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| Surprising Results - The Second DM News/Pitney Bowes Direct Mail Survey |
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December 2008
Greetings!
Should Marketers Trim Their Direct Mail Campaigns?
Judging by the survey results, the answer is: definitely
not! Even though many experts maintain that
consumers greatly prefer email, the survey found that
50% of the respondents actually enjoyed reviewing
their mail more than they enjoyed working through
their email in-boxes. 85% of consumers review their
USPS mail daily.The high percentage of mail-readers was present even in the 18-39 age group. This contradicts the popular belief that the only way to reach young consumers is through their smart phones, email, or social networking sites. Apparently, they like getting physical mail too. "OK", you might say, "But just looking at the mail isn't the object. Responding to offers is what counts." I agree. I was blown away by the data that indicated as many as 94% of consumers said they took action on promotional offers or coupons they had received over the last year. 94% is a pretty compelling number. Now of course that doesn't mean that consumers responded to every offer they got. Three-quarters of the survey respondents said that they responded to less than 11% of the total number of offers they received. As we've been telling our clients, your messages need to be relevant and compelling to generate reasonable results. But to know that almost all consumers respond to something that comes in the mail to them should be encouraging. Given my personal experience with direct mail offers, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that many of the 89% of offers that consumers received and didn't respond to were poorly-targeted or somehow failed to communicate effectively. (Read last month's newsletter, "What WERE They Thinking?" in the archives to hear about some examples.)
What Are the Trends?
It was clear from the survey that consumers are highly
price-sensitive today. 69% of them report that price is
more important to them this year than it was last year.
No surprise there! So guess what? Coupon use is
up.Between 30% and 66% of survey respondents said their coupon use increased over last year on purchases of groceries, health products, entertainment, electronics, auto parts, office supplies, and travel. And direct mail was the delivery system for coupons most preferred by consumers - 78%. Email came in second. Even though they've been done for decades and may seem like "old school", the importance of direct mail coupons and promotions shouldn't be dismissed. Nearly two-thirds of the consumers surveyed said they are examining their mail more closely for coupons and offers than they were a year ago. Now, considering that almost half of the consumers say they receive only 1-5 offers a week, those marketers that are sending direct mail are getting some pretty exclusive attention when their pieces are delivered. I don't think anyone doing only email marketing could say the same.
Using Direct Mail to Begin a Business Relationship
Receiving information in the mail prompted 37% of
consumers to do business with the mailer for the very
first time. Almost twice that number said they renewed
their relationship with a business in response to a
direct mail piece.Non-profits get similar results. Getting someone to contribute the first time is the toughest part. According to the survey, 37% - 44% of consumers across all age groups made first-time donations prompted by appeals that were delivered via direct mail.
Increasing Direct Mail Marketing Looks Like an
Opportunity Sincerely,  Mike Porter
Print/Mail Consultants
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