Is junk mail really junk?

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We help many practices get their message out to existing patients, potential patients, referring docs, etc.

There are hundreds of ways to communicate a message. One way is using good ol’ fashioned snail mail.

When we discuss the relative pros and cons of mail, we frequently hear “nobody looks at that stuff; it’s junk.”. While it is true than many people don’t look at non-personal mail, it is also true that some people do.

Remember the movie You’ve Got Mail? It stars Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, and was released in 1998. Back then, stuff  that appeared in your email in-box was pretty special and you were often excited to get email. Plus, back in 1998, postage was cheaper than it is now and “junk mail” volume was significantly higher.

Fast forward to 2016. Now most email that appears in your inbox is terribly annoying. I know I receive several hundred emails every day even after unsubscribing from everything and using aggressive spam filters. But snail mail volume has decreased, and in many cases marketing mail is better designed and more targeted to the receiver. I receive several pieces of marketing mail every week that I find pretty interesting.

One of the things we love about mail is the ability to target. We can mail to patients with certain demographic qualities; we can mail to practices of specific specialties and sizes. And of course with mail we can target by geography, which is a very important criteria in health care. When we have a good idea of the message to be communicated, and who the target audience is, we are able to create mail pieces that are very effective.

Boy, the tables have turned. Email is junk, and snail mail is special.  Whoda thunk??

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