Why Direct Mail Still Wins
I found this on a site that I enjoy reading from time to time.
A recent study by International Communications Research, commissioned by Pitney Bowes, found that consumers still prefer receiving promotional information and private communications the traditional way: delivered by the mailman.
When surveyed, 45.3 percent of study respondents viewed delivered mail as less intrusive than e-mail, while 40.2 percent considered it more convenient and felt the materials could be saved and considered at leisure.
- 73 percent of respondents prefer to receive new product announcements and offers from companies they do business with by mail.
- 70 percent prefer receiving unsolicited product and services promotional info by mail.
- 86 percent choose mail over e-mail for private communications such as bills, bank statements and financial reports.
- 31 percent of consumers are less likely to discard unopened mail, including brochures, catalogs and advertising materials, while 53.2 percent report they discard unsolicited e-mails about new products.
So the next time you are considering marketing budget cuts - be careful about your direct mail campaigns. Internet marketing is good but a coordinated internet/direct mail campaign could tip the scales in your favor and pump up your ROI for weeks after an email would die in the spam folder.
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Comments
Mark,
My experience may only be anecdotal, but I think that the same statistical information applies. I have found that email marketing is less effective with the youth market for a few reasons.
First, many use MySpace and FaceBook as their primary email source. This allows them to only get emails from their friends and helps to eliminate spam. The other reason is that they typically use spam filters with more frequency than other users (sometimes those filters are even turned on automatically in the software provided by their ISP).
Also, this may seem childish, but the younger groups get excited to receive mail with their name on it. It is an identifiable indicator of adulthood. Of course this eventually wears off, but for a while - it is a nice feeling to think that someone wants your business. I remember getting my first apartment and getting mail addressed to me at my address. It made me feel “Grown Up” - now its just shredder feed.
I say this is anecdotal because this is from personal experience as well as information that I have gleaned from the hundreds of teenagers and 20-somethings that are a regular part of my life. Plus, direct mail coupon for $10 off a pizza is easier to magnet to the refrigerator than an email.
But, to answer your questions, no I didn’t see the data broken down by age - but I too would be interested in seeing how that works out. I am such a geek that I would like to see it broken down by region to see if location makes an impact.
Mr. Administrator,
I think that’s you, Tony 
You make some really valid points about the pitfalls of emails to GenY and I definitely consider personal experience to be a great guide in this realm. My experiences are very similar to those you describe, pizza coupons on the fridge and all.
However, as a fellow geek that enjoys numbers and data, I just don’t like seeing “findings” being used improperly, and with lack of context (Do we even know if this is a US study?) I would much rather just leave this study out of the conversation.
I do, however, appreciate your response and the insightful information you provided. (Which, I may add, was very nicely put into context by the comment itself and can be easily expanded upon by reading this blog or checking out your company’s website.)
Keep sharing your experiences!
Mark,
I think you may be right. I think statistical data without context is pretty useless (It reminds me of the big Dihydrogen Monoxide scare a few years back). I really posted this as I thought it was interesting and reinforced my own views. Of course this means that I violated the most sacred rule of journalism (even though I don’t see myself as a true journalist, merely a commentator).
I officially retract the initial statement including the stats, but I still believe that direct mail is more effective to the Gen-Y and what I am calling Gen-i. I do think that direct mail is the most effective direct marketing medium when used as a part of an overall and comprehensive marketing strategy.
I did find an interesting conversation on the subject at elearnspace.organd also over at CNET.
Now please don’t think that we take ourselves too seriously here. I have been a hack programmer for 20 years and a professional designer for 15 (I am 32 now - I learned BASIC before it was cool j/k). We joke and say that we make junk mail for a living (which puts us right above spammers and below lawyers on the food chain).
But really what we call junk mail is effective. It does work and we have ROI stats to prove it. We are a marketing agency that uses direct mail as a part of an overall marketing strategy. If it stopped working, we wouldn’t be out of business - we would just forward those funds into e-mail marketing, internet marketing, events or TV or whatever is working. So please don’t misconstrue my statement as being a self-promotion plug. It was just sharing of information.
Thanks for participating - I dig the dialog
An official retractment. Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever had that effect before. Kind of scary…
I really do appreciate you taking the time to follow up with this. The points you’ve presented are a far more convincing stance than anything I gathered from the study.
I especially like your open attitude towards finding the right fit across different media. Seeing people that “only have a hammer” makes me nervous, and your openness adds to your credibility.
Look forward to hearing more about what you see working in the industry!
Thanks again for the dialog.
I would be interested in (and actually just sent off an email requesting) the demographics behind this survey. I’d say it’s safe to assume we aren’t talking GenY, but exactly who are we talking about that still prefers mail?
I believe the demographics of the survey are crucial to ensure that its results even pertain to the demographic you may be marketing to and without their presence I take these results with a high degree of skepticism.
Just my 2 cents…I’ll revisit if I get any additional information about the survey.