There was a time when the term direct marketing was virtually synonymous with what others called direct mail marketing. Over the past two decades, the DM vista broadened to the point where one no longer could assume that doing direct marketing meant marketing by mail. For some, the lion's share of their marketing dollars were dedicated to other media.
In certain individuals' minds, mail had become DM's less glamorous stepchild. A few short years ago, online marketing was the darling of the industry, and telemarketing was booming. But more recent developments suggest the business communication/marketing landscape is about to change again.
Several states, and soon the federal government, will require businesses to remove from their lists the names and phone numbers of those who opted out of telemarketing campaigns. “Do not call” will have the force of law, and one of its side effects will be to reduce the value of telemarketing as a DM option.
It also seems a good bet that, before too long, similar bans will be put in place for unsolicited e-mail campaigns. No such restrictions exist for businesses that choose to market by mail, and the development of anything like a do-not-contact list for mailings isn't likely.
The “why” of my proposition should be easy to understand. The recipients of phone calls and e-mail must pay to receive telephone or Internet service. So it's not hard to convince policy makers that recipients deserve the right to say who should or shouldn't contact them.
With the mail, it's different. Those who receive mail aren't the ones who underwrite the costs of the postal system; it's those who send it who pay the fees. And the contract with the U.S. Postal Service assures that once postage is paid by the sender, the article will be delivered to the intended recipient.
Whatever might happen in telemarketing and Web marketing, mail probably will be the communication alternative that remains the least encumbered by regulation. And despite all that's been done to digitize America, mail will, for now, be the only medium that makes it possible to communicate with every business and individual in the nation.
Perhaps then our industry will come to a newfound regard for mail as a tool for enterprise. No more the stepchild, but rather the preferred medium for doing business in America.
GENE A. DEL POLITO is president of the Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) in Arlington, VA.
