Transitioning from Print to Email
Whether the concern is green (as in reducing their environmental impact) or green (as in saving money), many organizations are considering the transition from print publications to email. Me, I love my print, but it’s hard to ignore email’s potential benefits.
The benefits include:
- Cost savings. Using email exclusively eliminates the cost of printing, shipping and postage. One of Priority Integrated Marketing’s large clients saved 71% by switching to email. Now, that was versus a print run in the millions, but even organizations with small print runs can usually expect to save by switching from print.
- Immediacy. Email hops, skips and jumps over the time it takes to print, process and deliver a publication via snail mail. That means fresher content.
- Measurability. It’s pretty difficult to figure out whether a print publication has a desired effect, other than including bounce-backs like coupons, business reply cards or dedicated call center phone numbers. With email, you can easily track the number of clicks, opens and links back to your website.
- Effectiveness. According to a survey conducted July-August 2009 by MarketingSherpa, email marketing effectiveness is still strong.
Email Do’s and Don’ts
If you decide to switch to email:
- Don’t simply turn your print publication into html. Email is read differently from print. That means rethinking the headlines, the lead paragraphs, the length of articles and the graphics.
- Don’t make a pdf of your print publication and send it out. It is not a user-friendly format for reading or interacting online.
- Do use an email service provider who is well-versed in best practices for collecting and managing email addresses. (Shameless plug here: read Priority’s email benchmarking study.)
- Do make sure you comply with CAN-SPAM rules regarding opt-outs for subscribers.
- Don’t go cold turkey. Dropping your print publication and going straight to email could alienate some of your most loyal customers or members. Instead, consider an integrated marketing campaign that uses a combination of print (like postcards or mailers) and electronic (like opt-in buttons on your website) to reach the widest audience possible in the manner they prefer. Even if you decide to transition completely out of print at some point, give your audience time to get comfortable with the new format.
