If You Think Direct Mail Is Dying, Think Again!

You've heard it before and you'll hear it again ― direct mail is dying. How many lives does this cat have? With every new marketing channel created, or improved, the eulogies start for direct mail. The truth is direct mail will not be leaving us anytime soon.

Like internet advertising, social networking, newspapers, radio and TV, direct mail is simply another tool to get your message out. How you use it, and how much you use it, depends on your marketing strategy and your target audience. No one tool can do it all and a strong marketing strategy is one that's integrated and based on your organization's goals.

Here are the facts about the current health of direct mail in a report from the United States Postal Service:

According to the USPS Household Diary Study, in 2008, U.S. households received 148.6 billion pieces of mail, and sent 21.3 billion.

Advertising mail represented 63% of all mail received by households in 2008.

According to McCann-Erickson, says the report, American businesses spent about $271 billion in 2008 advertising their products and services, a decrease of 3.2% from 2007. Of this total advertising spending, 22% was spent on direct mail. In 2008, more than one-fifth of total advertising dollars was spent on direct mail advertising.

Direct mail was the second leading media choice of advertisers in 2008, after television. However, due to a steep economic downturn, direct mail advertising spending fell 1.0% compared to 2007. Except for the Internet and Other, all other spending media categories declined as well.

Direct mail's share of total advertising spending has been on a strong upward trend for most of the past 17 years. Since 1999, the direct mail share has risen steadily reaching 22% in 2008. Direct mail has maintained its large ad share even with the introduction of new, fast-growing ad markets such as the Internet.

Ultimately, advertisers send direct mail because it works, says the report. Household members read and respond to it. Households report they intend to respond to about one in ten pieces of advertising mail. While intended responses do not always lead to actual responses, the data presented help explain why direct mail is the number one choice of advertisers in America, concludes the study.

View the full report from USPS.

What's the status of your direct mail program's health? If it needs a check up and some new life breathed into it give us a call. Measured Marketing can also help you decide if taking a more integrated approach is appropriate for your marketing strategy.

info@measuredmktg.com
312.929.4882

Email Advertising is Skyrocketing

Here are the latest findings (5/09) from Borrell Associates, a research & consulting firm that tracks local ad spending across 11 forms of media (online, newspapers, direct mail, cable, radio, etc.):

E-mail advertising is skyrocketing. Last year, email advertising moved to the #1 position in online advertising, surpassing all other forms of interactive advertising. Advertisers spent $12.1 billion last year on e-mail marketing, more than they spent on display/banner advertising or search advertising. We’re predicting e-mail will continue to distance itself from other online advertising formats over the next five years, growing to $15.7. Most of the growth in e-mail marketing will be local. We’re expecting local e-mail advertising to grow from $848 million in 2008, to $2 billion in 2013.

Borrell goes on to caution: Managing large e-mail marketing campaigns requires database marketing expertise, a savvy sales force, adequate e-mail management software, familiarity with the rules and regulations and a lot of patience.

Which leads to the question . . . What's your email strategy and do you have the right tools and expertise to add it to your marketing mix?

Don't sweat it if you don't – that's why we're here. Let Measured Marketing assist you with the how-to in creating effective, deliverable email communications. We'll guide you in list building & acquisition, targeting, compliance with CAN-SPAM laws, channel-appropriate design & copy writing, and most important of all – Strategy. Contact Measured Marketing today to get your campaign started.

info@measuredmktg.com
312.929.4882