Why Direct Mail outlasts dire predictions of its demise

Two major factors account for direct mail’s continuing (and in some sectors growing) popularity: It’s “new” again when compared to email and other digital messaging avenues; and it increasingly is being used in tandem with digital marketing to create a more successful 1-2 marketing punch.

Epsilon, an influential global customer intelligence company, revealed some interesting and very supportive statistics on their blog, including:

• “73% of U.S. consumers and 67% of Canadian consumers said they prefer direct mail for brand communications because they can read the information at their convenience. Additionally, 62% of Americans and 63% of Canadians said they enjoy checking the mailbox for postal mail – Epsilon’s 2012 Channel Preference Study”
• “59% of U.S. respondents and 65% of Canadian respondents agreed with the following statement, ‘I enjoy getting postal mail from brands about new products’ –Epsilon’s 2012 Channel Preference Study”
• “80% of marketers surveyed plan to invest in direct mail in 2013. 28% reported increases in their dm budgets – Target Marketing Magazine’s Media Usage Forecast 2013”
• “U.S. advertisers spend $167 per person on direct mail to earn $2,095 worth of goods sold; a 1,300% return – Print Drives Commerce 2013”

According to Avrick Direct, a 57-year established data compilation company, 54% of mailed postcards are read by recipients (Source: Direct Marketing Association Statistical Fact Book 2012).

XTMotion.com, a web and marketing specialist firm, states the case eloquently for using both direct mail and digital avenues: “But the reality is that one offline marketing tool, direct marketing, is experiencing something of a renaissance thanks to growth in the online sector. More and more web-based or web-reliant businesses are finding that digital and direct can in fact complement each other. Direct marketing, and primarily direct mail, is becoming increasingly utilised in many different business sectors to drive quality traffic to a website, where the real conversion then takes place.”