Talking to a deaf ear?

Posted on | October 24, 2008 |

By Kaira Sturdivant Rouda 

It’s every marketer’s dilemma. You have a great product, but what media channels will get her attention and lead to the sale? SMS texting, e-mail, smoke signals? It’s cluttered out there. If it was up to the consumer, what would she choose? According to new research, it’s good old e-mail and direct mail. 

Even though folks are joining social networks in droves (110 million users on Facebook; 1 in 4 Americans on MySpace), that’s not where they want to be reached. According to a recently published whitepaper from ExactTarget, women ages 18-34 with an annual household income of more than $35K prefer to be contacted by marketers through direct mail or e-mail; they aren’t as interested in receiving communications via text message or television. I’m sure you suspected that. But even younger people are turned off. College students reported that receiving marketing messages via SMS texting was a no-no. It seems Gen Y feels the same way most of us do: It’s an intrusion into our more private communication channels.

Just some food for thought as you’re planning campaigns for ‘09.

Kaira Sturdivant Rouda is the creator of Real Living, the first women-focused real estate brand. She has more than 20 years of experience marketing to women and is the author of Real You Incorporated: 8 Essentials for Women Entrepreneurs. To learn more, visit www.RealYouIncorporated.com and join the community.

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