Many companies have adopted policies to become more paperless. There are several reasons for this. The two biggest are they are forced to do it legally, or the companies feel an obligation to be ecologically friendly. Whatever the reason, paperless is growing, and many believe this to be a good trend. Because of this paperless trend, the use of direct mail has shrunk by a wide margin. You may have noticed yourself receiving fewer flyers and other junk mail in your mailbox. Another reason could be that companies feel direct mail no longer works because of the internet. In reality, direct mail is still a very effective form of advertising. Savvy marketers are using this misinformation to their advantage. They are using direct mail because they know it works, and they know that others believe that it doesn’t. But it brings up an interesting dilemma, what if more businesses catch on that it still works? The ramifications could cause local ordinances to take more action against companies that overtly benefit from direct mail. They will need to define what is acceptable use and what is defined as abuse. They will also have to determine what penalties to enforce. If the penalties are not stringent enough, companies may choose to simply pay them. This provision assumes that their direct mail marketing brings in more money than they get charged from the penalties. One thing is certain, as more businesses catch on that direct mail is not dead, its use will grow. This growth means more of those annoying flyers in the mail. What may eventually happen is consumers who are concerned with the negative ecological effect of this trend, may favor companies that do not abuse the practice. Of course, that will take a conscious effort on the part of consumers to identify the culprits as well as the responsible companies.
