Direct Mail Will Outlive Us All
Direct mail is: [ ] Dead [ ] Near Dead [ ] Nowhere near dead.
Over the 9 years Tom and I’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 a really spirited denial of the ‘dead’ myth see this 2009 post, Chuck Pruitt is Mad.
Of course there are some Agitator stalwarts who stand ready to bury the direct mail corpse even before rigor mortis sets in. As you’ll see from our Comments section a frequent undertaker for this paper medium is Mike Browne, who warns the end is neigh and the wise will rush headlong to digital.
So, as Tom and I studiously planned this week’s editorial calendar we were blessed with the arrival of a lucid, rational piece by Gary Hennerberg, direct response creative and strategist writing in Target Marketing on Why Direct Mail Won’t Die.
In a somewhat novel approach for our opinionated and empirically-challenged sector, Gary says “direct mail won’t die” for a reason as “simple as comprehension”. That’s right, according to the research Gary cites, direct mail has the ability to deliver Long-Term Memory Comprehension, which is the key to “scoring a sale”.
Gary analyzes our multi-channel world using three stages of comprehension:
- Glance and Forget in seconds what we just saw or read.
- Short-Term Reading Comprehension that evaporates in minutes or hours.
- Long-Term Memory Comprehension that can last several hours, a day, a week and in some instances, a lifetime.
Next he advises how to leverage certain media channels based on comprehension. For example:
- Social Media. Serves up short, light content. Good for branding and building a follower base, but points out you can’t bank ‘likes’ and ‘shares’.
- Email. Best used with a list of your own ‘raving fans’, but lousy for folks who haven’t opted-in. If not connected with a powerful landing page, it’s a ‘Glance and Forget’ type of media.
He continues with an analysis of Websites/Landing Pages … Short Video … Long Video … and ends with Direct Mail.
- Direct Mail Postcards are generally a ‘Glance and Forget’ channel, but thoughtfully created postcards can lead to Short-Term Comprehension and with a strong Call To Action can move to Long Term Memory Comprehension if the reader acts by calling for information or making a purchase.
- The Virtue of the Direct Mail Package is described as follows by Gary:
“The ability to deliver long persuasive copy is the value of direct mail, and why direct mail won’t die.
“Let’s not kid ourselves: most direct mail is never opened and goes directly into the trash, making it a ‘Glance and Forget’ channel to most recipients. But when the recipient is curious upon seeing the outer envelope, opens it, and dives into a long-form letter, brochure, or reads an insert or order device with your offer, you’ve achieved at least Short Term Comprehension. When the creative and copywriting effectively persuades and sells, you lead your prospect to Long-Term Memory Comprehension. When you do that you score the sale.
“Direct mail, I’ve found, is usually the best channel for converting and producing sales. Direct mail, when using persuasive copywriting and clarity of design, facilitates high comprehension and works. And that’s the deeper reason why direct mail won’t die.”
OK Agitators, it’s time to weigh in again.
Is direct mail… Dead? Alive? Barely breathing? Eternal?
Roger
P.S. Lest you think the power of direct mail is age-related, think again.
Millennials — also known as ‘digital natives’ — prefer print over digital, according to Gary, who cites this piece in The Washington Post.
And research appearing in the Journal of Computers in Human Behavior indicates that while students think they comprehend as well on digital devices as on paper, they, in fact, don’t.
Finally, Gary notes there is a biological/evolutionary basis for the fact that in the rock-paper-scissors game of paper vs. digital, paper wins, and you can read about it in this Scientific American article.
6 responses to “Direct Mail Will Outlive Us All”
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Dear Roger,
I think many people have missed the point about whether direct mail is dying. It’s not at the front end that it is dying. But possibly at the back end, by which I mean the way we get people to respond.
Many charities, specially around the world (outside the USA) have found response rates spiraling downwards. Their first thought is to say “DM is dead”. They won’t try alternative methods. They just give up.
I think we need to innovate far more, (in all areas of DM), but especially at the back end. Give people an alternative such as responding online. People, even seniors, are too busy these days to find a mailbox (if such a thing still exists). We need to promote phone and online responses far more.
I’d like to know from the community, whether anyone has done rigorous testing of different response channels when sending a DM letter. What happens if you do not give a reply envelope, but just a landing page? What happens if you emphasize the landing page, and downplay the response device? Surely this area could do with a lot more thought and testing?
Roger,
Thank you! Our nonprofit clients acquire new donors and generate net income simultaneously via direct mail by combining renewals with acquisition, mailing to the right audience with the proper segmented ask. Acquisition response rates range from 1%-2%, 12 month donors:5%-15%, 1-3 year lapsed:3%-5%.
Sadly, the main problem is the stewardship of the acknowledgement process, which dramatically impacts retention.
As you saw in the recent Abila interview with 1,263 donors from four generations, they prefer mail and are open to receiving mail 8x per year!
Cheers! I agree 100%! Here’s an additional reason for direct mail’s success – I have found that older donors will read in detail. They are not skimming like the rest of us busy boomers and others. Older donors are the ones with the money, they are generous, and they are much more willing to read.
While I’m encouraged by the new digital tools and strategies (particularly Giving Day events in a single community), I proudly stand with you guys in favor of the printed word. The data is data. We know where gifts come from. Data doesn’t lie.
Rumours of the death of direct mail have been greatly exaggerated
Roger,
Sorry for not responding earlier … was out.
“If you want to shoot ducks, you have to go where the ducks are.”
Continuing to defend and debate direct mail as a message distribution model/channel/discipline/culture misses the point entirely. And the vast number of Development Directors who actually have to raise the resources to power the work of their organizations understand this.
The discussions about direct mail’s viability are a distraction.
The issue is how do fundraisers tap the power and reach of the Internet as society [their donors] shift away from traditional forms of media [including direct mail] to the essentially free media and communication platforms of the Internet?
This is where Content Marketing [Real Innovation!] comes in ….
-Mike Browne
It really depends which category the business falls into. I help local retail businesses with marketing, and some sell their products and/or services online and some don’t. Either way, $100 spent on an effective direct mail campaign crushes the same $100 spend on social media or paid search. Of course a badly executed DM campaign will always finish in last place.
The biggest problem with direct mail is (aside from content execution) is outlay of cost at one time. Many business owners are sold on the “$5/day” budgets offered by social media & search firms, for better or worse. My point is why can’t we utilize the same approach to direct mail and increase the frequency of mailings?
The answer is we CAN if you find the right partner that believes in this model and takes a long term view to sustain it. 🙂
Randy