Does Physical Presence Have Any Room in Today’s Digital World?

In today’s age, everywhere you turn, you see the push toward digital marketing and advertising. Web browsers use complex algorithms and tracking software to tailor your ads to your personal tastes. Your inbox fills with solicitations, and your social media accounts get banners, updates, and other ads.

Electronic retailing is just as ubiquitous. We buy and sell online, reserve hotels and plane tickets, and review the goods and services we use, all without ever touching a piece of paper.

To see all this virtual commerce, you would think that’s the only way business is done anymore. But you would be very, very wrong.

The traditional means of handling business–specifically, doing it on paper–is not obsolete. There is obviously a large share of the market that prefers electronic methods, largely for convenience.

Yet there persists a large group of people and purposes for which paper has no substitute, and it’s in those situations where presenting yourself on quality stationery with a professional mail envelope makes all the difference. Neglecting this physical presence of your business can be far more damaging than the electronic world would have you believe.

Look at a few of the ways that physical will always beat virtual:

Durability

The downside of all electronic commerce is that its ease of use is equaled by its ease of disuse. In other words, the email that is so easy to send is just as easy to delete.

Paper is different. When you send business by paper mail, the recipient has a tactile reminder of your work. Even if the plan is to throw it away, the letter likely lies around in the car, briefcase, or desk for a little while, giving you the potential for a reprieve fro their immediate response of disinterest. Try doing that with an email.

But it isn’t just about sticking around for the customer to have a change of heart. It’s also about the customer who does have an interest. Imagine going to a trade show and writing up a quote for a customer. You tuck it into an envelope, smile and tell them you’ll be in touch. After a long day of visiting vendors, the client unpacks everything from the trade show and sees your professional envelope with professional content inside, and you have instantly reminded them of the great impression you made at your booth.

Verification

You’ve heard the expression that if it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen. The reliability and credibility of paper are without equal. Retention of records is critical for everything from litigation to tax audits, and if you are going on the cheap with your envelopes, you may not be able to preserve the legibility of addresses, postmarks, and receipt verification stamps.

And even in the course of normal business, this will matter. Imagine a city accepting sealed bids for ten new garbage trucks. The potential sale here is huge for the sales representative, so it’s critically important that his or her bid be received on time and in a legible format. If the city official can’t read a receipt stamp or postmark because the sales rep used a cheap envelope, the benefit of doubt may not be exercised, and the sale may go elsewhere.

Image

Your image is such a big part of your chances for success. While it may be exhilarating in your early days of business to produce some DIY envelopes, this should be one of the first areas that you upgrade when your finances tolerate it. By the same token, you can certainly reach more customers for less money with an email campaign, but again, when money allows it, you should go with hard copies.

A big reason for this is credibility. Customers of all types are wary of even the most believable emails these days. Hackers and spammers have accumulated and generated enough quality clip art that their products look convincing. When your company has invested in quality envelopes, good stationery, and the postage to send them, it has taken on a mantel of reputability that will build far more revenue than cheap alternatives will.

One of the most important skills a business operator needs to have is the ability to strategize when to save money and when to spend money. It’s the difference between an expenditure and an investment.

While a lot can be done electronically in business these days, much more work should be left to paper. Without it, it is tougher to preserve, verify, and market your business.