In a nutshell, it means direct mail is not dead. Sometimes, it must be used, even though technology has made it much easier (and cheaper) to communicate with current and potential constituents.
More and more schools are using the tools technology provides to improve not only their curriculum, but also the way they communicate. News items regularly convey information about 1-to-1 computer initiatives becoming a reality (like this one, with an iPad for every child -http://ow.ly/4Cmiw), and schools are creating new Web sites for their schools with free tools (like WordPress) which make great looking and interactive sites. Even 5 years ago, these tools didn't exist - or, if they did, they were not used as prolifically as they are today.
Schools are also moving forward with improving their communication with constituent groups, and eNewsletters are being distributed to segmented lists by such services as Constant Contact, iContact, mynewsletterbuilder, and MailChimp, just to name a few.
But with new tools come new rules. Using a hammer requires a particular amount of awareness and skill, but using an air gun requires a heightened awareness of the potential benefits and the potential dangers it poses.
The same holds true for email marketing. You can't just take email addresses and send copies of your eNewsletter to them. Well, you can, but doing so amounts to "spamming." Most conscientious Internet users view spam as mail from individuals or companies trying to sell watches, pharmaceuticals or services to recipients. It's the electronic equivalent of junk mail, and there are electronic filtering devices that weed out much of the spam from our inboxes today.
And that's where your marketing efforts can run into problems.
If a recipient's computer doesn't recognize your school's email address, then it may flag the document as spam. There are some spam filters that are set to file any transmission that comes from a free email service (like hotmail, gmail or yahoo) as spam.
But say your email gets through the spam filter to some intended recipients, they open it, and decide they never want to hear from you again. They can put you on a "Do Not Contact" list - which means nothing you send them will ever get through to them via email at that email address. The Anti-Spam Act of 2003 (http://www.spamlaws.com/federal/108hr2515.shtml) allows recipients to block any transmission from you. More and more email marketing vendors are improving their service to their customers by informing them when a recipient has placed them on their "Do Not Contact" list. If that happens, the service will not send an email to that individual.
What's more important is that you can't attempt to send an email to the address that you have on file for that individual. Interestingly, if, somewhere down the road, one of those “Do Not Contact” folks begins to develop a relationship with your school through another channel, and requests to be placed on your email list, the individual cannot be contacted at the blocked email address. Therefore, it's very important to still capture all pertinent information about a constituent - name, address, phone number and email.
Some eNewsletter services today provide a signup box that just requires a name and an email. Those are the tools of the spammer. Avoid them. Use a service that provides the opportunity for individuals to provide you with their contact information, along with alternative ways to get in touch with them. Then you'll know you'll have several ways of building a relationship between that person and your school.
