Over the 10 years we’ve been agitating, few topics are the subject of more debate than the all-too-familiar prognostication that direct mail is either dead or dying.

We’ve never bought into that myth as you can see from this 2012 post, Direct Mail: The Exquisite Corpse. And neither have a good many of our readers. (For an especially spirited denial of the ‘dead’ myth see this 2009 post, Chuck Pruitt is Mad.)

Now, 10 years later, the debate hasn’t diminished. In fact, 2 of the 10 most popular posts of 2015 involve direct mail. And, as usual they evoked spirited comment from Agitator readers. Here’s your year-end chance to also weigh in.

Roger and Tom

WHY DIRECT MAIL IS SEEING A RESURGENCE. You’ll want to tuck this post in your Board File. It’ll come in handy for that meeting in the 1^st Quarter of 2016 where some director will surely point out that “direct mail is so old fashioned and so expensive. Why don’t we just use email and social media?”

With a full-disclosure caveat that both Agitator editors are ‘direct mail sluts’ Tom takes you on a tour of the Agitator archives with its reams and reams of accolades and arguments in support of direct mail. Then, stepping away from the Agitator vault Tom offers up a fresh batch of factoids and graphics to help you make a powerful case for why direct mail tops the other channels.

As always, Agitator react. Some get pretty feisty. See what readers Tom Ahern, Mike Browne, Carrie Miller and Kevin Schulman have to say about direct mail — and to each other.

DIRECT MAIL WILL OUTLIVE US ALL Lest you think our defense of direct mail is pure knee-jerk you’ll want to read, or re-read Roger’s post — based on recent behavioral science research — citing reasons direct mail won’t die. It will remain alive as long as we have the need to raise money. Even Millenials prefer print over digital according to this post.

Understand the difference between channels. Social media = short, light content, but you can’t bank ‘likes’ and ‘shares’. Email = a ‘glance and forget’ medium; great for use on ‘raving fans’, but lousy for folks who haven’t opted in. Direct Mail = ability to deliver long persuasive copy that’s best for converting and producing sales.

Check out what Agitator readers Mike Browne, Mike Cowart, Giles Pegram, Gail Perry and Richard Pordes have to say about all this.

Tomorrow:  Bold Losers and Winners