My thoughts on direct mailing and why it still works. And why the Nigerian email scam is actually brilliant.

I may be one of the very few people that peruses junk mail when it arrives in my mailbox.
I am fascinated by what people are trying to sell me everyday, and the ugly design of most of them, reminds me of what NOT do in my design work.

Case in point, a couple of years back, during the housing downturn, the envelopes started coming.
"Official" looking mailers, from lawyers and "financial institutions" and "equity firms" promising you a home modification loan, a reduction of principal, a government assisted program that could pay off your loan, even a letter declaring that the White House was going to send the Governor of your State to personally deliver a check to you - okay maybe I am exaggerating a little on the last one - or am I?

Well, one day, I decided to find out more about one of these companies purporting salvation from the world's wills.
I looked them up online by their business name on their mailer  and surely enough found them on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website  - in the worse possible way. They had a F rating and there were dozens of complaints and pending lawsuits from angry and disgruntled customers.
Obviously I would never in a million years give them my business. Who in their right mind would hire them?  And why did they continue sending these expensive mailers to homeowners professing their skills and expertise? They must have known of their bad reputation. It did not make sense.
But I thought about a little and it made perfect sense.
This is why direct mail can be effective even if its for nefarious reasons.
Firstly, they know you cannot refuse it. It will land in your mailbox whether you want it or not.
Secondly, (in this case) they personalize it. Everyone looks at mail addressed to them. In the homeowner's "scam" they got your name and address from public records that show exactly how much you paid for the house, and when you bought it.  And lastly they know the odds are with them. Many homeowners would open their envelopes out of sheer desperation.
You see scammers  don't aim for people like you and me - people who are going to do their due diligence. They literally bank on vulnerable people that believe in their outrageous claims. The more outrageous their claims the easier it is for them to fleece the poor people when they call.
It's the same thinking behind the Nigerian email scam. All you need to do is give them your account number and you will  be wired $5.3 million (or whatever the going amount is) from a bank in Lagos. They know if you are stupid, ahem, vulnerable enough, to believe such outrageous claims they can manipulate you in any way they want.

So what's my point in all of this? Well I believe because of the deluge of solicitous emails we receive daily (including Nigerian scams),  I predict companies will start investing in more expensive and more sophisticated direct mail. And with all the expensive mail will come the con artists and scammers. Be alert and do your due diligence before giving anyone money.

And if you are a legitimate company and you have something of real value to offer and you have a beautiful mailer,  you stand a real chance of getting your message across. And nowadays, that's quite a feat.