Six direct mail myths busted

Myth 1 – ROI from Direct Mail isn’t as good as from other channels

Think again. The average charity pack is seen by 1.1 people, is interacted with on average 4.13 times and lasts around 6.89 days in the household. Think about that for a second…

If you mailed 100,000 recipients. That’s 110,000 people reached and over 450,000 advertising impressions just for mailing 100,000 people. At R5.00 per mail pack, the cost per impression is around R1.12

Source: JICMAIL

Myth 2 – My digitally savvy target audience don’t want to receive mail

JICMAIL research shows, ABC 1, men between the ages of 35 – 54 are surprisingly under indexed when it comes to receiving mail, however, show high interaction rates. Also, 25 – 34-year olds have a lower index at 48 when it comes to receiving mail, yet they engage with a pack on average 3 times. Some pretty impressive evidence when you think that on average an email is deleted within 2 seconds.

Using catalogues as part of your mail pack can also generate on average 4.5 interactions per month and with a lifespan of 6.89 days is in the household it too stays around and is reengaged with a lot longer than email.

Myth 3 – Digital marketing is quicker

The process of creating a piece of direct mail is very similar to that of email. Utilising the right methods, automating processes and agreeing SLA’s, mail can easily be turned around in 24/48 hours and on door mats within 72 hours. It then has the potential to stay in the house on average over 6 days! Imagine the potential in that time and the impact it could have on your brand.

Myth 4 – Mail is not environmentally friendly

Only 20% of wood harvested is used for pulp or paper. Paper is a uniquely renewable and sustainable product with European forests growing at a rate of 15 football pitches per day! In the last 10 years alone, they have grown by the equivalent to the size of Switzerland. That is sustainability for you right there.

Source: Two Sides UK

Myth 5 – Mail is expensive

Impressions driven by charity direct mail are on average 4.13 per copy. Based on 1,000,000 packs, that’s 4,130,000 impressions generated and at R5.00 per pack for example, that’s around R1.21 per impression.

Myth 6 – POPI means you can’t mail anyone anymore

We can still mail! As long as your audience has a legitimate interest in what you have to say, the ICO say you can safely mail. If you’re still concerned about using personal data there are alternatives you can use to find those all-important prospect customers.

Partially Addressed Mail is an incredibly diverse and compliant way of mailing potential clients. Using your existing database, we can identify your ideal customer profile, then target like for like prospect customers in South Africa with the highest propensity to spend. How do you do that you might ask? As you will be targeting at household level, there is no personal data used and fully POPI compliant.If you’d like to know more about this incredibly diverse channel, we’d love to bring this to life for you.

This article has been put together with excerpts from JICMAIL and Two Sides.

If you’d like to discuss your next direct marketing campaign, please contact moyra@thedragonflyagency.co.za