Direct Mail Marketing Versus Email Marketing: Pros and Cons

Direct mail advertising and email marketing: which one is best for your business? Well, it could really go either way and it’s dependent on your business and the strategies that you use. However, there are many advantages and disadvantages to each method and it’s important to know which one is best for what time and purposes.

Below you will find the pros and cons of both email marketing and direct mail marketing.

Direct Mail Marketing Versus Email Marketing

Direct Mail Marketing Campaigns

The pros and cons for direct mail are far more extensive than this list, but here are just a few to get the ball rolling.

• Pros

  • Direct mail has come a long way from the traditional, boring postcard that you get from your dentist every time you have an appointment coming up. With technology such as variable data printing and things like QR codes, direct mail can be engaged on a completely different level than before.
  • Direct mail can instill a personalized feeling in the recipient that can’t be matched with an email. People feel as though you put in more of an effort to send them a physical piece of mail and consider it to be more important.

• Cons

  • It’s not always easy to build a reliable direct mail list because people aren’t as willing to give out their physical address as they are their email address. Not to mention people move and don’t always think to update you.
  • While direct mail can pay off substantially in the long run, it tends to cost more upfront compared to email marketing. You have to purchase paper, ink, templates, and contract a printing company as well.

Email Marketing Campaigns

As with direct mail, email marketing has its benefits and downfalls.

• Pros

  • Email marketing is probably one of the least expensive avenues to use in your campaigns. That also means it tends to have a higher ROI than other methods.
  • Sending an email is instantaneous compared to the average week-long wait for direct mail. That means you can send out next day promotions and reach your target audience at a much faster rate.

• Cons

  • Despite all the benefits of email marketing, it is becoming less and less effective with time. In fact, when it comes to making purchasing decisions, 92% of people state that they prefer direct mail. That could be because there is something inherently “spammy” about email marketing and people’s diminishing trust in the content.
  • Emails often don’t look as good as you want them to compared to the look and feel of direct mail.

When it comes down to which one is better for your business, the truth is that you should probably continue to use both. You may lean on direct mail marketing campaigns more but you shouldn’t stop using email marketing altogether. Find what works for you and use it.

Looking for a printing company to handle your direct mail marketing campaign? Give us a call today.