12 May 2010
George’s top tips: sales letter versus email

No matter what your feelings towards technology are, there’s no denying the fact that e-marketing and electronic campaigning has altered the face of business communication forever, be it B2B or B2C.
Email-base campaigns are great if:

1. Your budget is small

Email is the cheapest (and most instant) form of communication in existence

2. You are targeting hot prospects

If you already have a relationship with your intended recipients, they’ll more than likely be fine with an email from someone they know.

3. Your customers have given expressed consent

This means that they ticked a box, sent an email asking for information, or filled in a form expressly giving you their email address.

4. You want a detailed analysis of how your communication was received

Find out who read your email, at what time, how many times they opened it, and a host of other finite details that will better arm you for your next “come buy” offensive.

5. You want control over how the communication is received

You can time when an email is sent right down to the minute. Tuesday mornings is when we’re at our most receptive, according to the boffins.

6. You have thousands of people to reach

It’s not just that stamps taste hideous and paper cuts are too nasty to endure, but there’s also the factor of time. Set up your mail blaster, press a few buttons and lift-off will be yours.

7. You’re environmentally-conscious

And why not say so in the email?

They’re not so great when...

1. You’re trying to woo cold customers

A strange email from an unknown recipient lands in your already-overcrowded inbox. What do you do? Enough said.

2. You don’t want to play the numbers game

OK, so if you’re sending out a gazillion emails, it’s likely that a certain percentage will respond. But if your target audience is smaller and the numbers game doesn’t appeal, email may not be the answer.

3. Your customers have only given implied consent at best

Refer to point 1 above...

4. You want to build a relationship from scratch

And again!

Sales letters are great if...

1. You want to make cold customers sit up and take notice

It’s easy to disregard and then delete an email without even opening it. But have you ever done that to a hand-addressed, hand-stamped letter that’s landed on your doormat?

2. You have a bit more money to spend, but for a good return

By their very nature, letters sent in the post are more costly, but if you weigh up the risk of having your emails deleted without the message even being delivered, it may be worth it for a smaller number of recipients.

3. You don’t want to irritate a potential customer before you’ve had chance to get your message across

This is probably more one for the psychologists, but it’s almost a given that for whatever reason, an email invading your private patch of cyber space measures far higher on the annoyance scale than a letter.

4. You want an outside chance of your message being read by the majority

Next time you get a hand-written, hand-stamped letter arrive through your letterbox, see how long you can resist opening it for.

5. You want to flatter your prospects

Now we all know that e-marketing tools can personalise emails, but we also know that all it takes is pressing a few buttons. And as for when you put slightly the wrong information into one of the cells, you’re done for. For example, how often do you write to a Dear John Smith? With a letter, it’s a living, breathing, human being who has taken the trouble to find out your details and put them in a letter, not a machine.

Sales letters let the side down when:

1. You want to keep cost, time and effort to a minimum.

Sales letters require initial layout, but may still boost sales.

2. You want detailed results for future reference.

Sales letters will never compete with email on this.

3. You don’t want to waste paper.