Because People Are Different

I’ll borrow our tagline from Silverlink Communications – Because People Are Different – to follow-up on my post on direct mail from yesterday.  The first commentor makes a good point.  Certainly e-mail doesn’t work for everyone.  Nor does the phone (although it is generally ubiquitous today). 

The reality is that different segments require different modes of communication.  The question is how to figure that out. 

• Do you ask people for their preferences…realizing that many times people don’t know what they want or need?
• Do you look at historical behavior to predict what will work best for people like them…realizing that healthcare is intensely personal and while predictive may not be indicative…and people’s healthcare behaviors change over time?
• Do you pursue a cluster approach – i.e., send multiple modes simultaneously…realizing that this isn’t very cost effective?
• Do you pursue a strategy of sequencing – i.e., call then e-mail then letter – and which pattern works best…and what spacing between modes works best?  (This will vary by message, objective, and audience.)

And, the question that I surprisingly don’t hear many people ask is why is there so much direct mail when we as a culture are generally more interested in being environmentally aware than ever (although we still have a long way to go).  Why kill a tree when other modes are more effective, less expensive, and offer better consumer insights?