Smart Marketers Cater to Millennial Direct Mail Fans

Remember when marketing gurus were calling direct mail "dead," drowned by a wave of digital, mobile, and social technologies? Well, research keeps resurrecting mail from its low-tech tomb. In fact, recent studies find that Millennials--the 22- to 36-year-old, tech-savvy generation supposedly addicted to mobile devices and digital networking--are bigger fans of direct mail than older generations in some ways! For example, a recent study by InfoTrends and Prinova found that response rates for direct mail remain high for all demographics, including Millennials, who open direct mail received at the same high rate of 66% as recipients overall. More significantly, Milennials as a group respond faster to mail--within 2.4 months--which is less than the average response time for all respondents. Plus, the InfoTrends research found that a big 63% of Millennials who responded to a direct mail piece within that three-month period actually made a purchase! Along similar lines, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) conducted a survey on direct mail's political impact on Millennials and found that at least 42% of Millennials prefer direct mail political ads over online ads, and that Millennials are more likely to be prompted to action by mail, with 66% likely to research the candidate and 54% visiting the candidate’s website after receiving mail. However, research also shows that all mail pieces are not created equal. Mailings that resonate best with Millennials are targeted and personalized, per research. Luckily, sophisticated targeting and personalization are possible with today's variable printing, programmatic and automation programs, and database segmentation and analytics. Millennials demand printing quality as well, with one quarter of surveyed 25- to 34-year-olds saying they opened direct mail because of the print and image quality. Plus, engaging copy counts, with 25% of that same surveyed group saying they consider reading direct mail a leisure activity. That doesn't mean that printed mail can be divorced from Millennials' digital lifestyle. Data in eMarketer's survey report “US Millennial Shoppers 2017” shows that Millennials prefer digital shopping and are comfortable with mobile shopping, which means that integrating print and digital--via QR, AR, or PURL--can significantly boost response. For more detail, go to http://www.acculistusa.com/marketers-win-by-catering-to-millennial-direct-mail-fans/

Science & USPS Both Support Mail-Digital Mating

For any direct marketers who haven’t committed to combining direct mail with digital media, 2017 is a perfect year for experimentation, with both “brain science” and U.S. Postal Service incentives increasing the attractions of a mail-digital marriage. For example, an article from The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) recently highlighted the “neuromarketing” evidence for mail-digital pairings in a recent study by Temple University and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Office of Inspector General and another study from a partnership the Canada Post and True Impact Marketing, a leading neuromarketing research firm. A key finding from the first study: Consumer “willingness to pay” was significantly higher when media was delivered across both digital and physical channels rather than a single channel. An important finding from the second effort: While digital media provide key platforms for customer interaction, direct mail is often better at closing the marketing-sales loop. So for marketers, a mail-digital combination offers the best of both worlds, helps bridge the gap between interaction and action and boosts sales. Why wait to reap the benefits? Especially now that the U.S. Postal Service is offering a range of 2017 programs that make the economic decision easier. The new Informed Delivery program, which inserts mail into consumers’ daily digital routines, is one example. Informed Delivery users receive e-mails that capture grayscale images of the address side of their mail. Under the program, marketers can take advantage of three potential touchpoints with one mail piece: an advance preview via e-mail/app, actually delivery in the mailbox, and inclusion of a unique URL in the digital preview to drive trackable traffic to a website. Plus, the USPS has two promotions supporting mail-digital pairing this year. The Emerging & Advanced Technology Promotion (March 1 – Aug. 31, 2017) encourages mailers to integrate direct mail with advances in mobile technology using NFC technology, Video in Print (ViP), Beacon technology, “Enhanced” Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality (newly included this year) or, as of 2017, use of Digital to Direct Mail to boost response with dynamically printed, personalized messaging automatically triggered by digital interaction. Mail-digital pairing is also rewarded by the Mobile Shopping Promotion (Aug. 1 – Dec. 31, 2017), which encourages mailers to invest in technologies that take recipients directly from the mail piece to a mobile-optimized online shopping experience via Quick Response (QR) Codes, Snap Tags, Watermarks and other technologies. For more details, see http://www.acculistusa.com/usps-science-encourage-merger-of-digital-mail-efforts/

