Marketing Week magazine polled its readers in October with a quick litmus test on direct mail. Turns out over 56% of readers believe direct mail influences decisions made by top execs and board members of their respective companies.
This is a belief we share here at VLG. In fact, one of the key considerations when mailing the C-suite (or higher) is to find a way past the gatekeepers. The mail will influence if it makes it in front of an executive. A strong tie-in to the web will ramp up the influence (see: personalized microsite).
When asked whether or not the recession has hurt the channel, only 5% of respondents said the economy is having a “very bad” impact on the effectiveness of direct mail. More than that, 7% claim the economy has had no impact whatsoever.
One obstacle to effective direct mail is the environment. More concerns about the greening of corporations could curtail direct mail volume, which might not be a bad thing.
We’ve long advocated shrinking lists sizes and using more highly qualified targets, personalized targets, for any direct mailer. Rather than shrink the number of mailings, companies would do well to shrink the number of people mailed.
Comments