‘what is the response rate of direct mail campaigns?’ It is undoubtedly the question that our commercial advisors ask themselves the most. Many factors influence your response, including your industry, target audience, budget, artwork, frequency, quantity, and much more. Generally speaking, it’s a bit like asking “how fast can a car go?”. the car (fiesta vs ferrari), the driver (my mother vs the stig), the road (bumpy lane vs le mans), etc. all have a significant impact on the outcome! This blog is intended to provide an overview of what you should expect to receive from direct mail and how you can improve your direct mail response rates. direct mail response statistics
dma research shows an average response rate of 9% for direct mail campaigns. In a recent jicmail report, “In Q2 2019…consumers engaged with 91% of all direct mail. By Q2 2020, this number had ballooned to 96%.” so, contrary to some views, direct mail is increasing in effectiveness. In addition, the DMA reports as a direct result of receiving mail:
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- 92% have been driven to digital or online activity
- 87% have been influenced to shop online
- 86% have connected with an online business
- 54% have engaged in social media
- 43% have downloaded something
So, direct mail doesn’t just provide direct responses, it opens the door to more online engagement, which can lead to a conversion. this probably ties in with jicmail identifying direct mail as one of the most effective ways to reach the gen z audience: “this audience is 40% more likely to say that mail can change their minds about a mark than the average gb adult”. Marketreach reported that “Toyota harnessed the ability of mail to generate excitement and generate traffic online when promoting its latest Corolla. Using mail, a microchip and a stopwatch, Toyota created a race for recipients to see the car online when it was unveiled for First time traffic to the Corolla website increased 257%, resulting in a 900% increase in test drives and the addition of 8,000 people to the waiting list.” Clearly, then, direct mail is not only a very effective means of building your business, it is growing in effectiveness, particularly with the younger generation, and is great at driving traffic to your website, resulting in customers from payment. direct mail response vs. direct mail return
Often in marketing, we obsess over the response rate metric and overlook the conversion value: overall performance. Is it better to have a response rate of 10% where the margin per new customer is £100, or to have a response rate of 5% where the margin per new customer is £500? the number of people who responded to free beer direct mail (which I received just yesterday by the way!) will have a higher response rate than direct mail from my local bmw dealer who offers three years of free service with a car purchase new. however, think about how many beer subscriptions the company will need to cover the costs of shipping that much free beer, never mind seeing a return. However, just buying a car can provide a healthy return on investment for the BMW dealer. therefore, I strongly advise against using the above stats as your sole decision-making factor; instead, focus on potential conversion value and how to increase that conversion (which I’ll continue to discuss). best industries for direct mail
Direct mail is typically more common for business-to-business (b2b) marketing. however, some of our most successful and longstanding clients are b2c, including a real estate agent and an education provider. Here are some industries that particularly benefit from direct mail marketing:
- car dealers
- education
- council
- state & rental agents
- hospitality
- travel
- home improvement
- retail
- b2b products or services
Do established brands achieve better results?
following the car dealer analogy: startup, ‘flow cars’ and established dealership ‘stratstone bmw’ send out a 5k direct mail campaign. they send a letter and brochure to a data set of local bmw previous owners to their showroom, both offering a new 3 series 320i msport for a £399 deposit and £399 p/m for 36 months pcp (identical offers ). which garage would you buy from? I would probably still buy from stratstone even if its price was a bit higher. why? they have already built a trustworthy brand, which lowers the risk in their mind. This isn’t to say that direct mail isn’t effective for startups; away from there! however, the trickle-down marketing principle discussed below is even more essential for businesses to build a strong brand in the minds of their target audience. essential direct mail strategy
The essential strategy for building your business is direct mail drip marketing. On this principle, you regularly repeat (drip feed) your direct mail marketing to the same targeted audience. This has been proven to improve your response rates and create a continual stream of new prospects. To learn about this strategy in detail, click here. With just about anything worthwhile in life, by doing something regularly, your results add up. going to the gym, eating healthy, pushing to convert a great client, you get positive results through constant repetition. marketing is the same. People are much more likely to respond to your marketing when they keep seeing it. “Public mail offers greater customer value by increasing sales activity through long-term engagement.” dma “mail is not a one-box thing; it’s about making connections over time.” jicmail “Your marketing mail (including brochures, flyers, and brochures) will deliver the best results if you design it with the big picture. Make sure you map out your customer journey for a full year.” dma direct mail implementation
plan your direct mail for the long haul, stick with it, and integrate it with your other marketing elements. by doing so, your business will see results to take it to the next level. at flow, we have a team of experts who would love to help create and implement a business-building direct mail campaign for you. Of course, we’ll recommend the drip marketing strategy, but we’ll also consider targeting, artwork, type of banner ads, print, quantity, frequency, profitable options, and more. Contact us today, ask to speak to one of our sales consultants and mention that she has read this blog.