As More Ads Go Digital, Don’t Discount the Value of Mail

Caid Christiansen• December, 03 2015

This summer, we asked a question many marketers don’t like to talk about: is print dead?

Spoiler alert: it isn’t. It still makes sense for some clients. Of course, print tactics aren’t a great fit for everyone, but ruling them out just because they seem old-school is a terrible idea.  There’s a reason we still do print here at our agency.

Of course, that was this summer, and trends in marketing can change in the blink of an eye. But a new report from MarketingSherpa strengthens our assertion that print is still important.

Here’s the takeaway: 54% of consumers surveyed said they want to receive mail from brands they’re interested in. Yet only 19% of marketers said they send customers mail.

You’re probably thinking that this survey must’ve been directed towards older consumers. You’d be correct. Sort of. Older consumers did show more desire to receive brand updates in the mail. 61% of consumers between the ages of 55 and 64 said they wanted to receive direct mail. The drop off with younger demographics probably is not significant as you’d think, however. 50% of 18- to 34-year-olds said they wanted to receive direct mail.

So over half of consumers (a group that includes millennials!) surveyed by MarketingSherpa said they wanted to receive snail mail, but only a small fraction of marketers are actually giving it to them. That leaves huge opportunities for brands willing to make the jump and use this proven marketing technique.

This doesn’t mean that you should abandon all of your digital marketing tactics and start throwing money at direct mail. As with most other tactics, direct mail works best as a part of a multi-channel strategic marketing effort. What you should do is take a step back and ask yourself (or your agency) if consumers’ desire to receive direct mail is something your business can take advantage of.

More ads may be going digital, but as this study shows, there’s still lots of room for success for companies that invest in doing print marketing well.