Volume 55, Number 2

TOO MUCH INFORMATION (?)

I​n the olden days, I would mail out a printed Hype & Jive newsletter more or less every month.   I never knew how many tri-folds wound up in the trash without even having been read.  In my self-delusion, I imagined that EVERYBODY read every witticism and were all suitably impressed. :-)

In this day of marvelous technology, however, one can tell exactly how many people OPEN an email and how many people actually CLICK THRU to watch a video.  More to the point, one can determine all the recipients who DELETED an email without bothering to UNSUBSCRIBE.  This sort of precise snd unequivocal feedback is....well, sobering.  For example, for a perfectly wonderful video I sent around a few days ago, the open rate to date has been 37% with a 9.9% click rate.  Seems discouraging--except that the average "Marketing & Advertising" statistics are a 16.48% click open rate and 1.74% click rate.   In other words (for you math-challenged creative types), the industry average for every 100 emails in less that two people watching/reading your message.  By those industry standards, Gary Jones Video is doing "pretty good."

Alas, I miss the days of printing bulk rate postage stickers, dumping the printed newsletters into a mail box, and reveling in self-delusion. :-)  Of course, one can IGNORE the email program reports and remain blissfully ignorant of the challenge of direct email...but where's the fun in that. :-)