They Snickered When I Said Direct Mail — but Not When They Saw The Facts!

Numb.

That's what a growing number of people are becoming in response to the overwhelming onslaught of digital information.

You know the feeling, right?

Certainly, as consumers, you and I probably agree we're bombarded on all sides.

But I also imagine that from a marketing or sales view, you'd agree it continues to get harder to be heard by our prospects and Clients, especially when using email or relying on one stale channel.

But there's something else going on, too: Direct Mail while laughed at by many is suddenly becoming cool again. Have you noticed? Here's why, with a little help from our friends at USPS.

Direct Mail's Resurgence

USPS has conducted research showing that marketing decision-makers in retail, digital commerce, financial services, and telecommunications are using direct mail in ways that differ from the past. Put another way, this ain't your daddy's direct mail.

Marketing decision-makers in retail, digital commerce, financial services, and telecommunications are using direct mail in ways that differ from the past.
In their survey of marketing executives in these companies, they learned how leading organizations are doing unusual things (like integrating direct mail with Facebook), to achieve results that exceed the use of a single channel on its own.

They Think They Know, But They Don't

While many marketers think they know all the facts about direct mail, one stat that will certainly get anyone's attention is the study's average response rate: 9% (OK, via a house list, but still do you get that kind of response rate with your house email list?  Didn't think so.) Further, when combined with digital as mentioned a moment ago, the study found these results (and this is just a snapshot of a few of the metrics shared):

 

 

There's a lot more data in the report. If you want to grab a copy, I've included a link at the bottom of this post where you can download it yourself and see the results in full.

 

This blog post first appeared here.