Bills and statements can be merged with marketing efforts

Bills and statements could provide effective vehicles for marketing content, one expert has suggested.

Writing for marketingweek.co.uk, blogger Russell Parsons explained that bills/statements are one of the most widely-read methods of communication between brands and consumers.

This provides businesses with the perfect vehicle for pushing out their marketing message in a way that will best ensure it gets read, he claimed.

Parsons explained that whilst consumers rarely look forward to a bill or statement, they invariably get read as people want to ensure everything contained within them is correct. As a result, bills offer almost sure-fire ways of producing content that is going to get read.

This is not just the case for postal bills, however, as more people are opting for paperless systems whereby they are emailed their readings. Parsons suggested that these mailings can be merged with an email marketing campaign in order to offer consumers the bill they were expecting, along with any further messages the provider wants to send.

Parsons went on to reference the new simplified bills being issued by British Gas. Its 'billing for dummies' scheme, as noted on ukpower.co.uk, make bills more attractive and user-friendly - which shows that bills can be more than just stoic lists and figures.

Noting that bills are often "opened, assessed, kept and filed," Parsons urged marketers to consider it more carefully and use it for their related marketing information.