Direct Mail Alive And Kicking…
Let’s start this post off Jeopardy! style shall we?
I will give you the answer first then the question.
The answer is “About 8,610,000 results”
The question is what came back when I Googled the term “direct mail is dead” 
I’m actually surprised the number wasn’t higher. Go ahead and Google to doom and gloom term yourself as I did. About halfway down the first page of Google results you’ll see…
A Message for the Post Office: Direct Mail Is Dying
I realize it was posted over a year ago but something tells me they, along with many, many other “online marketing only folks” still believe this to be true… that Direct Mail is dead.
In what may or may not have been a publicity stunt of sorts, The HubSpot Inbound Marketing Team crafted a letter for Mr. Stephen M. Kearney, Senior Vice President of Customer Relations, United State Postal Service.
Yes, the “s” was missing from United States. Wonder if that were done intentionally, you know to imply it was all just a big joke. Or maybe the folks at HubSpot don’t employ proofreaders. Whatever…
In the missive, the Inbound Marketing Team writes…
“We know direct mail. We’ve sent flyers, post cards, one-time offers and more useless swag than you can swing a stick at. We know that it doesn’t work.
So it is with some authority that we can tell you: Direct mail ain’t comin’ back. Even when the economy improves.”
The ‘we know direct mail’ and ‘with some authority’ was surely said in jest, right?
Anyway, their reasoning for the demise of Direct Mail was four-fold…
- It’s too expensive
- No ROI
- People don’t like it
- Many cheaper options
I could spend the next 5-6 paragraphs explaining why and how these four points are beyond pointless but I will refrain because anyone with half a marketing brain… forget that… anyone with ANY sized marketing brain knows the truth.
So while I won’t hit you with chart after chart and stat after stat as to why Direct Mail is very much alive and kicking, I will share with you two recent articles I read that speak directly and fly squarely in the face of The HubSpot Inbound Marketing Team.
- A recent study conducted by Global Industry Analysts revealed that that global marketing expenditure through direct mail will reach $25.45 billion by 2015 thanks to the effectiveness of the channel as far as reaching the target audience is concerned.
- According to Experian’s latest research, those aged between 15 and 24 are “highly receptive” to direct mail. This younger generation are the demographic second most responsive to it, after those aged 65 and above.
How many times do I have to say it? At least once more apparently…
Direct Mail is not dead. Nor will it ever die. It will never be the be-all-to-end-all it once was but that’s because there are more options, more toys for marketers to play with. .jpg "image")
The key… THE KEY is integration. I-N-T-E-G-R-A-T-I-O-N…
- Direct Mail
- Mobile
- Video
- TV
- Radio
- Outdoor
- And yes Social Media!
You won’t find a bigger proponent of Social Media than yours truly but, BUT in order for it to be effective, truly effective, it has to work in conjunction with all the other kids in the marketing sandbox. If you rely on just one of the aforementioned tools, you are bound to fail.
You’re also bound to fail if you think you need ALL of the aforementioned tools or marketing mediums to be successful.
Maybe you will. But maybe you won’t.
The most important thing is to work with a company that will take the time to get to know you and your company and your customers. Yeah, remember them? The ones who ultimately pay your bills, your salary, benefits and all that good stuff?
So, where do you fall on the great Direct Mail debate? Is it dead? Is it alive? Is it somewhere in between?
5 Comments to Direct Mail Alive And Kicking…
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Direct mail isn’t dead but bad direct mail should be. Any channel can be effective if it gets to where your target audience is and cuts through the clutter. Email was great when there wasn’t a lot of it. Now people may miss something they were really interested in just because they have to fish through a zillion things they don’t care about to find it.
Still though, marketers aren’t using direct mail correctly. Last week there were two pieces in my mail box that illustrate this fact. One came from Comcast selling their new xfinity service. It used data to TRY and be relevant which I am a fan of but it did it all wrong. The headline was supposed to read “Hey Kate” I assume. But because we use Comcast at my business our piece said “Hey Digital” using the first word in our company name. It also featured a purl for response which I am also a fan of. Unfortunately our purl was something like xfinity.digitalinn1234.com which is difficult to remember and their first problem. But it also illustrates that they don’t know us and we’ve been paying them for 8 years. Our shortened name is DIG. The whole thing was annoying and made me wonder how much they pay their agency or printer to execute something this bad and how much of that I’m paying for in my monthly bill.
The next piece came from DaimlerChrysler. They are trying to sell us service vehicles. We’re a marketing company so our SIC code should have indicated we do not have a high probability of needing a truck. So did they mail to all businesses? Were doctors, dentists and lawyers in there too?
Direct mail is not dead and may in fact be a better channel than it was before because less people are using it. But bad direct mail should be dead. It’s a waste of everybody’s time and money.
DM is definitely all and well. I just received a direct mail package from an unexpected source: Google! It came with a good old fashioned sales letter and brochure promoting their Ad Words service.
Hi Kate,
Unfortunately the amount of bad direct mail you reference is still all too common, which is truly unacceptable given the techno-world we live in…
There’s simply no reason to send out pieces you reference… none.
But hey, that’s just me.
Thanks for chiming in!
Steve O
Hey Dave,
Wow a DM from Google… imagine that!
Word to the wise… if Direct Mail is good enough for Google…
Thanks for checking in!
Steve O
Very good analysis, Steve! While the current economic conditions have pushed many marketing efforts to the web, I believe the trend will turn to a more balanced approach. Integration is critical as no single channel is the only way to reach your audience.
My answer to Is Direct Mail Dead? is a question: Do you or any prospective customer that spends 4-5 hours a day on a computer at work really want to come home at night to wade through email offers that direct them to more websites?
How many times have you checked your home email and found you just spent an hour being redirected, waiting for the ads to load and eventually deleting or unsubscribing?
Direct mail takes far less time to review, save or toss.
I also share Kate’s frustration with bad direct mail. The data must be good and well thought out to get to the right market with the right message at the right time. Poorly done, it leaves the impression that the company cannot pay attention to the details.