The Direct Mail Advantage

 

While we love informing you about our digital services, there is still incredible opportunity with direct mail.

Direct mail is an effective way to gain new customers and can compliment and reinforce out of home and digital messages. More than 39% of customers try a product/service for the first time because of direct mail advertising (DMA). According to the USPS, over 60% of direct mail advertising recipients were influenced to visit a promoted website with the heaviest influence being on first-time shoppers. In addition, 87% of adults keep some mail longer than one month. 

In a world dominated by digital media, it helps to understand the psychology behind direct mail versus digital marketing. Market research firm, Millward Brown, conducted a study using MRI technology to see how the brain reacts to different forms of marketing materials. Their neurological research concluded that tangible marketing materials leave a deeper impact on the brain and produce more brain responses connected with emotions. In this way, direct marketing material is often more effective because it generates longer lasting and more significant reactions than those delivered in digital format.

Direct Mail and digital work together

• 44% of marketers are using three or more channels for their marketing efforts.  (1) 
• Direct mail with digital ads yield 28% higher conversion rate. (1)
• Marketing campaigns that used direct mail and 1 or more digital media experienced 118% lift in response rate compared to using direct mail only. (8)
• 90% visit website first before calling or emailing. (5)
• 96% leave without making a purchase. (6)
• Website visitors who are retargeted are 70% more likely to convert. (7)
• 88% of all consumers and 91% of millennials use paper coupons. (4)
• 51% prefer companies to use a combination of mail and email when communicating with them. (3)

People Notice Direct Mail and Act On It

• 70% of adults are curious to find out what’s in their mailbox.  (3)
• 76% of consumers trust direct mail when they want to make a purchase decision and find it more personal than email. In fact, consumers trust traditional advertising channels more than digital channels when making a purchase. (2)
• 7.75% of households usually read, scan, or read some of their direct mail advertising materials. (3) 
• Adding a person’s name and full color in the direct mail can increase response by 135%. (9)
• Direct mail household response rate is 5.1% (compared to .6% email, .6% paid search, .2 online display, .4% social media). This is the highest response rate the DMA has ever reported, since coming out with the Response Rate Report in 2003.  (1)
• Direct mail median household return on investment is 29% (compared to 124% email, 23% paid search, 16% online display, 30% social media).  (1)
• At 6.6%, oversized envelopes have the greatest household response rates over other mediums (followed by postcards at 5.7% and letter-sized envelopes at 4.3%).  (1)

The Bottom Line -- In a digital world of intangibles, most people savor their "mail moment" each day and are easily enticed by direct mail to engage and take action.

Sources

1. DMA Response Rate Report https://thedma.org/
2. Marketing Sherpa  https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/channels-customers-trust-most-when-purchasing
3. USPS-The Household Diary Study https://mailomg.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/usps-2016-household-diary-study.pdf
4. 2K17 Valassis Coupon Intelligence Report http://www.valassis.com/landing-pages/coupon-intelligence-report-download
5. How to Transform Your Website Into a Marketing Powerhouse for a Mobile World http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ernesto-sosa/how-to-transform-your-website-into-a-marketing-powerhouse-for-a-mobile-world_b_9141792.html
6. Google Analytics https://analytics.google.com/
7. Non Profit Pro http://www.nonprofitpro.com/article/doctors-without-borders-uses-remarketing-retargeting-extend-reach/all/
8. Merkle https://www.merkleinc.com/
9. Canon Solutions America https://csa.canon.com/