The demise of direct mail; truth or false?

How often have you heard hard-core digital marketers claim that direct mail is dead? I hear it quite often. And most often from marketers without any real experience with the direct mail media. In this article you will find some shocking data.

A true believer in a multi-channel marketing approach, I often find myself humored by the never ending discussion about direct mail vs. email marketing. Bold and dubious  statements such as “only old people respond to direct mail.”, “direct mail is too expensive”, “email marketing is free” are frequently expressed by marketers I meet. So I thought now is a good time to write the short article you are reading now.

Putting your target groups preferences first
First let me say this; it is not a matter choosing of one or the other (email or direct mail). If you are – or want to become – a marketer acquiring great response and a solid ROMI (Return on Marketing Investment), you will have to understand that your own personal media preferences are irrelevant.  What matters are the preferences of your target audience, the end result such as cost per inquiry or cost per order and to a certain extent small matters like reach, time to market, brand impact and the quality of your list.

I know – easy to say “demystify your audience media preferences and deliver according to their preferences”, but I agree it is indeed difficult to execute.  So let’s look at some recent numbers.

Direct mail beating email for young adults in USA and Canada
In a very recent study titled Finding the Right Channel Combination: What Drives Channel Choice, ICOM, surveyed over 2500 U.S. and 2200 Canadian households, specifically targeting consumers in the 18-34 year-old demographic.

The study found that these consumers overwhelmingly preferred—by two to three times—to learn about marketing offers via postal mail and newspapers, rather than online sources such as social media sites.

I would advice you to go read the study.  Warren Storey, vice president of ICOM, commented:

“A key takeaway from this research is that marketers (in North America) targeting coveted 18-34 year olds who are tempted to invest solely in social media could be missing a significant portion of their audience,”

Ok you say. But that is North America. Certainly that does not apply to my country. Well, read on…...

In any target audience there will be at least 25% whom prefer direct mail over email
I am not able to find the studies I have seen, which confirm that 25% of any given target audience across demographics, educational background, social status etc. prefer direct mail. And I also understand that this may vary from country to country.

F.ex. in Slovenia, direct marketer Mladinska Kniga Publishing, is still relying heavily on direct mail (hoping to share some case studies with you soon) and with remarkable ROMI for both their book clubs and their Readers Digest activities.
One marketer I recently spoke to in Egypt saw fantastic response from a direct mail piece but is struggling with obtaining people’s real postal address (!).(it would appear that people are less inclined to share their real postal address in Egypt)

A financial services client of ours, were adamant about switching completely  from direct mail and outbound telemarketing four years ago only to learn know that they need to bring direct mail back into the game.

Let me remind you again: it is not about what you think is best. It is very much about how your audience responds and what your Return on Marketing Investment looks like after you have executed your campaign.

Loosing communication when your audience opt-out of email communication
It is true; when anyone opts-out of your  email communication, you have to ask yourself “how do I re-engage that individual?”.
It is also true that your customers unsubscribe from electronic communication – not necessarily because they no longer “like your brand”, but because they are desperately trying to clean up their email inbox. In doing so they unsubscribe by and large to those newsletters that happened to appear in the inbox on that day. (think about your own inbox behavior)

So you really need to take this quite seriously. If you are like most email marketers, you are loosing between 1% to 5% of your subscribers with every single communication. Would you not agree that direct mail could be the right, and most cost-effective media to keep the communication with those whom opted-out of your email communication?

Summary and links
Direct mail is not dead. Nor is email marketing. Social media and social networks are not King and Queens. All should be part of your direct marketing media mix based on individual consumer or business buyer preference.

Here are some links you may find useful to learn more about this topic
- Email Marketing Masterclass Tour coming to 30+ cities
- Join the web seminar for EADIM with Drayton Bird