AMiable Solution #114: Survey Says: Direct Mail is No Disappearing Act

Marketers who use direct mail in their marketing mix know the power of a well-prepared mailpiece.  Typical response rates, according to a 2012 report by the Direct Marketing Association, are 4.4% for catalogs and 3.4% for direct mail letters (compare that to email’s average response rate of just 0.12%).

But it is also a powerful tool for acquiring new customers.  In 2012, Target Marketing surveyed its print subscribers and discovered that direct mail acquires more new customers than any other marketing channel.  Direct mail’s rate of success in acquiring new customers--34%--outperformed every other marketing channel, including email (25% success rate), SEM (10% success rate), and affiliate marketing (8%), the other most-cited channels.

In addition, the Chief Marketing Officer Council reports that 40% of consumers say that they tried a new business after receiving direct mail.

What makes direct mail so effective in reaching new customers?  Is it an allusion?  Actually, it’s much simpler than that.  Direct mail is less intrusive than email and telephone solicitations.  It’s convenient, available to be read, reread, and studied.  It can be marked with notes and filed for future reference whenever the mood strikes. 

Brian Fetherstonhaugh, chairman and CEO of OgilvyOne Worldwide, also cites endurance.  In his October 2011 article for Direct Marketing News, “Don’t count direct mail out,” Fetherstonhaugh reported on an analysis Millward Brown, marketing and brand experts, did using MRI technology.   According to the company’s research, print marketing “engaged the brain more deeply and more emotionally than digital ones.”  The result: higher response rates.

Even though direct mail is an effective acquisition tool, it’s not a magic wand.  You can’t wave it once and expect to create a new crowd of devoted customers.  You have to convince them that your solutions are real, not just smoke and lights.  And that takes several mailings.  Don’t give up.  Prospects will start to trust you and begin to anticipate the next great thing to come out of the (mail)box.