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out of direct mail
Do-it-yourselfer Zairmail is a top web advertiser
By Marty Beard
Direct mail remains a proven and widespread marketing tool, yet it has its disadvantages, primarily a slow turnaround time.
The notion of "internet time" may have lost some of its cachet in the wake of the dot.com implosion, but it has nonetheless seeped into every facet of the business world.
And it now promises to accelerate direct mail, much as it has sped up all communications.
One internet-based direct-mail service, Zairmail.com, has become a top online advertiser.
For the week ending Sept. 30, Zairmail was the No. 9 advertiser online, generating almost 91 million impressions and getting exposed to a unique audience numbering 1.3 million, roughly 1.8 percent of the body of active web users.
Zairmail.com lets marketers compose their mailings in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat. Users then upload their documents to Zairmail’s web site, and from there they are printed at any of the company’s regional printing facilities.
The documents are merged with a mailing list, purchased either from Zairmail or provided by the consumer. The letters are then printed, assembled, and shipped out via U.S. Postal Service at the cost of 49 cents for a one-page black-and-white letter sent via Standard A delivery, or 99 cents for a one-page color letter sent first class.
The total turnaround time for a Zairmail direct mailing, the company says, is usually 24 to 48 hours, compared to three weeks for a traditional direct mail campaign.
Additionally, individual consumers can also use the service to send up to two free personal letters a day. The catch, of course, is that recipients receive a packet full of coupons and special offers in addition to the message.
Zairmail's clients include the NAACP and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Zairmail was founded in 1999 and is based in Portland, Ore.
There are similar services out there, including one called NetPost that lets mailers send out custom postcards as well as other mailings. The U.S. Postal Service provides links to both Zairmail and Netpost on its web site.
Zairmail’s high ad impression numbers were generated through banners placed on MusicCity.com, which was the No. 7 ad domain for the week ending Sept. 30. MusicCity, which offers file-swapping software, recently became one of the targets of an anti-piracy lawsuit from the music and movie industries.
Zairmail launched this new campaign on major web sites starting Sept. 14. The simple blue banners feature the message, "Send bulk postal mail from your computer."
Also in the rankings, news organizations’ web sites continue to pull in lots of traffic in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
CNET.com was the No. 25 overall domain, with an audience of 2.5 million unique visitors.
And The New York Times’s web site, NYTimes.com, came in as the No. 19 ad domain, with 19 million impressions, followed by No. 20 Time.com, with 14 million.
|
Top 25 Properties |
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| Property |
Unique |
Reach % |
Time Spent per Person |
| 1. AOL Time Warner |
38,258 |
50.9 |
0:15:53 |
| 2. Yahoo |
30,225 |
40.3 |
0:26:10 |
| 3. MSN |
29,180 |
38.9 |
0:21:07 |
| 4. Microsoft |
10,080 |
13.4 |
0:04:39 |
| 5. Lycos Network |
8,890 |
11.8 |
0:07:45 |
| 6. Excite@Home |
7,193 |
9.6 |
0:13:49 |
| 7. eBay |
7,160 |
9.5 |
0:36:00 |
| 8. Walt Disney Internet Group |
6,545 |
8.7 |
0:13:26 |
| 9. Google |
6,029 |
8.0 |
0:06:07 |
| 10. eUniverse Network |
5,884 |
7.8 |
0:07:59 |
| 11. About-Primedia |
5,747 |
7.7 |
0:05:12 |
| 12. Amazon |
5,297 |
7.1 |
0:07:43 |
| 13. CNET Networks |
4,596 |
6.1 |
0:05:32 |
| 14. American Greetings |
4,192 |
5.6 |
0:06:59 |
| 15. InfoSpace |
3,981 |
5.3 |
0:05:29 |
| 16. AT&T |
3,701 |
4.9 |
0:11:06 |
| 17. Ask Jeeves |
3,551 |
4.7 |
0:04:50 |
| 18. ClassMates Online |
3,437 |
4.6 |
0:04:43 |
| 19. EarthLink |
3,304 |
4.4 |
0:06:06 |
| 20. iWon |
2,996 |
4.0 |
0:27:50 |
| 21. GoTo.com |
2,605 |
3.5 |
0:02:31 |
| 22. Vivendi Universal |
2,495 |
3.3 |
0:08:58 |
| 23. Gator.com |
2,467 |
3.3 |
0:05:05 |
| 24. iVillage |
2,451 |
3.3 |
0:07:55 |
| 25. EA Online |
2,407 |
3.2 |
0:56:10 |
| Source:
Nielsen//NetRatings
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Top 10 Advertisers |
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| Advertiser |
