Arizona Business Service Network Newsletter
What does this mean for your mailers?
(5-Digit Local Rates)
Presorted First Class Post Cards - Up to 0.223 from 0.22, about a 1.4% increase
Presorted First Class Letters - Up to 0.368 from 0.36, about a 2.1% increase
Presorted Standard Letters - Up to 0.194 from 0.19, about a 2.1% increase
Presorted Standard Flats - Up to 0.304 from 0.303
Non-Profit Letters - Will remain roughly the same.
Non-Profit Flats - Up to 0.169 to 0.170.
Direct Mail Grows In Defiance Of "Print Is Dead"
By: Mark Kolier Who is Mark Kolier?
Despite
all the talk about marketing via social networks, mobile marketing and digital
display, the "traditional" consistently performing channel – good old direct
mail – continues to grow. While mass mailings of the 1980's and
1990's have diminished (I still recall the days when we would print more than
10,000,000 mail pieces for some of CGSM’s clients), 1:1 print marketing has
flourished.
How can this
be? Weren’t digital advertising and social media going to be the
death of direct mail?
To paraphrase Mark Twain "Rumors of its death are greatly
exaggerated". Winterberry Group's Bruce Biegel recently
reported that in 2010 direct mail spending in the United States was $ 45.2
billion. More than any other single direct response channel.
The primary reason
direct mail is growing once again is that it works.There were
declines in 2007, 2008 and 2009 due to economic concerns and the general
business climate. But the fact is that people trust direct mail more than
online offers.Highly targeted direct mail via the use of
sophisticated personalization resonates with consumers. There is also a perception (correct I might add) that direct mail requires a
greater investment on the part of the marketer when compared to digital
marketing techniques such as display or email marketing.
There are initiatives
floating around the U.S. Congress such as 'Do Not Mail' and 'Do Not
Track'. The 'Do Not Mail' initiatives stem from the perception that
trees are being harvested to send people mail they would rather not
receive. The Direct Mail industry has to do a better job of
adopting consumer choice initiatives in order to not send people mail who do
not want to receive marketing messages.
As for 'Do Not Track',
clearly people have privacy concerns when it comes to the use of their personal
data for marketing purposes.The digital marketing community
also has work to do in order to educate and assure people that individual
behavioral and purchasing data is not being passed around from marketer to
marketer.This debate has supplanted the ‘Do Not Mail’ debate
in Congress which is yet another advantage for direct mail marketing.
Customer prospecting
via direct mail remains challenging but not impossible. Financial
institutions like banks and insurance companies continue to refine their
efforts to acquire new customers through direct mail. And
direct mail as a contact management strategy is an extremely effective tool to
build a relationship and move an identified prospect to becoming a customer.
I still look at the
mail every day that I am home to see what we've been sent.Yes some
of it is not relevant to me but it might be to other members in my
family. We only have one mailbox after all, unlike email, text or mobile
messages.
So don’t abandon all
your direct mail efforts for the hot new channels of today. While
social media marketing, digital display, search engine marketing, mobile
marketing and word-of-mouth marketing are all great new channels, tried and
true direct mail should be an integral part of your marketing toolkit.
Read about more marketing ideas...
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