BY Kathy Crosett
Does direct mail still work? AudienceSCAN, powered by AdMall, reports that 60.2% of U.S. adults took action after receiving ads or coupons in their mailbox. What features of direct mail have the most impact? New data from Franklin Madison Direct can help your accounts understand the benefits of a direct mail marketing strategy.
What do marketers like about direct mail?
The Franklin Madison Direct survey encompasses the opinions of advertisers and consumers. When it comes to marketers, direct mail shines. In the last year, 59% say that direct mail performance has improved for them.
This improvement may explain why 56% also plan to increase direct mail spending this year. The only other media formats to outpace planned spending increases for advertising are paid social media (62%) and SEO (57%).
How well does direct mail perform?
Here’s what marketers say about performance improvement for competing media formats in the past year:
- SEO 65%
- Social media 64%
- Email marketing 62%
- Paid search/programmatic 58%
- CTV/OTT 44%
Your accounts invest in marketing for many reasons. They want to win new customers, upsell customers, or win back customers. In that context, they compare the effectiveness of media formats.
If you’re selling direct mail, your chance to position your offering against the competition stands up well. Advertisers give direct mail the “most-effective” rating as follows:
- Winback/reactivation 41%
- Customer upsell/cross-sell 41%
- New customer acquisition 40%
- Lead remarketing 39%
Clearly, having a solid direct mail marketing strategy matters.
What is the consumer attitude about direct mail?
Consumers revealed thoughts about what the found to be the “most influential types of advertising.” Ads on streaming/traditional TV came in first at 57%. And in big news for direct mail, the format scored second with 37%.
Whether it’s postcards, letters, or catalogs, direct mail has a presence in consumers’ lives. They may leave it in a central location, like the kitchen counter, for other family members to review. And that’s an opportunity to influence additional potential customers.
Interestingly, sponsored influencer content ads scored worst in this survey: 15%.
What is the consumer response to direct mail advertising?
It can be hard to stand out in a crowd. And the average home can expect to get one to two pieces of direct mail daily.
Your accounts can attract consumer attention by using unique creative messaging or mail design. For example, a 3D envelope stands out in the mailbox.
Another way to boost direct mail engagement is to offer something of value, like a coupon. According to AudienceSCAN data, 11% of athletic footwear shoppers make auto service decisions based on the coupons they have. And 18% of this audience makes general buying decisions based on their coupons.
44% of marketers report that offering a discount is their most effective direct mail marketing strategy. Another 31% point to the free gift/product/service offer as being most effective.
If your accounts haven’t offered something of value, it’s time to try.
What is the right level of direct mail frequency?
While direct mail works, your accounts can encounters fatigue or rejection if they reach out too frequently. When it comes to the inhouse lists and reconnecting with consumers they are trying to win back or retarget, most direct mailers send out solicitations once a month.
How does that compare with consumer response in the channel? Around 45% of consumers say they need to see a piece of mail between two and three times before they act.
How does direct mail cost compare to other media formats?
Help your accounts understand the cost of direct mail. For 52% of surveyed businesses, the cost ranges from $100-$249 per customer acquisition. And around 48% say that figure aligns across the board to all their marketing campaigns.
With an AdMall subscription, you can help your accounts target specific audiences by zip code. Market intelligence reports show which zip codes have the highest incidence of patients with heart disease, for example. You can also find the zip codes with the highest rate of recent movers. When you combine these data points with the right direct mail marketing strategy, your accounts can move the sales meter.
