As postal rates continue to inch upward, it places the question into business owners' minds: What really needs to go out with the mail?

Legal notices, health insurance statements or tax documents will still need the mail, said Thomas Harpointner, the chief executive of Atlanta-based AIS Media. But the higher postal rates get, he said, the more a trend advances for smaller businesses going electronic for its marketing and day-to-day business operations.

"Paperless statements have been available for awhile now. We'll see a trend among smaller business now following those initiatives," Mr. Harpointner said. "It was more expensive in the past to implement those kind of systems. E-commerce early on was pricey, but now virtual storefronts are inexpensive."

E-mail marketing continues to get traction, Mr. Harpointner said. The draw is not only the cost, but e-mail can be tracked and analyzed better than the junk mail in the mailbox. Mr. Harpointner's firm sells software that tracks electronic marketing.

"Direct mailers argue that much of the e-mail sent out gets weeded out through spam filters or is instantly deleted. That is true. A percent of all marketing will be that way," Mr. Harpointner said.

"Many consumers today open their mail over the trash can. Many of the envelopes they receive in their mail box never get opened."

There's still a lot of direct-mail marketing out there. "Number one are the financial institutions. The biggest of them all is Capital One," Mr. Harpointner said. Just in the last few days, he personally got two credit card offers from the firm.

"Just like the internet isn't going to close retail stores, e-mail isn't going to completely replace direct mail," Mr. Harpointner said.

Reach Tim Rausch at (706) 823-3352 or timothy.rausch@augustachronicle.com.