Is Direct Mail taken seriously in this fast-growing digital age?

... the rise of new and diverse marketing methods via digital technology has lead many people to question how much longer direct mail will form a part of the mix. So why, in this new and exciting digital age should direct mail be taken seriously? 

In the beginning, direct mail was groundbreaking in that it allowed companies to communicate with their customers beyond the confines of an office or store. It then evolved rapidly to include response cards and clever innovative and eye-catching designs and eventually we were opening our mail to find spectacular 3D pop-up creations and personalised items. Approaching the 90’s, however, sheer volume of this effective marketing tool began to earn the very negative terms ‘ Junk Mail’ and ‘Carpet Bombing’. 

Direct mail had to learn from its mistakes and has in recent years grown to become a medium that is far more refined. The cost of print and production, on top of increasing postage costs, have forced direct mail users to create more thoughtful and better targeted campaigns. Shrewd use of data in particular has revolutionised direct mail in recent years by enabling businesses to deliver content with the right message, at the right time, to the right individual. 

Direct Mail may have evolved in a positive way and left ‘carpet bombing’ behind but the irony is that excessive volume is now plaguing the digital marketing industry. Regardless of how sophisticated digital communication methods have become, content inevitably becomes ineffective if it is not targeted at the appropriate recipients. Research shows that around 75 percent of consumers get frustrated when offers, ads and promotions have nothing to do with their interests.