Whew! The Mail Lives.
I saw two surveys today that reassure me that old-fashioned mail, my favorite medium, will probably outlive me.
The first has no relevance to fundraising, but does shed some light on people who follow local issues and politics. The regional council on which I serve recently conducted a random survey of constituents which found that the preferred channel for receiving news and information about local issues was — for 35% — the mail. Topped by email, chosen by 49%.
Naturally, for those age 65 and over, mail was tops at 52%. I’m in my element.
Of course, for those age 18-39, the top preference was Facebook at 64%, followed by email. At the core, those pesky Millennials again!
However, I came home from the meeting discussing the implications of those findings on our council’s communications efforts to find this infographic awaiting in my email from direct mail vendor US Presort, who as you might imagine have a certain bias.
Titled: Five Direct Mail Myths About Millennials.
If you’re undecided about checking out the infographic, here are the five myths debunked:
- Direct mail doesn’t work with Millennials
- Millennials are glued to their smartphones
- Millennials think direct mail is unreliable
- Millennials don’t trust direct mail
[Teasers: 87% like receiving it; 57% made a purchase following a direct mail offer] - Millennials do not respond to direct mails
There’s hope for these youngsters after all.
The infographic, see below, also offers some tips on enhancing the effectiveness of direct mail for Millennials — e.g., integrate with digital … the refrain we hear and preach over and over — for the best results, work both channels.
Tom
5 responses to “Whew! The Mail Lives.”
Behavioral Science Q & A
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Hi Tom and Roger
I hope you are both well.
Great post. Is this USA only data or covering other markets too?
Cheers
Daryl
You must be reading our blog! 😉
http://bit.ly/2iqsvJO
We live to write another day!
Hey Daryl,
I believe the original source is US Postal Service, so US data only.
Tom
Daryl, not sure if these will help you:
– link to article on how Canadian millenials like and trust direct mail https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/blogs/business/details.page?article=2016/05/09/millennials_like_and&cattype=business&cat=directmail,
– from UK’s Royal Mail: http://www.royalmailgroup.com/new-research-reveals-journey-mail-home
– from Australia, this piece cites a study (not sure how large) on millenial neurological response to tangible pieces of advertising http://www.directmailsolutions.com.au/millenials-and-direct-mail-marketing-an-unlikely-duo/
— Lisa