How to keep your message OUT of the landfill

On an average day, every US citizen gets six pieces of direct
mail.  You don’t have to be a green fanatic to figure out that’s a
LOT of trees.

I have no problem with honest businesses using
direct mail as a marketing strategy (we use it all the time). It
can be extremely effective if done right.  Sometimes there’s no
better way to reach just the customers you want.

What does bother me is pointless waste, both from a green
perspective AND from a marketing budget perspective.  There are a
LOT of marketing dollars going straight into the landfill, and
that should annoy any business owner.

Consider the 200-page, glossy catalog of high-end printing
supplies I receive every quarter.  Hello? Have you checked your
database lately?  I am NOT a potential customer!

And the credit card offers.  From the SAME company.
Every. Single. Day.  And not even in just a plain envelope.  Now
they occasionally throw in…pointless bubble wrap (to cushion the
paper? Why???)  I’m sure some consultant told them that soft,
squishy envelopes are more likely to be opened.  Personally, it
makes me unlikely to ever want to do business with them, as I feel
they have no respect for their customers — or for the planet.

Changing from a mail strategy to a web-centered strategy can save
postage and printing costs.  Consider recycled papers and soy inks
for your next campaign.  Think about if it’s really necessary to
send your entire customer base a detailed catalog–when a postcard
might just do the trick.

Your customers won’t consider your message “junk mail” if it’s
relevant, timely and gives them information they can use.  So
think about how you might be able to “green up” your marketing. 
Efficient, effective marketing is good for the bottom line…and for
the earth.