Complete Story
10/14/2020
What Makes a Consumer Engage with Direct Mail?
Source: Jim Hamilton, Keypoint Intelligence, October 5, 2020. Provided by Canon Solutions America.
Any printer that offers direct mail services needs to understand what makes consumers engage with the mail they receive. Industry research tells us that consumers consider physical mail to be an important and trusted vehicle for communications. Consumers also tell us that when and how they receive promotions is a key factor in their purchasing decisions.
According to Keypoint Intelligence’s most recent marketing communications survey, consumers were the most likely to read/review printed direct mail that offered:
• Personalized and relevant content: Nearly 50% of consumers identified the inclusion of personalized and relevant content as a key factor. This aspect ranked highest among all of the factors mentioned.
• A familiar and trusted sender: Consumers in the survey were more likely to read or review a direct mail piece when it came from a sender that they knew and trusted.
• Importance of the message: This relates back to consumers’ top factor of personalized and relevant content.
• Ease of reading/scanning: All mail pieces should be easy to read or scan through. While graphic design and the use of color can play into this, this really speaks more to the intent of the mail piece and how it is conceived and delivered.
It is also interesting to explore the impact that age has on these factors. The top four factors were the same for all age groups, but the oldest respondents ranked them somewhat differently, with more of an emphasis on a familiar & trusted sender and importance of the message. Meanwhile, the youngest respondents were more receptive to interactivity than their older counterparts.
The point about personalized and relevant content deserves some more exploration. Over 50% of respondents to this same survey reported spending much more time with direct mail that was personalized and relevant than they spent with generic communications. This trend holds up well across all age groups, but personalization was a bit more important to the oldest consumers.
