Is Direct Mail Marketing Still Effective In This Internet Age?

Is Direct Mail Marketing Still Effective In This Internet Age?
From streetdirectory.com/etoday

If you are an advertiser, you may wonder if direct marketing is still effective in this internet age. Direct mail marketing involves sending information to a potential client and waiting for a response. Most of these mailers usually involve a coupon or discount of some sort. Does this still work?

The answer is “yes.” And for many reasons. Direct mail marketing should never be discounted in favor for internet marketing. While a business should leave no stone unturned when it come to marketing, direct marketing is more effective than internet marketing.

One reason why direct mail marketing is still effective is that people tend to have a little more faith in what they get in the mail than what they see online. Despite the fact that over 80 percent of Americans are now connected to the internet, many people still shy away from doing their banking online, making online purchases or trusting any online marketing. This is partly due to the fact that online marketing is still relatively new, people generally are a bit wary of new things and they have heard horror stories of people being cheated online.


People trust the mail. When you send something through the mail, it better not be fraudulent. Mail fraud is a serious crime and can carry a prison sentence. This is one reason why direct mail marketing is still effect - people can trust it.

Another reason direct mail marketing is effective for advertiser is that customers can hold the coupon or mail product in their hands. It is tangible. They can look at it for a few moments and may even decide to hang it on their refrigerator for future use. Not everyone who wants to have their carpets cleaned wants to do so at that second. They are more inclined to call you than try to find a website, when the information that they need is right there.

Still another reason in favor of the effectiveness of direct mail marketing is that it is easy to understand. Many people still find surfing the web very confusing. They may not understand how to use a search engine properly. Even if they know how to search, it can be a while before they get the business they are looking for. With direct mail marketing, they have the product in front of them. There is no coupon for them to print out on paper and the information is right there for them.

Although the internet is good for marketing, do not discount direct mail marketing for businesses at all. People still make a habit of rifling through their mail. They like to look at coupons and also look for something to read. With direct mail marketing, you also have the potential to put an idea into their heads that they would not have otherwise looked for on the internet. Advertisers who are wondering if direct mail marketing is still effective in this internet age should know that it is not only effective, but looks like it will remain so in the years to come.

Print is Effective

Choose Print!
Studies show that print on paper not only gets read (a whopping 80% of households read or scan the advertising mail they receive), it also drives both new and repeat business. In fact, 39% of customers tried a business for the first time because of direct mail advertising, while 70% of customers renewed a business relationship because of a direct mail promotion.

Print Provides a High ROI
A Direct Marketing Association study showed that direct mail advertising gives businesses a remarkable 13 to 1 return on their investment (“ROI”). Printed catalogs have been shown to provide a 7 to 1 ROI and an impressive direct order response rate of 2.24% for printed catalogs, as compared to just 0.48% from emails. In fact, a study conducted for the Art Technology Group found that 60% of consumers surveyed make purchases via printed catalogs at least four times each year.

Print Drives Online Sales
Print on paper can be a major driver of online sales. An iProspect study found that 67% of online searches are driven by offline messages, with 39% ultimately making a purchase. Shoppers who receive a direct mail piece directing them to an online site spend on average 13% more than those who do not receive the printed piece. Printed catalogs associated with online sites have been shown to boost online spending by 28%.

The facts cannot be ignored: Print on paper builds brand identification and powers sales. It’s no wonder print media is still the workhorse of successful marketing and advertising campaigns.

Article taken from Choose Print.
For more information on the effectiveness and sustainability of print and to view their sources, please visit them at www.ChoosePrint.org

Do what you say.

I'm just finishing up on the layout for our latest magazine publication. It drives me crazy when people don't follow through with what they say they are going to do. It makes my job so much harder, and ends up raising the prices for others.
I always do my best and in my business, we go beyond extremes to keep our promises. Chromatic does what we say, I do what I say. I wish others would do the same.
Just my rant for the day.

Print This Email!

I don't want to hurt any feelings, but I can't stand it anymore.
Are you one of those people who print this at the end of your email messages?:

"Please consider the environment before printing this email."

This is an agenda driven statement that is completely false and has been blindly passed around now for years. It states that you are uninformed and don't know the real facts.

Try something like this instead, part or all:


"It's okay to print this email. Paper is a renewable and recyclable resource. The forest products industry plants more than 1.7 million trees per day. For every tree that is harvested, several more are planted or naturally regenerated."

If you really care about the environment, the paper you use should be carefully chosen. It should be a domestic sheet and be SFI, or FSC certified. You can plant additional trees by printing with Chromatic and using the Green Print Alliance logo as well.

Insight from IP

Renewing your resources is just as important as reusing your products. Paper and advertising on paper lets you do both.

Take Care of our Forests

As long as your paper is certified, you can be sure the virgin fiber in it comes from forests that are responsibly managed. And that assures you that there will be plenty of trees. In fact, forestland is steadily increasing in the United States. But you have to look for certification from a credible third-party source, such as the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) systems, or both. Their certification is your assurance that endangered forests are being protected and that your paper is being manufactured and distributed in a sustainable manner.
Source: International Paper, "Down to Earth"

Top it off by using the Green Print Alliance. The Alliance will insure that your paper comes from well managed sources and that the printing process used will have little to no effect on our earth. And to top it off we will plant additional trees in your name in woodland areas of most need. www.GreenPrintAlliance.com / Chromatic Inc. in Glendale www.ChromaticInc.com are the founders of the amazing program. There will only be 1 printer per region certified to be in the Alliance, so be sure you are using one for your collateral materials.

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