Consumer Attitudes About Direct Mail Versus Email

More than 60% of people surveyed actually want to see mail in their mailbox, and I mean their postal mailbox, not their email inbox!

Epsilon just conducted a study of Americans and Canadians (2012 Channel Preference Study) to find out if they still love direct mail. And the resounding answer is YES!

To quote their latest report, “direct mail is the preferred channel for U.S. and Canadian consumers to receive brand communications in nearly every product and service category including financial services, insurance, general health, cleaning products, food and charitable causes.”

It seems that PRIVACY motivates people to prefer their mailbox. People simply do not trust the exchange of personal information – such as financial or health details – in an email.

Almost two thirds of respondents enjoy checking their mailbox every day. Half of the people say they pay more attention to direct mail than email And three quarters say they prefer direct mail because they can read the information at their convenience.

Not only do they enjoy getting direct mail, they actually open and read it. The same can’t be said for emails. 73% of Americans and 62% of Canadians said they receive a lot of emails that they simply do not open.

Consumers want a dialogue, a way to express their needs and interests, and they see direct mail as a more trustworthy method of expressing their desires.

So, if you are not in the mail, you have to ask yourself one question: Why are you ignoring the preferred medium of more than 60% of your prospective customers?