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Direct Mail - Making a comeback and getting attention
Tuesday 10th December 2019
With volumes of posted materials declining by an average of 5% per year, you would expect direct mail to be a thing of the past. However, studies have shown that many businesses are still reaping great rewards from a targeted direct mail campaign. In fact, direct mail is still the 3rd single largest channel used by marketers in the UK. Email was seen as the answer to all marketing woes at one time, enabling companies to communicate with customers and contacts instantly and cheaply. The flood of electronic communications we now receive means that marketing emails are either trapped in spam filters, overlooked or ignored. The lifespan for emails today is increasingly short and many of us receive far too many of them to be able to distinguish the valuable from the worthless.
But while receiving emails has become a daily chore, direct mail has slowly re-emerged as an effective means of communication. Unlike a brief look at email subject lines before deleting them, direct mail forces recipients to engage, open the letter in other words and read its contents. Direct mail is seen as more "personal" and helps to build a "one-to-one relationship with customers", according to Royal Mail, making it more memorable and more likely to get a response. It's all too easy to delete an email, but most of us read or at least look at the items which come through the door and keep them for longer. The Royal Mail reported that advertising mail stays in the home for an average of 17 days, whereas emails are often deleted immediately after they are read.
In the year since GDPR came into force, there has been a small decline in email marketing activity. The larger decline has been in new consents to receive marketing information which has dropped considerably. The ICO suggests that you "won't need consent for postal marketing". While the consumer's right to object is absolute. It is easier to send direct mail to them rather than have to undertake the consent to the electronic communications process.
Design Print Distribution can cover all of your bespoke Direct Mail needs, from single-page items to multiple packaged items, we offer a full print, design, fulfillment and delivery service. We work with a range of clients, on both ad hoc basis and on-going campaigns. Our work is fully compliant with all data protection regulations. Our knowledge and expertise can also deliver you outstanding National Direct Mail campaigns.
Please get in touch to discuss what we can do for you.