With email marketing, social media and telemarketing, one would think direct mail campaigns may seem outdated and ineffective. If you think so, you’d be surprised what statistics will reveal. In fact, your business may be missing out on some serious income-generating opportunities! According to the research conducted by Royal mail, an average UK consumer spends roughly £600 as a result of receiving direct mail advertising each year. Here are some more interesting facts:

Direct Mail Versus Email

  • 91% of prospect direct mail was opened (Ebiquity Rapport 2010) versus acquisition email , which only has 11% open rate (DMA)
  • Direct Mail explains your message more effectively. 48% of customers claim that information via direct mail was easier to absorb compared to 20% by email (Quadrangle DM & Email)
  • Customers recruited by Direct Mail are more loyal (Savings account customers considering switching after 6 months – 32% recruited via internet versus 18% via Direct Mail. GfK FRS)
  • 75% of consumers like receiving special offers and vouchers (BMRB)
  • There are 530 UK TV stations, 821 UK radio stations (MediaUK) and 234m worldwide websites (Netcraft) but only one letterbox.
  • 17.7m people ordered after receiving a mail order catalogue in the past 12 months – 43% by going online, 30% by post and 25% by telephone. (TGI)

Direct Mail - Purple Results
Response Rate

  • 48% of UK adults have taken action in the last 12 months as a result of the direct mail they’ve received.
  • 30% ordered or bought something
  • 5% paid more attention to an ad
  • 7% made an enquiry or asked for information
  • 23% used a coupon
  • 23% kept it for later use
  • 12% visited a store
  • 8% passed it on
  • 6% tried a new product or service
  • 5% paid more attention to ad

Source: TGI Q2 2010

  • Direct Mail’s ROI is rising. Improved targeting can raise ROI by over 100% – From £1.57 in 2006 to £3.22 in 2009 (OMD Brand Science)

 

Catalogue Sales

  • 70% of consumers keep catalogues for more than a month
  • 76% increase in online purchase by a catalogue recipient against a non-recipient.
  • 70% go online after receiving catalogues (Catalogues work – Comscore)
  • Catalogue recipients buy more often with 70+% increase in number of purchases
  • Catalogue recipients tend to spend more with £110 increase in online spending
  • £48 increase in offline spending for multi -channel retailers

Costs And ROI

  • In the past 10 years, the volume of advertising increased by 87% and expenditure increased by 118%. (DMIS)
  • Advertising mail on average delivers £14 ROI for every £1 spent. (DMIS)
  • Consumer advertising mail is estimated to generate roughly £27 billion worth of business every year. (DMIS)


Conclusion

Direct mail is recognised as the most targeted form of advertising, allowing companies to efficiently reach relevant customers. As a one-t0-one advertising medium, it offers maximum accuracy, effectiveness, measurability relevance and return on investment.