Why direct mail and email work best in combination
Marketing communications landscape has changed significantly over the last ten years, especially now that it’s easy to contact customers instantly using outlets such as email. To understand what customers think about the different communication channels, Royal Mail’s Market Reach conducted extensive research on how mail and email work together today.
The research showed that by making sure that mail and email are working together, organisations can drive more action, more loyalty and more sales. These two different channels when combined spur more action from the recipients compared to when one channel was used only. As a result of adding direct mail element, 13% more consumers visited sender’s website, 21% more consumers made purchases and 35% more consumers redeemed coupons or vouchers.
Customers surveyed in the study were also clear that mail and email have different qualities, which makes each suited to different purposes. Customers have clear idea of when they prefer mail and email for the communication. Email is preferred for cross-selling, follow-up, news and updates while mail is the medium of choice for brochures and catalogues, welcome packs, bills and statements and loyalty rewards.
This is why 51% of consumers want to receive both mail and email from the organisations they deal with, while a further 17% only want to receive mail¹. So if a marketer only uses email to contact customers they can leave more than two thirds of those customers dissatisfied.
Mail creates stronger emotional engagement between sender and recipient, with 57% of people saying that receiving mail makes them feel more valued². Using mail opens up new audiences who only respond and purchase after receiving mail². A 2013 analysis by Peter Field on the IPA databank shows when looking at campaigns that delivered high sales performance, 27% more included mail than did not. Also, when looking at campaigns that drove high acquisition levels 40% more included mail than did not. Furthermore, campaigns with mail achieved over twice (205%) the market share growth than campaigns without mail in the mix.³
The research also found that mail drives people to connect with businesses online. As a result of receiving mail:
- 86% have connected with a business²
- 54% have engaged in social media²
- 43% have downloaded something²
This is only a summary of Market Reach report. To access the full report, click here
Sources:
¹Royal Mail MarketReach Mail & Digital Part I, Quadrangle, 2013.
²Royal Mail MarketReach Mail & Digital Part II, Quadrangle, 2014.
³Royal Mail MarketReach, Meta Analysis of IPA Databank, Peter Field, 2013.