That taboo word is . . . words.

At least it sometimes seems that way to us. All the talk these days seems to be centered on the media, as in “conventional media”, “social media”, “multimedia”, “the new media” and the like. It’s as though we’ve forgotten that the building blocks for marketing communication are words; as in the effective use of them to deliver a marketing message that induces the desired action.

Contrary to what apparently is popular belief, the media isn’t the message .  .  . the message is the message.

How consumers prefer to receive marketing messages

Consumers prefer to receive marketing messages, special offers, and coupons from brands via email more than any other communication channel, according to a recent report from Message Systems.

Here’s the specific percentages:

Email    31.79
Phone    29.43
Other    22.46
Online Chat    9.41
Social Media    6.92

My personal addition to this would be, regardless of the medium chosen – keep it brief.