Why Your Business Needs Direct Mail

2 MIN READ

Increase ROI by including direct mail in your marketing plan

With marketing budgets under pressure, marketers are always looking for ways to make their customers spend more efficient. This puts direct mail in the crosshairs. With growth in many digital channels, can direct mail spend get trimmed without impacting ROI? Is there a way to pair digital and print marketing? (short answer… yes!)

Consumers Value Direct Mail

Recently, the United States Postal Service released its “Mail Moments” survey, which shows the high level of consumers’ engagement with mail. Here are some of the highlights:

    • 86% take the time to look through the mail.

    • 81% value handwritten notes, letters, and cards.

    • 76% value the privacy, reliability, and security of mail.

    • 70% enjoy receiving mail.

    • 63% look forward to discovering the mail each day.

Consistently, marketing campaigns that include direct mail perform better than those that don’t. Direct mail requires less cognitive effort to understand, results in higher brand recall, and generates a higher buyer “motivation score.”

Regardless of age, most consumers sort their mail at the first opportunity, usually the same day. This is the case even with Millennials. Although they receive less mail overall, Millennials spend more time sorting their mail and are more active consumers of mail than other demographics.

Millennials are also more likely to say that they “like to discover what the mail brings every day” and consider their time reviewing mail well spent. While 47% of consumers overall agree with these statements, this rises to 50% of Millennials.

The role of bills in the mail remains important to all generations. Nearly half of households consider online invoicing and payment undesirable with undesirability increasing with age. Just over one third of Millennials (34%) consider online bill receipt and payment undesirable, rising to more than half of Boomers (54%). Even if there is an easy-to-use billing portal, most consumers would prefer some bills or statements to be sent by mail.

Overall, people are more engaged with mail than they used to be. The percentage of people who sort their mail in detail rose from 37% in 2012 to 39% in 2016. The percentage of people who scan their mail nearly doubled from 30% in 2012 to 53% in 2016. The survey attributes the rise in interest to new and engaging tools such as augmented reality, QR Codes, and personalized URLs. These tools increase interactivity and expand the informational value of mail.

Pairing digital and print marketing for the best results!

 

The takeaway? Find a way to engage with customers through digital channels while maintaining your direct mail connection. We have a marketing solution that is perfect for this, called Aradius ENHANCE.

ENHANCE pairs digital ads with the timing of mail delivery for an effective strategy with outstanding results! Learn more about ENHANCE and how it can increase ROI and engagement with your audience.

 

Aradius Group is a commercial printing company that specializes in marketing strategy, specifically with direct mail, based out of Omaha, NE.