There is a widely held perception that traditional direct mail is a dying form of communication and emails, social media, display ads, and other digital advertisements have taken over.
This is just not true. Although most of the country has transitioned to a largely digital lifestyle, the “email vs. direct mail” battle continues to thrive in the marketing world. Although there was an upswing in email marketing over a decade ago, there is more than enough recent research to show that direct mail has made a significant comeback.
The best reasons to employ direct mail
Email Unsubscribes
If your client unsubscribes from your emails, it can be devastating to marketers trying to reach a broad audience. If your email message catches your customer when they are busy, or maybe just not in the mood to receive another email, all the customer has to do is unsubscribe from your email system, and they can be lost forever. And it only takes one time.
If your organization relies on email as its sole form of getting messages to your customer, you are one click away from losing that customer. Direct mail eliminates the possibility that your message will forever be directed into a junk folder. The worst they’ll do with a postcard is toss it in the trash can. You’ll still have other opportunities to reach them.
Direct Mail Response Rates Are Higher Than Digital Marketing
While direct mail marketing is receiving an average response rate of 9%, email marketing is only receiving an average response rate of around 1%. Direct mail response rates are higher than any other online advertising channel combined as we can see in this chart based on a USPS study showing email, paid search, and social media receiving a response rate of 1%, and online display ads receiving 0.3%.
Direct Mail Recipients Spend More Money
US marketers earn an average of $2,095 worth of goods sold through direct mail per person which is a 1,300% return on investment.
On top of marketers earning an impressive ROI, their customers who are receiving their direct mail pieces are spending more than their customers who aren’t.
Brand Recall is Higher with Direct Mail
Physical, tangible direct mail has proven to have a significant impact on recipients’ ability to recall a brand and has a long-lasting impression. More so than any digital advertisement.
In fact, only 44% of people who view an online ad can recall the brand after seeing it while 75% of people can recall a brand after seeing a direct mail piece for the first time.
Consumers Prefer Direct Mail
A recent study showed that the majority (73% to be exact) of consumers say they prefer to be contacted by brands via direct mail. Not just the older generations either. 80% of millennials prefer direct mail as well.
Does this mean we shouldn’t use digital or email marketing?
Of course not! We know that people need to see your message at least 7 times before they decide to take action, so we believe in a multi-pronged approach. Email, direct mail, and social media will get you a much better ROI.