Ready for Holiday Sales? Don't Stint on Mail Power

As retailers head into the holiday sales season and balance their offline-online marketing mix, there's solid recent evidence to support direct mail investment, even by digital-first marketers. It's why AccuList USA continues updating mailing list research to hone response for a wide variety of multichannel retail campaigns in popular seasonal categories like gourmet and food gifts, health/beauty, hobbies/collectibles, and pets. We're buoyed by recent data. For example, among the findings of global marketing firm Epsilon's just released 2016 holiday shopping survey is shoppers' clear propensity to respond to mail. In fact, 77% of respondents said they feel advertisements received by mail will have at least “some influence” on their buying decisions this holiday shopping season. Compare that number to the just 41% of respondents who said that banner advertisements when searching online will have at least “some influence” on buying decisions. According to the survey respondents, they are influenced by direct mail because it usually contains an offer or discount and the format allows for leisurely review time. No surprises there. If any digital-first marketers are unconvinced, they should take a look at some real-life mail examples from digital market leaders, cited in a recent article for Target Marketing magazine by Paul Bobnak, director of Who's Mailing What!. For more detail on those mailing pieces, go to http://www.acculistusa.com/ready-for-the-holiday-retail-season-dont-miss-out-on-mail-power/

Aging Donors, Not Millennials, Lead Online Giving

Many fundraising strategists assume the millennial age group, as digital-social-mobile junkies, should be the top target of online giving strategy. Not so, according to the latest survey commissioned by Dunham+Company, a nonprofit marketing firm. The study found that older donors, those aged 40-59, now are the most likely to give online, with 67% donating online in 2015, a 20% rise since the survey started in 2010. A smaller 54% of those under 40 years old reported donating via website in 2015, down from 60% in 2014 and mirroring the 54% online giving by those over 60. Which channels are driving online giving today? E-mail appeals are growing response, with 20% donating online as a result of an e-mail in 2015, up from 6% in 2010. But direct mail continues to spur online donors, too, with 11% saying they gave online because of a direct mail appeal. Older donors, per conventional wisdom, are more influenced by direct mail, with 19% of those over 66 years old inspired to give online by a direct mail appeal, compared with 8% of those under 40. Social media, a presumed catalyst of millennial charity, is having more online-giving impact--but not because of charities' direct appeals. Community and engagement are the engine of social media fundraising, with more donors in 2015 (26%) making online donations at the urging of another individual (friend/influencer) on social media than in 2014 (20%).  The basic lesson, per Dunham, is the importance of a multichannel strategy across age cohorts. The survey's direct mail trends support that conclusion: While 36% of those responding to a direct mail appeal sent their donation through the mail last year, the majority (51%) said they go online to contribute, and 18% will make that online donation using a mobile device! For more from the survey: http://www.dunhamandcompany.com/2016/01/survey-shows-aging-donors-most-likely-to-give-online/#sthash.38GD6IY2.dpbs