It (Better Be) in the Mail…

Has the Internet finally saturated America? Based on data gathered from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the answer may well be yes. It looks like the proportion of America adults who aren’t connected to the Internet has stabilized at around one-fifth of the population. And the vast majority of those enjoy broadband access at home. No surprises here, right?

Yet in addition to the “common knowledge” of the ‘net as a multi-purpose customer touchpoint for marketing, sales and service, this data indicates something else of interest to brand marketers and customer experience experts as well.

There is still a significant portion of the population that many marketers cannot ignore. Though skewing older, less educated and less affluent as a group, their buying power is still substantial.  And the marketing touchpoints that will get them to sit up and take notice don’t reside on a CRT hooked up to the World Wide Web.

Though we’re not huge proponents of broadcast brand building, the direct marketing ability of TV is proven, as is print direct.  As with any brand strategy or marketing effort, knowing who your customers are and how to best reach each segment is the key to drawing them through your customer relationship lifecycle; from awareness and acquisition to satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy.

Still, with 93% of the under 30 crowd online and connected, I’d think twice before positioning any new products to an audience that’s literally dying off…