Due in part to its low cost, the relative ease of conducting a campaign, and the growing availability of e-mail lists, email marketing is increasingly seen as an alternative to direct mail marketing--especially to reach the under 30 year old demographic. However, recent research suggests that digital marketing may not be living up to its original promise. In a survey conducted by Harris Interactive in July 2009, of 2,265 U.S. adults age 18 and above, a majority of respondents stated that printed media is easier to read than the digital equivalent (though they did prefer the immediacy of the digital media). Of those surveyed, 68% said they felt more comfortable when they have something on paper rather than on a computer screen.
One problem with e-mail marketing is deliverability of the message. In February 2010 the president of Return Path, an e-mail deliverability company, commented on deliverability. "Almost 95% of email messages at one point in 2009 were classified as spam, according to a recent study," said George Bilbrey, President, of Return Path. "As IPS's battle the onslaught of spam, the risks increase that legitimate senders will find their emails mislabeled as spam or junk and not reach consumers' inboxes."

In another 2008 study, the DMNews/Pitney Bowes survey, 1,000 American Consumers (split 50-50 between men and women) age 18 and up from ten major metropolitan areas (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Phoenix and Seattle) were surveyed regarding the direct mail marketing pieces they receive. Here are the survey findings;
1. Nearly 94% of consumers surveyed reported taking action on promotional offers and coupons received via direct mail.
2. 20% of consumers reported that more than 10% of the offers or coupons they received by mail led to a purchase.
3. Almost 40% of respondents said they had tried a new business for the first time because of information received via direct mail.
4. Nearly 70% of respondents said they renewed a relationship with a business because they received a direct mailing or promotional item.
5. Respondents stated that information received via direct mail often led to a contribution to a non-profit organization for the first time.
The surveyors concluded that "direct mail induces consumers to touch the offer--recipients of mail are receiving, sorting reading and using direct mail to make purchasing decisions.

Direct Mail
As the amount of advertising on the Internet has grown, conventional wisdom has declared that direct mail marketing will disappear as a way of reaching customers and prospects. To us this sounds a lot like the now-debunked predictions about the paperless office. Every year since 1987, the United States Postal Service has conducted an annual study called "The Household Diary Study." In 2008 the study included 5,312 households who completed a seven-day household diary of mail received and sent for all 52 weeks of the study year. Here are some of the study results;
1. Advertising mail represented 63% of all mail received--an average of about 16 pieces per week.
2. 79% of households said they either read or scanned the advertising mail they received.
3. One in three households said they made one or more purchases as a result of receiving the advertising mail.
Contrary to the prevailing opinion that direct mail is "junk" mail that is immediately discarded by recipients, a majority of respondents in the 2008 Household Study reported paying to attention to the advertising.

Direct Mail