses his mail and gets called in front of the Postmaster General.

    The fact is that there will always be direct mail - just less of it as new media proliferate.

  2. Great PR move by MailChimp, which I think is a partner (offspring?) of our beloved SurveyMonkey. How often do you get to bail out federal criminals and look good doing it? But remember what happened to Kramer when he tried to stop the mail.

  3. [...] Read more here:  Marketing Analytics » E-mail 1, Direct Mail 0 [...]

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