By Mike Schultz and John Doerr

Mom says sometimes it's best not to follow the crowd...

Remember Mom's admonition when as kids we asked to go on those risky little adventures because all our friends were doing it. “If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you?” she'd ask.

We knew she had a point. Over time many of us took her advice to heart. Well, if we did, why do we continually jump off the proverbial bridge of business fads just because everyone else is doing it?

The latest follow-the-crowd quest is to save thousands of dollars in marketing by using email marketing in place of the old stand-bys of direct mail and direct selling. And why not switch everything over to email blasts - it's cheaper, it's easier to coordinate, and we don't irritate our prospects and clients by sending out all that junk mail and making constant phone calls. It costs 50 or more cents to reach buyers by snail mail and only 2-3 cents by email. But maybe, just maybe, email campaigns aren't always all they're cracked up to be.

Let's start with finding good names to email. After all, we know the three keys to effective direct mail are list, list and list. If you haven't been collecting your own emails you have to go find someone who will rent you good prospects with deliverable addresses. Anyone who has tried to use rented lists for email campaigns has experienced, at least once, the frustration and anger of renting what they thought were good names - only to get zero positive responses.

Direct mail can look pretty good in comparison:

Cost: Emails lists are getting more and more expensive ranging in price from $300 to $500 and higher per thousand addresses. Standard direct mail lists still average $90 to $150 per thousand.

Deliverability: Undeliverable email addresses or bounce backs are on the rise – in many cases 20% or higher, due to anti-spam software and frequent email address changes. Most snail mail list owners will guarantee a deliverability rate of 95%.

Pass-through: Undelivered e-mail doesn't reach anyone. If you send paper mail to a company and the person has moved on you usually get the replacement.

Spam trend: 75% of Americans are in favor of making unsolicited emails (spam) illegal. This is up from 49% just two years ago according to a recent Harris poll. Direct mail is still called junk mail, but when was the last time you heard public outcry?

Stickiness: If a prospect doesn't want your message, she just clicks it away. And even if she does read it, she is the only one. Direct mail, especially catalogs, can hang around and around and around. Lots of people will see it.

Brand: Email is easy to send - so easy everyone in the company seems to have their own marketing campaign with poorly written copy, unclear or nonexistent offers, and no coordination of who gets what. Our brands are getting killed. Direct mail pieces take time and thought to produce because they cost so much and they often enhance our brand image.

Volume: Everyone is doing email marketing, and the trend is rising quickly. It's hard to get through the clutter. Direct mail volume is down 25% from two years ago. There is a lot more room to get your prospects' attention.

Attention: You get two seconds (or less) and one line to appeal to the email recipient. At least with direct mail you get 5 seconds and an entire page to catch your prospects attention.

Now we should not all abandon email marketing - that would have us all jumping off another bridge together. Many email marketers will, however, benefit from the realization that the basic principles of good direct marketing apply whether it is electronic or paper. You need the right list, offer, appeal, timing, and brand communication. In this regard, many company-wide email marketing strategies need a hard look.

On the other hand, multitudes of “forward-looking” companies still have old-fashioned direct mail as a key ingredient in their marketing mix. Why? It still works. The principle behind any marketing campaign is to get Attention, to elicit Interest, generate Desire, and to move a prospect to Action (AIDA). Direct marketing catalogues, brochures, letters, and postcards, when employed correctly, can and usually will produce all four responses predictably and cost-effectively.

So out with the new and in with the old. And as long as the old guy still has something left to offer, the paper trail of direct mail still belongs in your marketing arsenal. Oh, and tell your mother she was right.