The Death of Direct Mail… or a Huge Opportunity?
By Anna Johnson on May 28th, 2009Research by Borrell Associates forecasts direct mail spending to decline by 39 percent over the next five years, from $49.7 billion in 2008 to $29.8 billion in 2013.
Borrell says direct mail is ‘spiraling into what we believe is a precipitous decline from which it will never fully recover.’ Even if true… is this really bad news for marketers? Or actually a huge opportunity?
According to Borrell Associates, marketers – in particular local business marketers – are increasingly replacing direct mail with email.
While marketers spent $12.1 billion on email marketing in 2008 and are set to spend $15.7 billion by 2013, Borrell attributes most of this growth to local businesses embracing email marketing. Borrell expects local email advertising to grow from $848 million in 2008 to $2 billion in 2013.
If Borrell Associates’ research is right, it underscores some major ironies:
1. Just as email inboxes become more crowded than ever, local businesses decide to start or increase their email marketing activities.
2. Just as regular mail boxes become LESS crowded, local businesses abandon direct mail.
I can’t help but think that marketers embracing email at the expense of direct mail are driven more by the opportunity of saving on mailing costs, than being fully aware of the cost-effectiveness of one medium over the other.
Frankly, research like this makes me excited about the opportunities in direct mail. Who would you rather be? One of hundreds of emails in someone’s email inbox… or the only one in their mail box?
So while I’m a big fan of email marketing, I’ll be advising my clients to take a closer look at direct mail…
Source: David Dodd, “Report Says Direct Mail Spending Will Plummet,” Print CEO, May 21, 2009
May 31st, 2009 at 2:49 am
Great observstion, email and direct mail is best!
William