Ourategrous Opinions: Email Vs. Direct Mail?

 

“Mom.”

“Mom!”

“MOMMM!!!”

“What Hibba?! I just got into the bathroom!”

“The bank sent you a mail asking you whether you want to get your billing s-s-stat-stat-stay-stayt-”

“-Statments.”

“Yeah, whatever those thingies are called, in paper mail or email. Can we do email? Can I have your email password?”

“What- no! Now let me go to the bathroom!”

Hello everybody! It’s your friendly neighborhood debater, Hibba, and welcome back to my blog. Yeah, I know what you're thinking: Oh wow, she  really was an annoying 8-year old,and you know what? I couldn’t agree anymore! 

Via www.giphy.com

Anyways, today’s topic- assuming you didn’t read the title- is email versus mail!

In my personal opinion, I think direct mail, or snail mail as some of you prefer to call it, is much better than it’s electronic counterpart. While it might seem strange for me to say that, just keep reading- and you’ll soon understand why.

 Reason #1: Mail is much more legitimate.

You can go wherever you want, but they can promise you that oh-so-original: We understand how you feel! We promise we won’t spam you 🥺”. And it’s not even two weeks before you hit that tiny unsubscribe button on the bottom of their newest message.

According to an infographic I found on mailboss.com, a whopping 81% of emails are spam/junk. When was the last time YOU complained about getting too much in your mailbox? Like- never! Even most promotional newsletters are monthly, meaning you don’t get bombarded by them.

Direct mail is much better for more private or personal resources, but it can still be used for commercial uses. According to www.proactive.marketing, the average life of an email is just two mere seconds, while it’s real-life counterpart enjoys a nice seventeen days. Snail mail also generates a nice 4.4% response rate by customers, compared to email’s average 0.12% average response rate- that’s something that companies need to look out for.

Reason #2: There’s more room for creativity.

Fonts, text color, and emojis just don’t make the cut. How are you supposed to explain the funniest situation in the whole world to your bestie?

Like this ❓❓😂

Via giphy.com

Unfortunately, not even a gif could help explain the true “funny-ness” of that situation in your basic template of an email.

The power of paper and pen (and possibly graphic design if you're going to print it), doesn’t compare to the standard template of your regular Yahoo or Gmail message. In the middle of a letter, you can draw pictures, you can make your letters bold or make them fancy. You can see the passion in the letters that you write when you read it- that just doesn’t exist in your standard Arial font.

Reason #3: It’s memorable (because, it’s personal!)

Hand-written letters are viewed as more intimate, and personal. That’s something everybody wants to get- doesn’t matter whether you’re a company marketing sandals, or just an angsty 14-year-old writing a thank-you letter to your grandmother for her hand-knitted pair of Christmas socks. Despite the differences between these two authors, they both know that to successfully get the letter across, and to work, it has to be personal.

Just ask those on the receiving end- only 44% of people could remember an email they say, but 75%, that’s three out of every four, people could remember a piece of direct mail!

Photo credits to the Postman’s Knock!

And now, I’ve come to an end here. Hopefully, I’ve been able to convince you which method of communication is better:  snail mail, duh! Sure, I might be siding with your 96-year-old grandpa, but hey, at least you now know why.

Now, it’s your time to decide! What do you think is better? Email, or direct mail? Why? Is snail mail really a thing of the past? Or is email just the new way of life? You tell me in the comments below!

Happy debating!

-Hibba