Electronic-marketing providers are offering Web-based alternatives to businesses concerned about the anthrax scare's effect on their direct-mail marketing campaigns. But given the immaturity of E-marketing software and services, some observers question whether the Internet has the same reach and impact of direct mail.

PennWell Corp., a Tulsa, Okla., media company, uses direct marketing to reach magazine subscribers. The publisher expects a 10% drop in subscriber responses due to concerns about the safety of postal mail, says circulation manager Christine Poulter.

Many in the online-marketing arena have been vocal in promoting the Internet as a safe alternative to snail mail. Gartner is advising companies with direct-mail programs to turn to the relative safety and cost-efficiency of the Internet.

To help move businesses online, BigFoot Interactive Inc., which sells E-mail marketing systems, last week put out guidelines for E-marketers while encouraging them to integrate E-mail into their campaigns. In an effort to make marketers feel more secure, E-mail list-management software maker L-Soft International Inc. this week will make available free virus-checking tools from F-Secure Corp. as part of its software.

Direct marketer Brann Baltimore, which uses both online and direct-mail marketing, notes that many of its customers have been thinking about the impact of the anthrax scare on their marketing efforts. But none of Brann Baltimore's clients have eliminated direct mail or made drastic changes in their overall marketing plans, says company VP Mark Capps. One reason: The reach of E-mail isn't nearly at the level of direct mail. "There are hundreds of millions of postal addresses, but only 20 to 22 million E-mail addresses," he says.

Marketers that haven't yet built up a database of customers who opt to receive electronic messages must buy those E-mail names and then send out unsolicited mail to unqualified prospects. Marketers will say that's no different from sending unsolicited paper mail, says Forrester Research analyst Jim Nail, but companies could be perceived as spammers.