First, a few statistics from the Direct Marketing Association and the USPS on using direct mail as part of your marketing mix:
- 79% of consumers will act on direct mail immediately, compared to only 45% who say they deal with email right away
- 39% of customers say they will try a business because of direct mail advertising
- The Direct Marketing Association says that direct mail yields an average of 13:1 return on investment
- Direct mail brings in 78% of donations for non profits
- 44% of customers visit a company’s website after receiving a direct mail piece
Consumer surveys show that direct mail gets acted on quicker than an email. How many emails to you receive each day? How many direct mail pieces? In many cases the direct mail piece received immediate action while the email was saved and looked at later.
Direct mail can be a great way to introduce consumers to a new business, product, promotion or event. Have you received an invitation to a sale at your favorite store? Would this type of direct marketing help YOUR business? Think of your marketing in terms of an invitation. Who would you invite and what are you inviting them to do?
The average direct mail campaign returns $13 for every $1 spent. Effective direct mail campaigns are impacted by 1) the list; 2) the offer; 3) the call to action to receive the offer; 4) the design of the mail piece. Combine these four elements of a direct mail campaign and you can have great results.
Many non-profits continue to use direct mail with excellent results. List segmentation – using different mail content for different donor levels – can be effective. Adding personalization and appealing to an emotional component of the cause can help increase donation levels even more.
How many of you receive a catalog in the mail and go to that company’s web site? 44% of customers respond to a direct mail piece this way. That's a pretty amazing number. No wonder why some of the biggest brands continue with their direct mail marketing efforts!