Okay, at this point the posting challenging “The Return of Direct Mail” has 21 comments … so clearly it has resonated with MarcomBlog participants. But it might be creating some misleading conclusions that I feel need to be moderated with some good old-fashioned facts.
Let’s begin with the original challenge that snail mail delivery of marketing messages has been disappearing. And let’s put personal opinion as to whether we like to receive it or not to the side.
My advice to each of you as future communications consultants –
1. No legal medium should be ignored, nor should we as communications professionals ever knock a medium because there will come a time in your career where you will find that a medium you sacked one time will become vital at another time — and you will look stupid eating your words. All media are important as long as they are relevant and the message, offer and call to action are contextually relevant to the audience.
2. Use opt-in media as much as possible because it will have a higher percentage return, and is therefore very efficient. But also include “intrusive” direct mail sent to personal or business addresses because it can and does perform with very powerful results when done right, and especially when used in tandem with telemarketing.
Let’s just look at five facts:
FACT 1 — Direct mail has NEVER declined in the past 50 years. The Universal McCann Study confirms that by contrast, in the last half-century, radio has declined in just seven of those years. Daily newspapers experienced 8 years of decline or slow growth. Consumer magazines, 8 years. Business Magazines, 9 years. Broadcast TV (developed in the 1950’s) came closest to Direct Mail at just 3 years. So Direct Mail has never even slowed down, let along count it among the disappearing. Instead it has increased each year over the last 50 years!
FACT 2 – During the economic downturn of 1990-91 when the GDP grew by just 1.3%, direct mail grew by 1.5%. All other media declined: Daily newspapers -14.6%, Consumer magazines -11.6%, TV -8.5%.
FACT 3 – Not even price increases in postage and paper have slowed the growth of direct mail. In years of postal increases, DM increased an average of 4.4% and with paper increases, DM grew 4.6%.
FACT 4 – Direct mail’s share of total advertising expenditures in 1960 was 19.0%, in 1980 it was 17.5% and in 2000 it was 22.2%.
FACT 5 – The most recent decade compounded annual growth rate for direct mail when adjusted for inflation has been 1995-2000 at 6.4% and from 2001-2005 at 6.6%.
TV and online media get all the ballyhoo, but direct mail is the workhorse for marketing. This has been true in every year for 50 consecutive years, in good times, in bad times, against inherent cost increases, against new media, against old media. Direct mail is the most highly measureable of non-electronic media. The statistics show that it generates sales at a rate that causes marketers to continue using it.
Now consider this one last challenge from me. If direct mail has grown so well despite the fact that it generates on average a 2% response rate, imagine how it will perform for you if you use it more smartly than past marketers … if you are better at targeting precisely who you want to reach, if you are better at making your messages and offers relevant to these precisely targeted individuals, imagine what you can do with this powerful medium.
But whatever you do, do not count snail mail as dead or disappearing. Never has. Never will.