Direct Mail's New 'Moment' in the Digital Age

It's no surprise when the CEO of the powerful McCann ad agency, which manages $10 billion in annual marketing spend, stands up to champion direct mail at the recent National Postal Forum. McCann is the U.S. Postal Service's agency of record, paid to push the advantages of mail. But that doesn't diminish the value of the insights offered by CEO Harris Diamond, as reported by Direct Marketing News magazine's Senior Editor Al Urbanski. Arguing that "in a world in which people are endlessly bombarded with electronic messages, direct mail is now the most welcome house guest," Diamond backs up his belief in mail's value by citing a McCann finding that the average American spends 25 minutes out of each busy day with mail. Diamond calls that 25-minute opportunity "The Mail Moment." And he offers five creative principles McCann uses in marketing campaigns to maximize results from that precious Mail Moment. First, he advises, go to the customers to understand their perspectives, looking beyond traditional assumptions; he holds up the example of Pope Francis going out at night, dressed in street clothes, to spend time with the homeless. Second, use direct mail's unique physical properties to engage in ways unavailable to digital, and he cites an Australian Air Force recruitment piece that mailed radio parts sans instructions to prospective engineers and offered a commission to any who could build the radio and tune into a dedicated station. Third, put new technologies to work with mail to enhance engagement and branding, such as using augmented reality (AR) to add a digital experience to paper. Fourth, realize it's not about mail tweaking; it's about "reinventing" the mail medium, using technology creatively to drive action and leverage the Mail Moment to the max. And, finally, make mail a tool for developing a relationship in the digital age, using data to target, personalize and touch audiences. For more details of Diamond's remarks, read http://www.dmnews.com/direct-mail/mccann-ceo-direct-mails-moment-has-come-again/article/485318/

Brand Marketers Are Ignoring Consumer Preferences

U.S. brand marketers model communications on a dictatorship rather than a democracy, consistently ignoring consumer preferences for channel and frequency, according to a recent study by MarketingSherpa. Indeed, the gap between consumer preference and marketer practice is often wide enough that many brands shouldn't be surprised at a profit-burning customer revolt. A useful infographic of research results, based on surveys of more than 2,000 consumers and 455 brand marketers, was recently created by Direct Marketing News magazine. Among the findings, although 54% of consumers say they prefer to receive promotions via print mail, only 19% of brand marketers send out print materials. Instead, 90% of marketers blast e-mails, even though only 60% of consumers say they want to get e-mail promos. And once they've chosen to woo consumers via e-mail, marketers time messages to suit themselves; 76% of companies base e-mail frequency on their own needs, even though only 24% of consumers want that brand-determined frequency. Of course, marketers are enticed by social media popularity, so 77% of those surveyed offer customers the opportunity to follow brands on social media. The problem is that only 20% of consumers want to receive company updates and promotions via social media. Similar overfishing of digital waters occurs with online ads, with 60% of marketers using online advertising, even though just 27% of consumers say they discover new products via online ads. For more details from the DM News infographic, go to  http://www.dmnews.com/infographics/marketers-ignore-consumers-right-to-vote-infographic/article/453627/

