Is direct mail dead?

According to a postal service study the volume of mail delivered to U.S. homes in 2008 declined by nearly 10 billion pieces from the 2007 total. As mailing decreases, more and more companies are using e-mail to reach out to consumers. Combined these two trends have lead some pundits to declare that "Direct Mail is Dead".

Being a "lemons into lemonade" kind of guy I see a different story in these stats. For many years the big complaint about direct mail was that it was too easy for your message to be lost in the clutter. As mail volumes decrease the impact, and consequently the value, of direct mailed or home delivered publications increases. The opposite is true of e-mail marketing. As more and more messages cram our in boxes, the less likely any message is to be read.

For an ad to have impact two things have to happen. The consumer needs to notice the message and they have to believe there is a benefit in reading it. With fewer pieces in the mailbox, direct mail is a great way to get noticed. It is up to us to create a compelling reason for it to be read.

Keep smiling, keep selling

Thanks Jim Busch