Sandra Clark: Knox TN Today mailer saturates Powell

Folks in ZIP 37849 found an 8-page, full-color newspaper in their mailbox today. It was Volume 1, Number 1 for Knox TN Today. But those expecting to find our usual writers were disappointed. The mailer is part of our marketing campaign to promote the website KnoxTNToday.com – and that’s where the writers are.

In June, we’ll send a mailer to all homes in Halls ZIP 37938 and parts of Fountain City; in August to South ZIP 37920; in late fall to Farragut and its county ’burbs – an area so big we had to halve it – ZIPs 37934 (Town of Farragut) + 37923 (Bob Gray/Dutchtown area) = 9,659 in October; ZIP 37922 (southwest Knox County) = 15,182 in November.

In the article, Sandra says it costs $3,000 to mail an oversized post card to 10,000 homes, "And that’s about our cost to print and mail an 8-page broadsheet newspaper to 10,000 homes." To place an ad, call Sandra at 865-661-8777.

Sandra says the KnoxTNToday.com website remains her primary focus for editorial content: "We’re conceding, though, that the future lies online. Our goal, my goal, is to have folks countywide click KnoxTNToday.com first thing each day."

Some might think a direct mail component is outdated and obsolete. They would be wrong.

Just yesterday I was listening to Bloomberg Radio in my car and heard a report from the National Postal Forum by Paul Sweeney, U.S. Director of Research and Senior Media/Internet Analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence (listen here at 5:20 in).

Sweeney participated with Chief Marketing Officers from a variety of industries in a panel discussion about direct mail. He said they are taking a "holistic" approach to advertising that includes direct mail because they can't put all their eggs in one basket, and direct mail helps build and maintain customer loyalty.

He said "digital fatigue" from online, email and in-app ads has "created an opportunity for traditional mail-based promotional channels," noting that direct mail has a higher response rate than email for many sectors, especially from their most loyal customers.

It appears KnoxTNToday.com may be ahead of the curve in tapping an underserved market that big advertisers are just now rediscovering.