U.S. E-mail Deliverablity Rates Drop in 2015

About one in four e-mails sent in the U.S. do not reach intended recipients, reflecting a sharp decline in U.S. e-mail deliverability rates for 2015. The overall U.S. e-mail deliverability rate is just 76% for 2015, down from 87% in 2014, according to the latest global research by Return Path. Return Path's "2015 Deliverability Benchmark Report," which analyzed inbox placement statistics by country, industry and e-mail provider, did have some good news for consumer-facing industries; retail, health and beauty, food and beverage, automotive and apparel industries all showed e-mail deliverability rates of 90% or above globally. In reporting the study, MediaPosts's Email Marketing Daily noted that e-mail provider policies and new spam filtering systems could be one factor impeding e-mail marketers' deliverability ratings. For example, Yahoo! Mail inbox placement rates dropped 13%, although Outlook improved by 3% and Gmail stayed consistent (Gmail's new block button has sparked concerns for 2016 deliverability, however). Another factor could be the overwhelming volume of e-mails, according to the Return Path report, noting that e-mail traffic has grown by 16% since 2013. For more on deliverability by country and industry, read http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/260317/email-deliverability-rates-drop-in-2015.html

First E-tail Visit Predicts Future Buying Behavior

Online retailers can judge shoppers by their very first e-tail transactions, according to recent research from Optimove. As reported by Direct Marketing News magazine, Optimove found that one of the best indicators of future transactions is the number of items purchased on the first website visit. Shoppers who buy two or three items are 30% more likely to place a second order than those who bought only one item, per Optimove's two-year study of over a million transactions in varied product categories. In fact, shoppers who purchase more items in their first order are also more likely to join a retailer's top 10% of customers in terms of overall purchases. Wooing more first-time purchases to cultivate repeat customers is especially vital in an online environment where 62% of first-time buyers never place another order, per Optimove data. So how can e-tailers convince new shoppers to buy more? Optimove's research found the follow strategies were the most effective: data-based personalized recommendations before checkout; offers of impulse items during checkout; offers of discounts and promotions for purchase of additional items; encouragement of social sharing about purchases; and gaming mechanics, such as punch cards to earn discounts or freebies on the next order. For more data from the study, go to http://www.dmnews.com/e-commerce/first-transactions-can-predict-future-buying-behaviors/article/447997/

Survey Reveals Shoppers' Favored Holiday Promos

For online and multi-channel merchants planning their holiday shopping blitz, here's some guidance about what promotions are most likely to drive purchase decisions. Marketing Profs recently reported on the promotional preferences revealed in a survey of 1,000 holiday shoppers and 100 major retailers by commerce marketing platform Bronto and market research firm Ipsos. When it comes to online-only shopping, free shipping is a key draw, with 84% of holiday shoppers saying free shipping influences online purchase decisions and over a third (38%) saying they will not shop an e-commerce site that does not offer free shipping. Overall, including in-store sales, customers rate percent-discount promotions as the top inducement to buy (71%), followed by clearance sales (65%), buy-one-get-one (58%), dollar-off sales (52%) and free gift with purchase (47%). The interesting thing about the survey results is that merchants polled don't have the same promotional preferences; while 72% say they plan to use the percentage discounts popular with shoppers, only 38% plan to embrace BOGO sales, for example. And despite the importance of free shipping to online shoppers, only 18% of online-only merchants say they plan to offer it on all purchases; e-tailers prefer (41%) limiting free shipping to certain order values or times. Some holiday promos also differ in appeal according to consumer age. Limited-time "Flash Sales" appeal most to millennial shoppers (54% say they are more likely to buy) but decline as a purchase inducement with age, down to just 15% of those over 65. For more detail. see http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2015/28594/the-holiday-promotions-consumers-like-most

Brain Science Finds Mail Bests Digital With Buyers

The latest brain science explains why direct mail maintains its role as a multichannel marketing linchpin. In fact, direct mail beats or ties digital advertising in almost all the ways marketers seek to woo buyers, per a recent Temple University neuromarketing study sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service Inspector General's office. As reported by Direct Marketing News, the study, which showed a mix of 40 e-mail ads and postcards to laboratory subjects, found that a digital approach bested snail mail in only one area: grabbing customer attention. However, postcards outperformed e-mail in five other areas: holding customer engagement longer, generating a greater emotional reaction, generating speedier recall, and creating subconscious desire and perceived value for a product or service. And the two methods tied in three categories: engagement in terms of the amount of information absorbed, memory accuracy, and willingness to purchase and pay. The Inspector General's office is hoping the findings will inspire marketers to make better use of mail's power to win customers. Among its suggestions are increased marketer testing of mail creative, sequencing, and digital print technology, such as augmented reality and QR codes. For more details, read http://www.dmnews.com/postal/direct-mail-has-a-greater-effect-on-purchase-than-digital-ads/article/423292/

