Using Direct Mail to Enhance Social Media

Use of social media has exploded in the last seven years. In February 2005, the Pew Research Center conducted the first of six surveys as part of the Internet and American Life Project. In 2005, only 2% of adults who use the Internet were using a social media site. That number increased to 16% in 2006, 29% in 2008, 46% in 2009, 61% in 2010 and 65% in 2011. Who are these users? According to a Morgan Stanley report issued in December 2009, 67% of 18-34 year olds use a social networking site--and so do 67% of the 45-54 year old population and 55% of those 55+. In 2007, social networking represented about 1 out of every 12 minutes spent online, while today it accounts for 1 out of every 6 minutes spent online. If you can only afford to use one marketing channel, we believe it should be direct mail. Here is why; 1. The marketing message gets to the customer or prospect. You are reaching out, not waiting for someone to find you. 2. You control the message. At a social media site, anyone can say anything, even if it isn't true. 3. You are competing with fewer messages. These days there is relatively little competition for your customer's or prospect's attention in a mail box. 4. Mail is a physical media. The brain responds differently to physical and digital media. According to a 2009 study by Millward Brown research company, physical media like a direct mail piece eaves a "deeper footprint" in the brain, involves more emotional processing, and produce more brain responses connected with internal feelings.