Gmail has over 425 million active users, and they just gained more power than ever before when it comes to deciding what emails they want to receive or never see. Recently Gmail rolled out its new inbox feature which separates your inbox via tabs.
The default tabs are:
· Primary
· Social
· Promotions
Primary includes messages from Friends, Family, and your Contacts. Social includes messages from any social media site. Last, messages with deals and offers will appear in the Promotions Tab. For most marketers, this is where the message will end up – overlooked and deleted.
Marketers need to see the dollar signs. If you can't rely on your message reaching your prospect through Email/Gmail, it stands to reason that you need to go with the one you can trust - Direct Mail. There is no other marketing approach which puts your message directly in the hands of your recipient.
People are smarter, they research before purchase, and they pick and choose how they want to receive marketing materials. But marketers can't afford to sit around waiting to be found via search. The marketers' job is to put that message directly in front of the prospective customer. Again, that's the beauty of direct mail.
The rules of the game keep changing and marketing tactics evolve or devolve by their success. Take a look at the Do Not Call List, Anti-Spam Laws, and now Gmail's new inbox features. It's time for marketers to go back to the roots of Direct Marketing and use the method that's guaranteed to get the message across!
