The recent anti spam legislation has done absolutely nothing to stem the flow of spam into our in-boxes. Not that I ever expected it would. As all of the spam comes from outside New Zealand, all this legislation has done is put back the uptake of legitimate email marketing by New Zealand companies.

We are way behind when it comes to using ‘new media’ marketing channels which, when used properly and ethically, can be more effective than traditional methods of direct marketing. It seems many NZ businesses are now just too scared to exploit this low cost, fast and effective marketing tool.

Today I got spam letter into my PO Box from a local shopfitting company. I call it spam because it fitted with the characteristics of email spam – unsolicited, unwanted and irrelevant.

Because this is a more expensive method of marketing, it would make sense to avoid some basic mistakes inorder to increase the chances of success.

Here are the 5 basic mistakes this company made in their direct marketing letter:

1. Sent it to someone with no interest in the product.
2. Didn’t address it to an individual.
3. Spelt the company name wrong.
4. Abandoned relevancy for shock tactics – the letter was headed: “Third and Final Notice” – like a payment demand letter.
5. Highlighted a negative statement – “I haven’t heard from you and must now WITHDRAW THIS OFFER” was one third the way down the letter, underlined and in caps.

At this point the letter made its way quickly into the recycling bin, as will everything else that comes through from this company in future.

What a waste of resources, time, money and reputation.

Posted on April 29th, 2008 by Wendy Riley-Biddle
Filed under: Marketing