Snail Mail in 2012—Should Restaurants Even Bother?

When was the last time you received a handwritten letter, note, or other piece of correspondence via postal mail?  If you’re like most people, it has likely been quite a while.  In fact, “snail mail” is really a dying art.  With technological advances like email, texting, instant messaging, and even electronic cards or “e-vites,” most people no longer take the time or effort to send anything via postal mail.  

There are certainly pros to this.  Electronic mail is free and easy to send, especially when you have a large mailing list.  What once took businesses hours to do can now be done within a few short minutes, especially with database services that allow all communication and client contact lists to be streamlined in one easy software package.  These types of services have been proven effective in staying in constant contact with your customers and can be managed easily on a low marketing budget.  

However, it is important for restaurants to understand that while electronic communication is a great way to market to clients, the benefits of traditional mail in restaurant marketing shouldn’t be overlooked or ignored.  The primary reason you should continue to use traditional mail in restaurant marketing is the same reason that “snail mail” catches your eye when you receive it—it stands out.  

Most people’s email inboxes are full of mail on a daily basis, forcing them to sift through spam constantly.  Not only does this get annoying—it can become overwhelming.  For this reason, many people set their spam filters to keep out any mail that isn’t from close and personal contacts, which means that the email you might be sending for your restaurant’s marketing has a high likelihood of being unread or ending up in someone’s junk email folder.  

So don’t give up on the idea of traditional mail in marketing your restaurant.  While it isn’t something you’d want to send as often as email, it can be highly effective in making sure you get people’s attention.