Direct mail is the preferred medium among consumers for evaluating information about products and services.
InfoTrends found that 69 percent of consumers preferred direct mail, compared with 28 percent who chose e-mail.
Three percent preferred telemarketing. Sixty percent of the respondents prefer "highly-personalized" offers.
Kubas Consultants reported that direct mail accounts for about 15 percent of all U.S. media and marketing expenditures, now about $40 billion. Direct mail is expected to grow at about 6 percent annually through 2007.
Pressure to Improve Return on Marketing
Marketers are under pressure to improve the return on their marketing investments through two key areas:
- Improved targeting through database management to reach specific individuals or types of prospects or customers
- Analytics to measure the effectiveness of those campaigns
Five Business Models
As a result, direct mail will diverge into these business models:
- Low- to moderate-volume "name-and-address" mailings using post cards and self mailers. This was once a high-volume category.
- Low volume, high-value-added, targeted mailings . The consumer might select the type of information they want based on a website visit or their purchase history as reflected in the database. Home improvements, big-ticket purchases, and vacation packages are being handled this way.
- High-volume, low-cost-per-unit "commoditized" mailings . These involve minimal personalization or customization, and are segmented primarily by zip code. Envelopes full of coupons or "mass" mailed post cards are in this area.
- High-volume, targeted messages incorporated with bills, statements and other transactional documents (now called "trans-promo). Personalization and customization is based on purchase and usage patterns, type of customer, known preferences and other factors that create customized materials. Transactional documents are favored because they are the one type of mail that is guaranteed to be opened.
- Moderate- to high-volume catalog mailings that reflect the customer’s past buying history and pattern. These may be hybrid (part digital and part offset litho) or totally digital.
Role of the Print Provider
Advertisers expect their print providers to handle virtually all elements of direct mail production from printing through to complex one-to-one direct mail campaigns including all distribution services. As a result, print and mail have become an increasingly complex undertaking.
