Greetings & salutations from your neighborhood survey partners, DataForce Research here!
Whether you engage in online or direct mail outreach for your survey projects, tracking tools, such as Mail Tracking and Email Tracking, have become critical in measuring the performance of your projects. While both serve the purpose of providing insights, they operate in very different realms and offer unique advantages. In this article, we will compare the features of both types of tracking, their use cases, along with the benefits they bring to businesses.
- Real World Engagement vs Digital Metrics: Mail Tracking refers to tracking of direct mail campaigns for items such as postcards, brochures, or surveys, and allows teams to monitor the journey of these physical copies from their location, to their respondents location, as well as seeing which pieces of mail were never delivered successfully. Email Tracking, on the other hand, allows you to track how people engage with your communications by seeing if it was opened, how long it was opened for, and whether your respondents clicked any of the links within.
- Cost & Scale: In order to have Mail Tracking, you must also incur the costs of mailing physical pieces. While the costs associated with Email campaigns tend to be lower, allowing them to more easily scale, you will notice a decline in your response rates.
- Data Privacy & Regulations: With Mail Tracking you do have regulations, but they tend to be much less stringent and complex than strict Email regulations such as CAN-SPAM, GDPR, consent requirements & opt-out options.
- Personalization & Creativity: The use of Physical Mail allows access to more creative and tangible materials that can leave lasting impressions with respondents, all the way down to the feel of the paper used, which can produce higher response rates. While less creative, Email Tracking allows the use of quicker A/B Testing for determining the most effective approach to your surveys.
- Response Time: Email Tracking allows near real-time data when compared to Mail Tracking, that allows for immediate follow-ups or adjustments to campaigns, creating a more streamlined project experience for both administrators and respondents.
The choice between Mail Tracking and Email Tracking depends on many factors such as your target audience, budget, and survey topics. With Mail Tracking your respondents will receive a physical experience that is perfect for some scenarios, but Email Tracking can offer scalability and real-time insights at a more affordable cost.
In closing, an effective Survey Strategy may involve the implementation of both styles of Tracking.
If you have any questions about which type of Mail Tracking is suitable for your projects, give us a call today for a free no obligation consultation.
Until next time, Data Warriors!
DataForce Research
Businessoffice@dataforceresearch.com