Multi Channel Marketing
The benefit of printed, tangible marketing (especially direct mail) is that it can be addressed and with a reasonable degree of certainty will get to the person for which it was intended. The down side is there is no super-simple way to respond to a printed piece. A printed piece by itself is an interruptive monologue.
Email marketing allows for very quick and easy response mechanisms but it has its own issues. Spam and junk mail filters grow more restrictive. Viruses, pornography and lewd sales pitches make people skeptical at non-opted-in email. By itself, email is not a good prospecting tool.
When used in coordinated combination, printed direct mail and email can be a great one-two punch. The direct mail piece warms the prospect or customer to the idea of the campaign. It can alert them that an email is coming. The email offers a super-simple way to respond. Between the two you have approached in a benign and safe manner while giving the easiest, most efficient and cost effective way to respond.
