Webinar Recap: State of Direct Mail Consumer Insights

We love direct mail at Lob and as users of the channel ourselves, we were curious how the end recipients or consumers feel about it and how effective it is at building relationships with and getting them to take action. We partnered with industry pros, Comperemedia, to survey more than 2,000 consumers to see how they react to and engage with direct mail.

We compiled all the data into the 2022 State of Direct Mail Consumer Insights report and shared the key findings and actionable insights in a recent webinar hosted by our Director of Content Marketing, Kim Courvoisier. The webinar featured industry experts Kate Seabolt, Enterprise Customer Success Manager at Lob, and Hannah Pucci, Director, Consulting Primary Research at Comperemdia.

In this post, we’ll share the top three takeaways from the webinar and you can read the full report for all the insights and data.

3 key takeaways from the State of Direct Mail Consumer Insights

Key takeaway #1: Consumers are exhausted - digitally

Consumers are suffering from digital exhaustion. Kate Seabolt noted that the average consumer receives 157 emails across five inboxes daily and sees about 3,000 digital ads daily!

Conversely, consumers only get about two to three pieces of mail each day, it’s easier to read through and digest the information instead, making it more impactful. In fact, 85% of consumers regularly read direct mail either immediately, the same day, or at a later time.

Key takeaway #2: YOY direct mail marketing spend is up

62% of consumers report being inspired to take action after reading a piece of direct mail which makes it understandable that marketers plan to spend on a channel that converts. From our State of Direct Mail report earlier this year, we found that 67% of marketers agreed that direct mail has the highest ROI of any channel they use.

Seabolt added that direct mail budgets were projected to account for 4.8% of total marketing budgets in 2022, but now it’s closer to 10.4%. In 2021, $41.9B was spent on direct mail and that spend is not slowing down in the coming years.

Key takeaway #3: Postcards are most impactful for those aged 35-54 when compared to other generations

Hannah Pucci shared that the assumption here is that this group is time-starved and needs their information to be quick and get to the point. It’s easy to see that the postcard format signals that they won’t have to spend a ton of time reading to get the message.

Pucci also mentioned some relevant data points when it comes to inspiring consumers to take action:

• Images: Consumers find images of an item, brand, or service they have purchased or purchased from to be most appealing
• Localized: Consumers are interested in events or locations local to them
• Personalized: Personalization cannot be overlooked in direct mail! 52% of consumers expect direct mail to be personalized, so don’t stop at their first name. There is a myriad of ways you can customize your direct mail for each recipient

From Seabolt’s experience in direct mail, she also shared some tips to help drive action from direct mail, such as using less copy to both improve readability and to draw attention to the call-to-action, as well as making use of white space.

In summary, consumers are inspired to take action on direct mail and regard this channel as a positive one for building and maintaining relationships with brands.

Watch the webinar recording to get all the key insights into how consumers feel about direct mail marketing, or if you prefer to go at your own pace, download a complimentary copy of the State of Direct Mail Consumer Insights report.