Impressions (000) |
Unique |
Active |
| 1. Yahoo |
291,637 |
18,752 |
24.97 |
| 2. Microsoft |
284,494 |
19,897 |
26.49 |
| 3. Providian Financial Corp |
234,325 |
25,444 |
33.88 |
| 4. AOL Time Warner |
225,611 |
19,076 |
25.4 |
| 5. Bertelsmann |
207,275 |
16,359 |
21.78 |
| 6. Nextcard |
153,629 |
13,599 |
18.11 |
| 7. Classmates Online |
145,733 |
16,268 |
21.66 |
| 8. Citigroup Inc |
94,632 |
15,745 |
20.97 |
| 9. Zairmail |
90,923 |
1,357 |
1.81 |
| 10. Sony Corp |
78,557 |
18,693 |
24.89 |
| Source:
Nielsen//NetRatings
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Top 25 Domains |
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| Domain |
Unique |
Reach % |
Time Spent |
| 1. yahoo.com |
28,762 |
38.3 |
0:26:26 |
| 2. aol.com |
27,043 |
36.0 |
0:13:06 |
| 3. msn.com |
26,153 |
34.8 |
0:18:55 |
| 4. passport.com |
13,842 |
18.4 |
0:02:42 |
| 5. microsoft.com |
9,617 |
12.8 |
0:04:37 |
| 6. ebay.com |
6,804 |
9.1 |
0:35:34 |
| 7. go.com |
6,389 |
8.5 |
0:13:35 |
| 8. geocities.com |
6,134 |
8.2 |
0:04:11 |
| 9. google.com |
6,024 |
8.0 |
0:06:06 |
| 10. netscape.com |
5,753 |
7.7 |
0:09:51 |
| 11. excite.com |
5,488 |
7.3 |
0:15:34 |
| 12. amazon.com |
4,984 |
6.6 |
0:07:09 |
| 13. cnn.com |
4,288 |
5.7 |
0:10:24 |
| 14. msnbc.com |
3,607 |
4.8 |
0:07:53 |
| 15. lycos.com |
3,459 |
4.6 |
0:09:43 |
| 16. classmates.com |
3,437 |
4.6 |
0:04:43 |
| 17. about.com |
3,338 |
4.4 |
0:03:53 |
| 18. iwon.com |
2,996 |
4.0 |
0:27:50 |
| 19. compuserve.com |
2,976 |
4.0 |
0:18:12 |
| 20. earthlink.net |
2,940 |
3.9 |
0:06:29 |
| 21. tripod.com |
2,754 |
3.7 |
0:03:30 |
| 22. ask.com |
2,685 |
3.6 |
0:05:16 |
| 23. att.net |
2,578 |
3.4 |
0:10:51 |
| 24. goto.com |
2,556 |
3.4 |
0:02:33 |
| 25. cnet.com |
2,508 |
3.3 |
0:04:13 |
| Source:
Nielsen//NetRatings
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Top 25 Advertising Domains |
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| Domain |
Impressions (000) |
Active Reach (%) |
| 1. yahoo.com |
995,502 |
32.43 |
| 2. msn.com |
751,120 |
30.57 |
| 3. aol.com |
369,497 |
30.46 |
| 4. ebay.com |
139,720 |
5.62 |
| 5. netscape.com |
125,252 |
7.08 |
| 6. lycos.com |
115,487 |
3.62 |
| 7. musiccity.com |
107,490 |
1.96 |
| 8. go.com |
84,970 |
6.64 |
| 9. att.net |
42,010 |
2.66 |
| 10. monster.com |
72,759 |
1.84 |
| 11. pogo.com |
76,085 |
2.32 |
| 12. cnn.com |
40,197 |
4.47 |
| 13. compuserve.com |
34,156 |
2.91 |
| 14. excite.com |
54,471 |
3.87 |
| 15. netzero.net |
27,579 |
1.42 |
| 16. msnbc.com |
28,393 |
4.96 |
| 17. cnet.com |
21,823 |
2.57 |
| 18. fastclick.net |
17,269 |
4.54 |
| 19. nytimes.com |
19,713 |
1.45 |
| 20. time.com |
14,498 |
2.01 |
| 21. looksmart.com |
24,153 |
1.93 |
| 22. audiogalaxy.com |
28,582 |
1.04 |
| 23. mapquest.com |
20,344 |
2.49 |
| 24. drudgereport.com |
11,435 |
0.78 |
| 25. mail.com |
9,703 |
0.25 |
| Source:
Nielsen//NetRatings
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Top Ten Banners |
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| Advertiser |
Impressions (000) |
Unique Audience |
Active Reach |
| 1. Classmates Online |
129,789 |
12,906 |
17.18 |
| 2. DietSmart |
34,347 |
9,434 |
12.56 |
| 3. Nextcard |
46,492 |
7,997 |
10.65 |
| 4. Bonzi.com Software |
35,344 |
7,717 |
10.28 |
| 5. BMG Entertainment |
61,687 |
7,495 |
9.98 |
| 6. eDiets.com |
12,746 |
6,935 |
9.23 |
| 7. Orbitz |
27,937 |
6,907 |
9.2 |
| 8. Providian Financial |
17,926 |
6,344 |
8.45 |
| 9. Debticated Consumer Counseling |
20,160 |
6,067 |
8.08 |
| 10. BMG Entertainment |
53,481 |
5,803 |
7.73 |
| Source:
Nielsen//NetRatings
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|
Average Usage |
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|
Current Week |
Last Week |
% Change |
|
| Number of Sessions per Week |
6 |
6 |
0 |
| Page Views per Week |
214 |
212 |
0.94 |
| Page Views per Surfing Session |
34 |
34 |
0 |
| Time Spent per Week |
3:17:00 |
3:13:21 |
1.89 |
| Time Spent During Surfing Session |
0:31:41 |
0:31:08 |
1.77 |
| Duration a Page Viewed |
0:00:56 |
0:00:55 |
1.77 |
| Active Internet Universe |
75,100,137 |
73,786,146 |
1.78 |
| Current Internet Universe Estimate |
169,355,382 |
169,225,512 |
0.08 |
| Source:
Nielsen//NetRatings
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October 11, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Marty Beard is a staff writer for Media Life.
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