Many marketers are moving away from traditional forms of marketing, including direct mail. Despite this fact, however, direct mail still seems to be proving its value. With one of the best response rates among marketing mediums, even among young adults, direct mail proves itself to still be a valuable form of marketing communication. Take a look at some direct mail stats and reasons to consider the medium yourself.
Direct Mail Statistics
Stats for direct mail might surprise you. The response rate is high, even among young audiences. ROI, however, may be lacking when you compare direct mail to its digital counterpart: email.
- Best response rate: 5.1% response rate , according to the DMA. By comparison, email and paid search receive a 0.6% response rate and social media receives 0.4%
- Young is not done: Despite being among the most tech-savvy, 18-21 year olds have a response rate of 12.4% to direct mail.
- ROI, not as high: To be fair, direct does better than paid search. Direct mail sees a 29% ROI; direct mail sees a 23% return. Social media, however, does better (30%). Email blows all the others away at 124% ROI. (Psst… check out our latest blogs on email marketing – one on data and one covering storytelling, AI, and emojis.)
- Size matters: Oversized envelopes have a response rate of 6.6%. Postcards’ response rate is 5.7% and letter-sized is 4.3%. Their ROI is higher too. Oversized ROI is 37%.
Reasons to Use Direct Mail
The stats definitely can lead to some pause for consideration. Response rate is great, but what about ROI? Here are 4 reasons to move forward and implement some direct mail marketing in your strategy, courtesy of Full Tilt Direct.
It’s Targeted and Familiar
Direct mail campaigns are extremely targeted to a specific audience. There is a much greater chance of communicating with the right customer at the right time. Direct mail has been trusted for over 100 years. It has been proven that over time people have grown to be sceptical of email campaigns.
It’s Popular and Proven
Over 70% of consumers still want print ads despite the emergence of digital ad usage. In one year, marketers spent over $150 billion on direct marketing, which accounted for over 54% of all advertising expenditures in the United States. Because direct mail has been in wide use for such a long time, there has been huge amounts of data proving its effectiveness.
It’s Lasting and Versatile
Direct mail has a greater chance of being seen than email. A physical piece of paper leaves a lasting impression. Because the customer can physically touch the message, they see it as more trustworthy.
It’s Personalized and Effective
Direct mail pieces can be customized to feel more personable. This results in a product that feels more trustworthy and leads to a greater chance of landing the customer. Direct mail makes the customer feel emotionally charged and valued. Customers are far more likely to notice, open, read, and enjoy mail than digital forms of advertising. Direct mail creates a call to action that resonates.
Direct Mail: Something to Consider
From personalization to trustworthiness, to physical reminders, there are plenty of reasons to use direct mail. Response rate is also higher than other mediums, which is great. The one idea that may give us some pause is the ROI of direct mail vs. email. The ROI argument makes a strong case for email over direct mail. That’s a decision you’ll have to consider for your business. Which one would you choose? Would you do both? Multiple touchpoints often is effective; so maybe combining the power of the two would be effective? Your best bet is to test both forms and discover which is most effective for your business. It’s not one-size-fits-all.
Other Direct Mail Resources:
Direct Mail Best Practices – Part 1
