Remember email when it started?
I do, waiting for the exciting little tone to say a new email had arrived – Yippee! ‘We are really at the cutting edge now…‘
The anticipation and excitement that we could communicate without having to interrupt some one with a phone call, or print off a memo then stand by a fax machine whilst it was sending was a revelation. The paperless office and all the benefits that come with it.
Seems a very long time ago now and very difficult to imagine running a business with out it. But sadly it has gone though the same cycle as nearly every other form of communication, – print included, where marketers, salespeople and selling in general grasp hold of a new tool and grind away at it until it’s use is completely saturated with scattergun approach to prospecting.
How excited to you get when you receive an email? How many times do you simply delete if you don’t recognise the sender? Probably more often than we realise, in the same way marketing material used to fall through the door every day and then straight into the bin (Apart from the occasional letter that catches your interest)
So email has been devalued so much we simply dont take any notice, they have little value, the cost is negligible so this leads us to value it as such.
Print has seen a resurgence, not junk mail, though it will always have a place. But targeted, personalised and clever ideas will often grab attention. Something print can offer which electronic services and specifically email is a tangible product that can include ideas, shapes, popups, finishes, weight and visceral qualities that only some with handling the communication.
An envelope, with a prospect’s name on it, perhaps square proportions (Different to the norm) with a bespoke sticker to seal it closed but most important a large lump or bump in the middle suggesting there is something inside that is worth looking at will always capture the interest – it is human nature. We can’t resist opening up to see what is inside – a bit like birthdays, Christmas and the like – we all want a pleasant surprise – the smart solution is to make sure they aren’t disappointed.
There is a place for email and perhaps in a few years we will see that become more prominent again, as it is convenient but a combination with tangible marketing, designed from the beginning to supplement one another will always deliver better results. Whether it is prospecting or simply corporate/SME client communication – we can help you create that campaign.