Direct mail drives multichannel marketing campaigns
Direct mail marketers have increasingly used data to enhance advertising campaigns and feel progressively more secure with digital marketing platforms and multichannel strategies. Companies employing address validation software to improve direct mail hygiene might benefit from taking into account new direct mail research that provides insight into how traditional and emerging advertising tactics are melding.
The 35th edition of the Direct Marketing Association's Statistical Fact Book 2013 estimates direct marketing investments will rise to $196 billion within the next three years. The report also found traditional mail initiatives might get a boost from utilization of customer information acquired through digital methods. However, about 25 percent of marketers reported their largest challenge will be analyzing and applying customer data to their advertising campaigns.
Recent research from the U.S. Postal Service also displayed the link between direct mail and digital, with findings indicating direct mail generates online purchasing among marketing recipients and leads to increased sales. The data found consumers who receive direct mail purchase an average of 4.1 items online, spending about $80 and boosting business revenue by 65 percent. Non-direct mail customers analyzed by the study averaged 3.3 purchases and spent $71. Catalog recipients also averaged 4.1 items purchased, but spent more at $88 per transaction; non-catalog recipients purchased 3.2 items and spent $69. The study reported that direct mail also drives visits to the company website, with almost 67 percent of consumers who received catalogs going online.
In addition, the USPS reported 60 percent of online shoppers want to see the physical catalog before purchasing, with 57 percent saying they want to have the direct mail with them as they browse items online. About 84 percent said the catalog boosts their online shopping experience by making it easier to know which products they are interested in.