Companies get help getting noticed due to reduced direct mail volume
By: Bill LaformeAugust 19th, 2009
In yet another manifestation of the toll the economy has taken on businesses – especially on their marketing and advertising budgets – the volume of direct advertising mail has been steadily declining, CNNMoney.com reported.
Yet instead of viewing this trend as a reason to stop investing in direct mail marketing, companies should seize the opportunity to get customer attention more easily.
The website reported that two of the most prolific direct mail sectors – the credit card industry and the mortgage industry – have limited their direct mailing recently.
Credit card companies sent out 5.4 billion pieces of direct mail in 2008 – a decline of 1.9 billion from the 2007 level – while the mortgage industry reduced its direct mail offerings from 4 billion in 2005 to 1.1 billion in 2008, said the news provider.
However, there are some industries that have continued to keep direct mail levels high, including insurance and telecommunication companies.
In addition, direct mail is not likely to disappear forever once the economy rebounds, experts say.
"Do I see a good future for the postal service and direct mail? Absolutely," Dr Ramesh Lakshmi-Ratan, CEO of the Direct Marketing Association, told CNNMoney.com, "but I think it’s going to be different." He expects the volume of direct mail to pick up once the recession ends, but there will be less emphasis on credit and more on savings-driven spending, he told the website.
Another reason direct mail will likely be around for a long time is that it generally has a higher ROI than email marketing, Sandra Blum, author of Designing Direct Mail that Sells, told the news provider, noting that consumers have learned to delete email advertisements before even opening them.
"The key word is efficacy here," Blum told CNNMoney.com. "I think there’s a greater feeling of privacy [with direct mail]."
What the current direct mail decline means for small businesses interested in implementing direct mail marketing campaigns is that they will have fewer competitors vying for consumers’ attention.
Not only will well-designed mailing offerings such as brochures, postcards and even greeting cards be more likely to catch a consumer’s attention among the reduced volume of mail, but recipients will realize that a company who has the money to pay for that marketing campaign – especially when other companies do not – is more likely to be successful and reputable.
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