Since the rise of email and the digital world there have been multiple ways to communicate and reach people. Marketers have many avenues to promote a service or product to potential customers.However with so many methods of communication and social networking, marketers are also met with a rather difficult scenario, how to grab a consumer’s attention. With the barrage of emails and other methods that deliver information, marketers have to find a more assured route that would gain the consumer’s eye.
Direct Mail or Digital?
Direct Mail, despite the rise of technological communication is considered a marketing media that “continues to deliver strong results for marketers.” According to Wes Sparling, vice president of marketing strategy at IWCO Direct, direct mail in many categories is the “primary lead generation tool.” YoryWurmser, director of marketing and media insights at DMA states, “Direct mail boasts a 4.4% rate, compared to email’s average response rate of 0.12%” Direct Mail as a marketing approach provides more success than what the average may assume, it is undergoing growth with an estimated 2014 domestic gross spend of 44.5 billion dollars. If Direct and digital approaches are compared, Wurmser goes on to state that depending upon how numbers are calculated, direct mail has a response rate 10 to 30 times greater than that of email.
Benefits of Going Direct
Even with the increase of Direct Mail, it undoubtedly faces certain setbacks. With a heavy rise technology many call the use of direct mail into question. Some claim that it is far too out of date, while others state direct mail is “simply too pricey for many marketing budgets.”Wurmser states that in nine years the DMA has been doing its response rate report, the rate for direct mail, and “the better channel than any other out there right now,” has gone down 25% overall.While there has been a drop in the response rate level for direct mail, when comparing general response rates, direct mail outperforms digital. Digital, however, proves to be more cost effective than utilizing direct mail.
Reports found that email had the greatest ROI, $28.50, in comparison to direct mail, $7. Despite this, direct mail remains strong according to DMA due to the fact that customers are used to being bombarded my emails they have no interest in. Marketers’ attempts can easily be caught within the wave of emails customers generally just don’t take the time to open. Mail consultant and author of The Direct Mail Solution, Craig Simpson, says “Marketers need to take a closer look at direct mail as it continues to be a strong performer in customer acquisition.” There is generally less competition in the mailbox than in the inbox, and it would be easier for marketers to get information across this way. Simpson goes to state, “Direct mail has a long, proven history as a successful advertising medium. Just because there is a new advertising option available, it doesn’t mean it will work better.”
