Mailbox Status Report: Where Did All My Junkmail Go?
By Roberta Rosenberg on Nov 1, 2008 in Occasional Rantings
Not only do I play a direct marketer in real life, I’m also a direct marketing consumer and have been forever. By now I should be swimming in catalogs and sorts of B2C and B2B direct mail offers, at home as well as my biz box.
Except for Capital One whose campaigns must be being funded by gold since they’re still mailing me heavily, the rest of the levels, shall we say, are anemic at best. I’m sure a forest of trees has been saved, but it also makes glaringly apparent the fear and expense being shown by marketers this holiday season.
(To be fair, I was at the biggest local mall in my county and there wasn’t much action in the stores either. Everyone seemed to be there for the food court, not the sales – of which there were many. We received so many deals at Sears that I was waiting for them to hand me my merchandise. AND give me $10 just for coming by.)
What about you? Are you seeing less action in your own mailbox? If not, who’s in your mailbox this holiday season?
Graham Strong | Nov 3, 2008 | Reply
Ha – “What’s in *Your* Mailbox?” Classic!
Now that you mention it, there does seem to be less. But it is also bigger — catalogues, magazines, etc.
Seems to be less in my inbox too…
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post..The Art of Perception (Part III): Are Customers Getting The Right Perception of Your Business?
Dean Rieck | Dec 20, 2008 | Reply
I specialize in direct mail, so I’ll just confirm that mail volume is down. Costs are higher. USPS is laying off 40,000 workers. The economy is leading mailers to cut back. But some reports indicate that response rates are up … less competition.
There’s always a silver lining.
One weird observation: I’m getting 2 to 4 identical catalogs from many mailers. Same catalog. Same day.
Dean Rieck’s last blog post..How to write the “classic direct mail package”
Roberta Rosenberg | Dec 20, 2008 | Reply
@ Dean, less competition is great but at what cost to the mailer? Postal rates rise again next year and I got socked with a paper price increase on an exact rerun of previous project in less than 3 months.
Still, if I’m the only one in the mailbox …