Junk 'mail' - nuisance or opportunity - Essay Example

Junk mail – nuisance or opportunity? BY YOU YOUR ACADEMIC ORGANISATION HERE HERE HERE Junk mail – nuisance or opportunity? Direct mailing in marketing, often called junk mail, can be sent in many different types of forms, from the catalogue sent to generic household consumers, to electronic mail sent as a promotion for a product discount. The idea that consumers in society have associated the name junk to direct mailing tends to show that there is a great deal of negative thought about these types of marketing tools.

“Irrelevance remains a major problem…consumer feedback is plain: ‘Send me something I’m interested in, or shut up” (Thorpe, 2008, p.38). Junk mail can be sometimes sent to the wrong consumer audience because the business did not conduct enough research about who their potential buyers are. For example, it would not make sense to send direct mailings in a mass strategy when there is only a fraction of the population with the cash resources to buy your product. At the leadership level, direct mail can be a disadvantage if the business does not have a well-trained and knowledgeable marketing staff able to ensure the information is targeted correctly.

A recent study identified that many consumers would not even bother to open a piece of direct mail if they noticed an obvious mistake (McLuhan, 2008). This would require the company to closely monitor issues of editing and content when developing the direct mail literature. Sometimes these are sent out to third party printers, which make error correction and checking prior to mailing very important. Even in the electronic mail environment, if the information has grammatical errors it can be a serious disadvantage to company reputation.

This is especially true considering that three quarters of all consumers surveyed said they would not even open the junk mail. There are advantages to junk mail, however, including growth in sales coming from catalogues. “The catalogue is seen as something of a renaissance marketing tool” which generated sales of over £3.6 billion in 2004 (Marketing Week, 2005, p.37). This means that there are consumers who are attracted by the look and pictures of catalogues or they simply find them to be convenient methods to order merchandise.

For the older consumer who might be intimidated by the online environment, catalogues sent to this group will likely have more sales results. Growth in the Internet across the world continues to climb as nations become more developed and have better electronic infrastructures. With more people online, this represents more marketing opportunity to reach more audiences and find more sales growth. Even though modern spam filters in consumers’ email accounts tend to block nearly 98 percent of what is considered spam marketing, this is an excellent way to achieve more sales simply through exposure.

The messages which are not automatically tossed into the electronic junk mail file still reach the consumers’ inbox and some of these likely generate interest if they are relevant to their income, lifestyle, or personal values related to the product being promoted. Junk mail can be a major advantage, despite its disadvantages. ReferencesAbbott, Richard. 2008. Direct marketing leagues, Marketing, London. 2 Apr 2008, pp.29-33. Viewed 20 Nov 2009 at http://proquest.umi.com.bakerezproxy.palnet.

info/pqdweb?index=0&did=1500879611&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1259294933&clientId=4682Marketing Week. 2005. Direct marketing: An old medium that’s still vital in the new economy, London. 24 November, p.37. Viewed 20 Nov 2009 at http://proquest.umi.com.bakerezproxy.palnet.info/pqdweb?index=13&did=1903810201&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1259295139&clientId=4682McLuhan, Robert. 2008. Missing the target, London. 1 Oct 2008, pp.38-34. Viewed 20 Nov 2009 at http://proquest.umi.com.

bakerezproxy.palnet.info/pqdweb?index=5&did=1586935741&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1259295185&clientId=4682Sanghera, Sathnam. 2006. And now, a word of appreciation for spam, wonderful spam, Financial Times, London. 24 February, p.10. Viewed 19 Nov 2009 at http://proquest.umi.com.bakerezproxy.palnet.info/pqdweb?index=82&did=992873531&SrchMode=1&sid=5&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1259295336&clientId=4682