Direct Mail Survey
Earlier this year the DMA conducted a survey of marketing professionals and released the findings in “Response Rate Report: Performance and Cost Metrics Across Direct Media”. 57% of marketers surveyed said they use direct mail – matching the percentage of those who use social media.
It was reported that response rates for in house lists rose from 4% in 2017 to 9% in 2018, and for prospects lists it increased from 3% in 2017 to 5% in 2018. Both response rates were higher in 2018 than they have been in the past 15 years and direct mail continued to have the best response rate of any medium.
The ROI for direct mail increased by 12 percent, exceeding that of online display advertising. But even with these great results, survey participants claim they will be reducing their use of direct mail in the next year. Why?
Many marketers indicated that since direct mail continues to have the highest cost per acquisition of any medium, it must be reduced in order to stay within budget.
Bottom Line: Direct mail is not dead it’s just slowing down. But to get the best response of any medium, marketers must consider increasing their direct mail budget.
