Reduced Mail Volumes Means More Visibility for Direct Mail Marketers
Two things occurred recently that had some marketers questioning the state of direct mail marketing in the U.S. The first was the unexpected decline in direct mail volumes brought on by the economic recession, housing and credit crisis. According to the USPS Household Diary Study for Fiscal Year 2008, the number of mail delivered by the United States Postal Service decreased by nearly 10 billion pieces compared to the previous year’s mail volume—a dramatic drop in volume not seen in the industry since the Great Depression. In 2008, the volume of Standard Mail, the most used class for mailing advertising pieces, declined by 4.5 percent compared to 2007’s volumes of that same mail class.
Then, Forrester Research published US Email Marketing Forecast, 2009 To 2014, projecting that marketers will spend two billion dollars on email marketing by 2014, sending more than 9,000 emails annually by then. This news generated plenty of buzz for email marketing and prompted comments which questioned the future of direct mail. And, the proximity of these two nuggets of information led some to conclude that direct mail was dying and would soon be replaced by digital forms of marketing like online advertising, social media and email.
What highly experienced marketers are pointing out, contrary to the chatter, is that now is a great time to experience better ROI and response rates from direct mail. Less clutter and competition in the mail box means recipients are more receptive to, and aware of, relevant direct mail pieces. Additionally, targeting and deliverability is not an issue for direct mail unlike other digital marketing methods.
With direct mail, marketers are able to pinpoint local target audiences better due to the sophistication of demographic mailing lists and tools, like MapMail, that offer precise geo-location of a business’ perfect prospects. Although basic demographic profiles are available to identify email audiences, the actual demographic characteristics vary based on location, time of day, and day of the week.
Direct mail stands strong because it offers high acceptance and deliverability rates. Revealed in the USPS Household Diary Survey conducted in 2007, 81% of households will read or scan direct mail that makes it into their mailbox. Of the 98% of recipients that bring in their mail the day it’s delivered, 77% will sort through it immediately. And, unlike online marketing channels that often face deliverability issues, direct mail will be delivered to any valid physical address come rain, snow, sleet or hail.
Knee Deep in Direct Mail? That’s a good thing. « The Message is the Marketing - February 4th, 2010 at 9:31 am
[...] blogger who proposed this connection is Steve Damman, CEO of QuantumDigital. He also noted the rise in email marketing projected by [...]