Why use direct mail marketing in 2017? People have been predicting the demise of direct mail for a long time now. It has yet to happen and I truly believe that it won’t.  Why you ask? Because when done correctly direct mail has a great return on investment. Marketers can trust that direct mail will lead to sales. Let’s start with some statistics that will most likely surprise you.

2016 Direct Mail Statistics as reported by InfoTrends in January 2016. Click here for the study.

• 66% of direct mail is opened.
• 82% of direct mail is read for a minute or more.
• 56% of consumers who responded to direct mail went online or visited the physical store.
• 62% of consumers who responded to direct mail in the past three months made a purchase.

These numbers show that direct mail is a very important part of marketing communications for businesses. I am not saying that direct mail is the be all end all marketing channel, what I am saying is that direct mail needs to be a part of your channel mix.

Now the next question becomes what about millennials, they don’t want direct mail?

Guess what? You are wrong. Millennials like getting direct mail marketing. Quad released a study about millennials, click here to get a copy, that shows what they like. You will be surprised again that your perception is wrong.  Here are the types of direct mail they are reading according to the study:

• Retail/Department stores 82%
• Grocery stores 79%
• Clothing/Shoe/Accessory stores 69%
• Restaurants 53%
• Electronic stores 52%

One thing to note here is that when they get the direct mail piece they prefer to respond to it by going to your website. 84% prefer it, so make sure you have proper landing pages in place for both desktop and mobile users. So as you can see millennials are using direct mail too. Since they are the largest population even greater than baby boomers marketers need to make sure they are including them now and well into the future. As you can see direct mail is still a very powerful tool for marketers.

Not all direct mail marketing is the same, but a well thought out and executed campaign can bring you great results. Start with who you are targeting, build your copy and design around them. Create a clear call to action so that your targets know how to respond. Finally include other channels to increase your reach. The more touch points you have with your prospects the more likely they are to buy from you.

If you need help in this process we are here for you. Contact us today! We are glad to help!