Direct Mail is Still the Best for you Buck
The December issue of DM News (a publication for Direct Mail companies www.dmnews.com had an article sighting a survey conducted by DM News and Pitney Bowes.
I found it interesting enough to share some of the findings with you, our valued customers and prospects. You will find it a bit surprising and I think the information will also help you decide on a direction for some of your marketing strategies in 2009 and beyond. The survey gave some statistics that you may find different from the popular opinions currently circling various financial institutions and companies who are working hard to get past this economic recession. With many of you using variable marketing and transactional communications this information will be of great interest.
You know without a doubt the strength of transactional documents such as bills and statements for grabbing the attention of your customer. Most of the time you would never be able to reach your customer with an independent marketing piece the way you touch them with a transactional piece. The first question that is covered in this survey is:
- Should I reduce my direct mail marketing campaigns?
According to the survey results, a resounding NO! The survey found that 50% of the respondents actually enjoyed reviewing their mail more than they enjoyed working through their email in-box. Many people do not even check their in-box daily and if it is a work email many respondents never saw emails sent to them. 85% of consumers review their USPS mail daily.
This surprising statistic was present even in the 18-39 age groups, of which popular belief is that email, smart phones or social networking sites is the only way to reach the younger consumers. We all know reading mail is not the issue but responding to the offer is the bigger question. Hold on to your hat, 94% of consumers said they took action on promotional offers or coupons they had received over the last year. This in any way means they responded to every offer they got in the mail. Three-quarters of the respondents replied to 11% of the total number of offers they received. I would say that is still pretty good.
There is no doubt that to have an offer responded to you must make it relevant and compelling. It would be of no surprise to find out that the largest portion of the 89% of offers that did not have a response were poorly designed, miss targeted or lacked good communication.
- What are the trends?
The survey showed some information that was no surprise; consumers are highly price-sensitive today. 69% of them report that price is more important to them this year than it was last year. What does that tell us? Coupon use is up. Consumers are shopping for the best interest rate, the cheapest checking account, the best return on investment and they are looking for additional services.
Consumers prefer direct mail as the delivery system for coupons – 78%. Email came in second. Between 30% and 66% of the survey respondents stated their coupon use increased over last year on some specific purchases; groceries, health products, entertainment, electronics, auto parts, office supplies and travel.
Two-thirds of the consumers surveyed said they are examining their mail more closely for coupons and offers than they did a year ago. This is good news for you. This may seem old-school because it is something that has been done for decades; you can not dismiss the importance of coupons and special offers.
Almost half of the consumers reported receiving only 1 – 5 offers a week. You must view this as a great opportunity. You can get some exclusive attention when your piece arrives. You can not say that about email delivery.
It is very tempting to send an e-mail to hundreds of thousand of consumers. There is no doubt it is cost effective, it is NOT response effective and that is what you want, response. You have to factor in spam filtering, un-deliverability, open rates, (how often is the email opened) and click through rates (read it and click through). To increase email response you have to send higher and higher volumes of emails. There is no doubt email should be a component of your total marketing approach.
Saving money is the main reason for reducing or cutting down on your mail campaign. Everyone wants to spend less. There are numerous ways to cut costs and make sure that the money used to fund mailing is well spent. If you are considering cutting back on your direct mail, please give us a call. We can develop ways to get the most benefit from the dollars you spend on the marketing channel that seems to have the greatest promise for results – even in this challenging economy.
Quote of the week: Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.
If you would like to discuss your marketing in more detail you can reach me at marshan@ or 951-353-0010 ext 204 micrtechnologies.com
