By Jim Connolly
I have a simple marketing question for you.
If someone invented mailshots or ‘marketing letters’ today, would you or your business actually use them?
Just try to imagine the sales pitch:
“I’m Bob from the Post Office and I want to tell you all about this new invention - mailshots! You know how you can use email to get your marketing messages onto the desk of thousands of people, in minutes, for free? Well, mailshots are unreliable, take days to deliver, cost a freaking fortune and are massively labour intensive!”
Some numbers
My newsletter gets written on my computer and then I press the send button - that’s it! The only real costs attached are the time it takes to write it, plus the cost of the emailing software; which was £200. To send that same newsletter out to my readers via the mail (at maximum bulk mailing discount) would cost me at least FOUR MILLION POUNDS (almost eight million dollars) a year!
My point?
I’m suggesting YOU consider using email to deliver YOUR marketing messages, rather than letters or ‘printed media’. Even if we forget the environmental impact of using all that paper and then sending it via road, rail and air - the time and money you will save is enormous.
Head to head
I know two small recruitment companies; one uses email for their marketing messages and the other uses mailshots. The company using mailshots can only send one mailing, to 1000 people each month - because of the cost attached to preparing and sending each mailshot.
The company using email; sends a marketing mailing to 5,000 people a month - so they reach 5 times the number of potential clients! Also, they mail their list twice a month - because there’s no additional cost! EVERYONE they email has subscribed to them via a ‘newsletter sign-up box’ on their website. This means they are only contacting people with an interest in their business. It also means that their mailing list was free! By mailing that list every 14 days, the list stays up-to-date too; further increasing its value!
If you own or run a small or medium sized business and you want to reach more people, faster and for a fraction of the cost - give email a go!
Filed under: Business development, Marketing, small business | Tagged: email marketing, mailshot, Marketing, newsletters
