I think that we all do the same thing when we open our e-mail.  We scan our e-mail and throw in the trash, or simply ignore all the e-mail that we deem not worthy of our attention. Perhaps we have purchased an item and given a store our e-mail address.  In other cases we have not bought anything and are just solicited to buy their goods or services.  Too many solicitors feel they have the right to send us e-mails weekly or worse, even daily. Often we are afraid to opt out since that action may confirm we have a valid e-mail address. Luckily, without opting out, we can quickly delete them or can consign offending e-mails to our junk folder so they do not continue to annoy us.  Direct mail is different.

In a recent study done by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) expenditures in the US are expected to rise to $196 billion by 2016 which represents a 3.8% compounded annual growth rate since 2011. More households read advertising mail than they did 25 years ago.  The DMA study also revealed that the 22-24 age group is the one most likely to respond to a direct mail piece.  So direct mail does not just apply to older people, younger groups read direct mail too!

If you have a website you might be interested in the following:  As reported from the Letterbox to Inbox 2013 an attitudinal print tracking study done of 1,232 adults in the UK conducted by the UK Direct Marketing Association found that there was a 10% greater percentage of consumers who visited a brand’s website because they received a direct mail rather than just an e-mail alone.

The UKDMA study revealed that if recipients received a direct mail piece that they were interested in:

• 44% visited a brand’s website
• 34% searched online for more information
• 25% kept the mailing for future reference

Another interesting find was that over half (56%) said that they found printed marketing to be the most trustworthy of media channels.  48% said that they had retained direct mailing for future reference with 17% saying that they do so regularly. 33% said that they would have a negative view of a brand not offering printed communications.  Twice the number of 18-34 year olds believed that direct mail will never be replaced entirely by on-line marketing compared to consumers over the age of 55 (20% vs. 9%)

One commentator of the study David Cole, MD of fast.map noted about the report “Direct mail is also twice more likely to engender trust then e-mail.  Post (direct mail) is also seen as more memorable and authoritative, whereas email provides the ease of response and the ability to share.  We can therefore see how direct mail can then lay the foundation to make the role of email as a tool for response work much harder.”

Of course, depending on how you order them, all of our chiropractic newsletters can be e-mailed or printed.  We can mail to your mailing list with a printed newsletter, or to your e-mail list with an e-mail newsletter.  Based on the studies we have listed above perhaps using both in your practice might be the most effective use of your advertising expenditure.  Give us a call if you have any questions or would like to start using them in your practice.