Study: Consumers Prefer Priority Info Via SMS

SMS has become an essential communications tool for retailers as online and mobile shopping grow. In fact, 85% of consumers in a new survey said they would prioritize unopened text messages over e-mails and push notifications from apps. Direct Marketing News magazine recently reported on a survey of 1,000 UK consumers by eDigitalResearch, which showed texting as the most effective way to reach consumers in real time with time-sensitive information. The survey results are especially pertinent for retailers, suggesting they need to implement a comprehensive communications strategy that includes multiple channels to engage with consumers across the entire life cycle, said Steve Brockway, director of research (UK) at eDigitalResearch, in a news release about the study. The research not only showed that SMS is preferred (by 85%) for the delivery of priority information, such as order status alerts, but that 53% of respondents cited SMS as the preferred method of communication when on the go, and half said they'd choose SMS for day-of notifications. It's not an entirely text-happy world for marketers: 59% of respondents prefer to receive promotional information via e-mail, and 54% said they always or mostly always open offers received via e-mail. E-mail also had the highest open rate for marketing information, although closely followed by text messages. However, trust remains an obstacle for retailers when it comes to mobile technology. Only 43% of respondents said they were willing to share their mobile phone numbers with retailers out of fear they would be bombarded with irrelevant communications. For more detailed survey results, read http://www.dmnews.com/marketing-strategy/dont-text-and-drive-do-text-and-market/article/416397/

Study: Mobile Drives Double Store Sales of Desktop

Retailers who neglect mobile ad campaigns could be losing a huge chunk of in-store sales. Direct Marketing News magazine recently reported that a new study found mobile campaigns drive more than double the offline sales delivered by desktop ad campaigns. In the study by ad platform 4Info, mobile executions produced about $30 in sales per 1,000 impressions versus only $13 for desktop, with the average return on ad spend for mobile hitting 257%. 4Info claims its research is the first true benchmarketing of the mobile channel's impact on in-store sales. The study focused on 83 mobile campaigns by 59 brands in seven consumer packaged goods categories over their entire durations, with the average being 11 weeks, and was performed using Nielsen Catalina Solutions, which integrates Catalina frequent shopper data with Nielsen homescan to derive results representative of national activity. See the DM News story for links to more detail, including 4Info's free report download: http://www.dmnews.com/mobile-marketing/study-mobile-campaigns-drive-twice-the-sales-of-desktop/article/413941/

The High Cost of E-mail Targeting Failure

Targeting and personalization may be the mantras of today's e-mail marketers, but many are still missing the mark, according to an Aimia Institute study recently reported by Direct Marketing News magazine. The penalties for faulty targeting are steep. Poor e-mail communications caused 70% of respondents in the study to close accounts or subsciptions, 66% unfollowed brands on social media, 59% opted out of all e-mail communications, 57% blocked phone numbers, and 54% deleted apps. Excessive e-mailing was another common misfire for marketers; 68% of Americans surveyed complained that they received too many brand e-mails. Of course, some industries are doing a better job than others. For example, 33% of consumers surveyed felt they received relevant e-mail information from credit card providers, and 29% said supermarkets and banks send useful e-mails, too. And there were glimmers of hope in the study for e-mailers who need to take better aim: 56% of Americans said thay are still willing to share personal details to receive relevant offers, and 48% felt personalized e-mails from brands are useful. For an infographic of study findings, see the DM News article at http://www.dmnews.com/marketers-fail-to-hit-the-target-infographic/article/412023/

