This past summer I spent three days at DMA 2008, the world’s largest annual marketing conference. Due to the expense involved in attending (a $2,000 registration fee + air and three nights of hotel) this was actually my first DMA conference. Being a professional marketer since the early 1990s I have seen a great deal of change within my profession, and expected the nearly three-hour opening session to be filled with teasers for new and exciting marketing-related concepts and technologies. However, I was surprised—if not completely disappointed—to find that DMA’s primary focus, even today, is their long and storied history with direct mail.
As an aside . . . shortly before I posted this article, I paid a visit to Google to do some testing. For each of the search phrases direct mail, direct mail marketing, direct mailing, mail marketing and direct mail marketing help, the DMA website came up on the first page of organic results. However, the site showed up on page 3 for search engine marketing, page 9 for email marketing, page 13 for Internet marketing, and nowhere in the first 20 pages for the phrase social network marketing.
I will be the first to admit there are still a few pieces of mail I look forward to: the rebate checks, the Restoration Hardware catalogs, our monthly township newsletter, and my quarterly Social Security statement . . . which unfortunately details exactly how little money I have made during my life so far. But other than these few items, anything I receive via mail—no matter how colorful or attractive—is dropped directly into my paper recycling bin. As a professional marketer I don’t believe I am alone in my aversion to direct mail, and have come up with six reasons why direct mail should assume its rightful place in the Marketing Museum next to the fax machine, the printed coupon, and the trade show.
Reason #1: Mail Pieces Cost Money to Design. With all of the advancements in software and technology, anyone with a computer can lay out an effective email, write a Twitter post, or upload a web page. But only a graphic designer with a $1,000 piece of software and a $4,000 Mac can design a direct mail piece. . . . and charge $50 an hour to do it.
Reason #2: There is No Opt-In or Spam Law for Direct Mail. The lack of any sort of direct mail legislation allows direct mailers to not only bombard people on their lists, but also sell their lists to other companies who do the exact same thing. What is The Direct Marketing Association doing in response? Fighting like hell to make sure ideas like the ‘Do Not Mail List’ never see the light of day. If you have some extra money, DMA will even let you chip in for their Congressional lobbyists.
Reason #3: Stamps are Expensive. Targeted e-newsletters can be sponsored for ten cents per name. Email houses can send mass blasts for less than two cents per name. Twitter and social networking posts are free, and so are blog entries. And the price of postage stamps just went up. Again.
Reason #4: Direct Mail Campaign Stats Aren’t Real Stats. Direct mailers throw around numbers like Response Rate, ROI, Shelf Life and Pass-Along Rate as if they were cold hard facts. But in reality most are nothing more than educated guesses, based on industry-wide surveys of other companies who do direct mail. Or maybe, just maybe, the catalog I threw in the garbage WAS actually read by 3.6 other people between my kitchen counter and the trash bin?
Reason #5: Direct Mail Leaves No Room for Changes. Depending upon the industry your company is in, a direct mail piece can be outdated within days of being sent. Publishing a price, description or sales promotion on a direct mail piece means you’re stuck with it for months, unless you want to bear the expense of re-sending a corrected version to the exact same audience. On the other hand, web pages and downloadable PDF files can be changed and published in real-time, and updated emails can be sent—and only to the people who actually opened your first email—for pennies.
Reason #6: Our Immediate Gratification Society. 80% of the responses to an email campaign will be received within the first 24 hours. At the end of that same period of time, your direct mail piece will still be in a bag somewhere, waiting to be sorted and placed on a stagecoach, or donkey, or mail truck, or whatever they use to deliver mail these days.
After extended discussions with a number of people who frequent this blog, I get the impression most professional marketers (if given the choice) would abandon direct mail entirely—if their companies would let them. It frightens me to think how many of my friends and colleagues are still being pushed toward direct mail by their organizations, when cheaper and more effective channels like email, search engine optimization, blogging and social networking are readily available. But eventually, the slumping economy will force most of them to drop direct mail as a marketing vehicle, whether they want to or not.
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Author: Eric_Rudolf (68 Articles)
Eric Rudolf is Director of Marketing for one of the fastest-growing professional development and training companies in the world. Eric's work has been republished and Retweeted by The Rainmaker Report, The Social Media Guide, WhyPR, Elite Tech Jobs, Microsoft Small Business, and others. If every job paid the same, Eric would restore old houses or shoot pool for a living.
February 19th, 2010 at 12:53 am
Thanks for your post, but I must say that I disagree with abandoning direct mail. I support a multi-channel approach to marketing, and even though social media is more in vogue right now, there are still many nonprofits & for-profit companies benefiting from including direct mail into their marketing mix. I just published a post with examples from actual clients. Please take a look: http://bit.ly/9CVpjB
February 19th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Hi Blase:
I can respect that you disagree–I don’t expect the world to accept all of my viewpoints. In reality, I do believe that some businesses can still extract a bit of value from Direct Mail. That said, the trap most companies keep falling into is the the belief that the “multi-channel marketing approach” you reference above can’t be accomplished without Direct Mail. Most companies can get by without using Direct Mail, but still cling to it because they’ve “always done it.” In my opinion, small companies are better off filling their marketing campaign schedules with multi-channel methods that can be immediately evaluated and immediately adjusted if necessary–direct email, online newsletters, SEO, website advertising, Webinars, article marketing and of course social networking.
Thanks for your reply, and good luck!
