Spam refers to things we receive in the mail but do not request, ie, unsolicited mail. we use the term when referring to physical and electronic mail. Direct mail and direct marketing companies spam hundreds of millions of people around the world every week.
Companies use this type of mail to present new products, magazines and investments. local restaurants and food delivery businesses also send spam to nearby residents. charities send letters to people requesting donations.
In advanced economies, such as the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Japan, and Australasia, physical spam is big business. ‘physical’, in this context, means mail that we can touch; in envelopes in other words, the mail that arrives at our front door.
Junk mail – a lifeline
In fact, most national postal services would probably have a hard time surviving without junk mail. it’s a lifesaver for them.
since the advent of the internet, emails and electronic communication applications, people have used traditional mail much less.
Internet or network is a global network of networks that interconnects computers all over the world. it’s more like the physical postal system, but operating at the speed of light.
Traditional mail means physical mail, that is, sending letters in physical envelopes with stamps, and using postal workers to deliver them, etc.
Nowadays, most of us communicate online, be it by writing, speaking or by video conferencing. we even pay most of our bills and do our banking online.
however, we still receive large volumes of physical mailings. A postal item is a piece of mail, usually promotional material, that is sent to many people at the same time. mailings are a type of spam.
merriam-webster has the following definition of the term:
“unsolicited mail consisting primarily of promotional materials, catalogs, and requests for donations.”
junk versus spam
There are two terms, junk mail and spam, which have very similar meanings, but which we use in different situations.
spam
Spam also refers to sending unsolicited letters to many people. however, spam only occurs online. You may receive spam via email, chat applications such as whatsapp, skype, and social networking websites.
Companies, political parties, charities, and other entities use spam to promote their products, ideas, or raise money.
Sometimes, people send spam for sinister reasons. they may want to infect your computer with malware or a virus, steal money from you, or embarrass you. Made up of the first half evilicious and the second half softwareware, malware is software that a programmer has deliberately designed to be harmful.
spam is also a brand of canned cooked meat sold by hormel foods corporation. It is made up of pork, ham, salt, water, potato starch, sugar and sodium nitrite.
spam
Spam refers to unsolicited email sent by companies, charities, political parties, and other entities. however, unlike spam, the term can refer to both traditional and electronic mail.
In the early days of the internet, we used the term extensively when we talked about spam. however, the “spam” appeared and began to take over.
Nowadays, the term “spam” dominates when talking about things in the digital world. we still see the word “garbage” online. for example, in many email applications, there is a “junk” folder, that is, a folder for spam.
video: what is spam
in this video from alpha graphics tucson, chuck zaepfel talks about spam. he begins by explaining that most of us, when we collect our mail, make two piles. one pile is for letters that matter and the other pile is for mailings and other “junk”.
If you’re promoting a product, where do you want the email you send to land? you want it to land on the stack of letters that matter.
To maximize your chances of that happening, you need to use a good direct mail company, Chuck says.
interesting related article:
- “what is email marketing? definition and examples“
- “the 5 worst mistakes companies make when sending a press release“