Stop the Insanity! Send me a printed invite, not an HTML email!

Is it just me, or is the email marketing channel getting less useful every day?
To me, there's something about physically opening an event invitation that makes the event seem more real. Yet, I'm typically bombarded with HTML email invitations that - if printed - go on for three pages or more.

I hardly read them anymore.

And I'll only open them if I know from whom they are coming, or if the subject line makes sense.

In The Boston Globe business section, there is an article entitled 'Phishers'" wreak havoc on online banking - The Boston Globe - Boston.com - Business. The article is about spam and phishing attacks on bank customers. According to Javelin Strategy & Research, 55 percent of people who receive an email with their bank's name and email address that asks them to log into their account, will delete it without taking any action. There is so much spam, people aren't even paying attention to customized, personalized emails anymore.

Sure, email marketing is much less expensive than traditional direct marketing, but if you don't make your attendance goals, does it matter?

Meetings and events are too important to your organization to rely on a single channel of communication. Send out those invitations... place a couple of advertisements... and go ahead, send an email or two.

My experience shows that email works much better when tied to your event registration site, for confirmation letters and follow-up information. Once attendees opt-in to your event by registering, they are more likely to respond to your low-cost email marketing initiatives.