March 1st, 2010 at 11:24 am
thanks for the honest take on direct mail. for once!!! I never understood the fascination with direct mail and all the marketing “gurus” that tell you to mail, mail, mail… coming from the standpoint of a consumer turned entrepreneur. if it’s not something that I anticipated receiving (bills, checks from clients, or a catalog that I will most likely put in a pile for “later”)… the “direct mail” piece, that cost so much to produce, will most likely end up in the recycle bin.
March 1st, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Hi Joyce:
Thanks for the great reply. I have received dozens of emails about this particular post. In almost every case, when the emailer is choosing to defend the use of Direct Mail, he or she inevitably works in the industry as a catalog marketer, designer, printer, copy editor, or in some related capacity. The keynote presentation at DMA’s Annual Conference is jam-packed with people who depend upon Direct Mail for their paychecks. But unfortunately for them, Direct Mail is rapidly becoming a ’situational’ marketing alternative instead of the ‘no brainer’ it used to be—especially at small companies.
Thanks again for writing, and good luck!
- Eric -
March 16th, 2010 at 6:48 am
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by TSCB: [ Direct Marketers ]: Is your company still clinging to direct mail? 6 Reasons to Stop Using Direct Mail … http://tinyurl.com/plbyly...
June 8th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Just came across your post…
As an direct marketer with a focus on integrating multiple channels, the idea of completely dismissing any type of marketing medium that could be effective for certain clients is shortsighted. Direct mail may not be right for all businesses or target markets, but for many it is still a critical and highly effective piece of the marketing puzzle.
I don’t mean any disrespect, but your reasons for crucifying it are flawed. Below are my responses to your “Reasons”…
#1 You can use Microsoft Publisher($90) and a $250 netbook to design a direct mail piece if you like, maybe it won’t look as good as a professionally designed piece, but neither will an email newsletter or website designed by a novice. The design is the least critical part of a direct marketing campaign, if your target the right audience and have a powerful, relevant offer, it could be a handwritten note on a crumpled piece of paper and still be effective.
#2 An estimated 197 BILLION spam emails are sent per day versus only about 584 million mail pieces including legit mail. Even with spam filters I personally still see 8-10 spam emails a day come directly into my inbox. From a marketers perspective, consumers not having the ability to block mail is good thing. When you do have opt-in permission, email is a great tool. But have you ever tried to send marketing emails to a cold list? Direct mail will outperform email nearly every time when you don’t have the coveted opt-in permission.
#3 Yes, email is cheaper and postage can be expensive. But since when do businesses calculate profitability by cost alone. Marketing needs to be looked at as an investment, not an expense. If a positive ROI can be achieved using direct mail, then the cost is not as important. Is it worth spending 44 cents to get a $5000 customer?
#4 By driving direct mail recipients to respond online, you can measure every interaction with them on an individual basis using PURLs and landing pages. Did they visit the landing page? did they respond? did they click any links? etc. You can even see when the mail piece is delivered using the USPS’s Intelligent Mail Barcode. These are not estimates, these are real statistics.
#5 Again, by driving recipients to respond online, you can make all of the same changes on the fly as email. New PDFs can be linked to, pricing can be changed, and you can now send emails to the people that responded if you captured that info. I usually would not recommend my clients publishing time sensitive information in a direct mail piece, that can be done on the landing page which can be changed if need be. But even ‘bulk’ mail today usually sees delivery in a few business days with first-class being delivered in a day or two.
#6 Most direct mail campaigns will receive a majority of their responses within 4-5 days of being mailed, yes it’s longer than 24 hours, but it’s not the pony express. This reason also seems like an advantage of direct mail, we have had people respond to offers from mail pieces that were sent out months ago. Does anyone ever go back and look at the emails they deleted?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for email, content, inbound, SEO, Social and others, but the true goal of one-to-one communications is to capture your targets preference and market to that individual they way they tell you will be the most effective. If an individual or real data from a certain segment tells you direct mail is what they respond to best, would you still try to convince them otherwise?
June 8th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Hi Aaron:
Spoken like a true direct mail marketer. I certainly respect all of the points you are trying to make, but after 18 years in Direct Marketing, I simply don’t agree with you. I will quickly respond to each of your points above:
#1 – I understand design isn’t the most important piece in the direct mail process, but it certainly isn’t the LEAST important. If design doesn’t matter, then why do Direct Mail sales people bring stacks of tri-fold, bidirectional, 3D, popup, process color, multi-insert, laminated, slide-out, UV-coated (you get the point) sample mail pieces to every sales call? The direct mail industry is all about two things–upsell, and design–and most small companies don’t have the money to invest in either.
#2 – There are a lot of idiots who not only use email, but use it illegally and unethically. It’s just a fact. Comparing those people to the ethical marketers who visit this blog simply isn’t fair.
#3 – If companies could repeatedly and consistently spend just 44 cents on a direct mail piece to get a $5,000 customer, they would. But they can’t. Which is why direct mail is dying a slow death, and thousands of direct mail marketers are currently unemployed.
#4 – I’ll give you that direct mail pieces can be ‘tracked’ to a degree, but anyone who has done it knows a) it’s a huge pain in the ass, and b) there are a TON of interpretation, guesstimating and judgment calls involved. When it comes to direct mail statistics, a good marketer can make them say whatever he or she wants.
#5 – You made my point for me. The fact is, you don’t recommend your customers put time-sensitive information in their direct mail pieces for one simple reason: because direct mail is a poor way to communicate time-sensitive information.
#6 – You are absolutely correct when you say that Direct mail has a longer shelf life than email. I cannot argue with this point.
Thanks again for writing.
- Eric -