U.S. Hispanic Market More Likely to Buy Via Mobile

U.S. Hispanic mobile users are more likely to make a mobile purchase than non-Hispanics, according to recent research reported by eMarketer. Nearly half of U.S. Internet users (48%) have never used their mobile device to make a purchase, per a 2014 survey by cloud commerce provider Avangate, but, of the 52% who are comfortable making mobile purchases, U.S. Hispanic consumers are more likely than their non-Hispanic counterparts to buy via smartphone or tablet. According to 2014 data from ThinkNow Research and Zpryme Research & Consulting, approximately half of U.S. Hispanic mobile buyers had purchased clothes, electronics, music or movie tickets within the past month. Non-Hispanic mobile buyers were significantly less likely to have made any of these purchases within the past 30 days. U.S. Hispanic mobile buyers also were more inclined to use their devices to research products; 53% of Hispanic mobile buyers looked for online product reviews on their smartphones and tablets, compared with 44% of non-Hispanics. And expert opinion counted more with Hispanic buyers. Overall, product ratings by experts are the second-most-utilized source when conducting research via smartphones and tablets. Some 36% of U.S. Hispanic mobile buyers searched for experts' advice, compared with 26% of non-Hispanics. For the complete eMarketer story, go to http://www.emarketer.com/Article/US-Hispanic-Mobile-Buyers-More-Inclined-Buy-Research-on-Device/1011528

E-mail Beats Text in Tapping Luxury Brand Buyers

Luxury brands seeking affluent customers should favor e-mail over mobile text messaging, according to 2014 first-quarter data from the Luxury Institute. As recently reported by eMarketer, the Luxury Institute found that just 17% of U.S. affluent internet users, those with an income of $150,000 or more, had signed up to receive, or were somewhat to very likely to opt in to, text messages from a luxury brand. Even tech-savvy, affluent millennials were not interested in luxury brand messages popping up on their phones: Only around a quarter said they had or would be interested in receiving such communications, a percentage similar to Generation Xers. In contrast, 49% of respondents said they had opted in, or were somewhat to very likely to opt in, to receiving e-mails from a luxury brand. Luxury brand e-mails are likely to do even better with younger affluents, however. The overall e-mail acceptance of 49% was skewed lower by boomers (44%) compared with millennials (61%) and GenXers (54%). The study held another discouraging note for digital luxury-brand marketers: Digital generally doesn't appear to play a major role in U.S. affluent internet users’ shopping or purchase processes for luxury items. For example, only 22% of all affluent respondents (27% for techie millennials) said they researched luxury brands online and then purchased in-store. For more, see http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Affluents-Dont-Want-Texts-Luxury-Brands/1010867

Firms Alter Social Tactics Due to Low Buying Impact

Marketers are refining social media strategies as research shows social media's minimal direct effect on purchasing, reports the Wall Street Journal. Companies are taking note of information like the recent Gallup poll finding that 62% of the more than 18,000 U.S. consumers questioned said social media had no influence on their buying decisions. Gallup concludes that "consumers are highly adept at tuning out brand-related Facebook and Twitter content." At the same time, brand advertisers must deal with Facebook's changed management of users' news feeds, going from a largely chronological stream to featuring items Facebook thinks users will want. As a result, brands reached just 6.5% of their fans with Facebook posts in March, down from 16% in February 2012, according to EdgeRank Checker, a social-media analytics firm. So U.S. companies, which spent $5.1 billion on social-media advertising in 2013, are beginning to shift gears. Per the WSJ story, many are no longer seeking to maximize the quantity of Facebook fans or Twitter followers as much as the quality of interactions, by tracking brand mentions for example. However, this adjusting of social marketing strategies hasn't hurt Facebook so far, according to WSJ. Facebook first quarter net income nearly tripled on a 72% increase in revenue. For more of the article, read http://online.wsj.com/articles/companies-alter-social-media-strategies-1403499658