USA Today: Retailers Use (Cheaper) E-mail to Send Shoppers Coupons
“E-marketing sounds so passé, but this year, retailers are checking their e-mail lists twice to try to juice up holiday sales… What’s the appeal of e-mail pitches? They’re cheaper and quicker than print inserts or direct mail for reaching millions of shoppers. E-mail messages’ average cost is about $7 per consumer response, vs. $48 per response for traditional direct mail. And retailers can craft and send a promotion in about half the time it would take to print and distribute traditional messages.”
ClickZ: Oops! How to Handle E-mail Mishaps
“Mistakes happen. It’s a fact of life, even in e-mail. While it’s best to avoid them, once they occur the best you can do is deal with them. Here are three recent examples of e-mail mistakes that companies big and small had to deal with. We’ll cover two even more serious mishaps in the next column. Some companies’ responses passed with flying colors, while others…well, let’s just say you can learn from them. Whenever there’s a mishap, there are three questions you should answer before you act to correct it: What effect did this have on the recipient? What is the potential downside? Does the potential downside justify action?”
DMNews: Marketers, Consumers Benefit from Broad, Measured Campaigns
“Whether it’s on a mobile phone, an e-mail inbox or a social network profile page, the personal space of a consumer is coveted real estate. This week, we had a chance to look closer at one of the most fundamental personal spaces: the mailbox. The results of this year’s DMNews/Pitney Bowes direct mail survey are a good reminder of the power of a tactile medium. Most consumers have a spot for mail on a kitchen table, desk or on the refrigerator, allowing offers to occupy a regular place in homes across the US. What’s more, the findings suggest that mail works as a sales driver.”
MediaPost: Banks Fight Poor Image With Direct Mail Pieces
“Banks are fighting bad news headlines with messages of their own in the form of direct marketing. According to Mintel Comperemedia, the country’s banks sent 42% more direct mail solicitations in the third quarter of the year than they did during the second quarter. Moreover, the 53 million offers sent during the third quarter of 2008 was nearly twice the number sent during the same period in 2007.”
