Source: Print Buyers International
A marketing channel use survey conducted by Pitney Bowes and marketing research firm Vision Critical finds that direct mail is embraced by four out of 10 marketers and that marketers under 35 are also more likely than other age groups to use direct mail in their marketing mix.
- Nearly six in 10 marketers of all ages incorporate multiple channels into their marketing efforts. For the under-35 crowd, that figure is nearly eight in 10, compared with 56% of marketers between the ages of 35 and 54, and 50% of marketers over 55.
- Among the channels, email is the most employed at 58%, followed by direct mail at 41%, social media at 34%, mobile marketing at 12% and quick response (QR) codes at 7%. The survey also asked about “advertising,” which was not defined. Fifty-three percent of respondents cited this option.
- Under-35 marketers are most likely to make use of social media (28%) and mobile marketing (22%) which is four to seven times more than marketers over 35 years of age.
- Younger marketers are more likely (57%) to use direct mail than marketers in the 35-54 year-olds (40%) or those 55+ age group (35%).
Despite indicating more direct mail use, young marketers are less likely to indicate they have comfort and knowledge of the channel. In fact, only 21% of marketers under 35 cite mail’s proven effectiveness as a motivation, compared to 42% of those over 55.
“I would think a large percentage [of young marketers] find it harder to track [results] using direct mail than they would using email or social media,” Rader says. “You can take a direct mail campaign and tie it to a specific phone number, but those who are technically proficient can do a lot more with an email. Did recipients open it? What links did they click on? There is a lot more data associated with some of the [other] channels.” Older marketers, Rader suggests, have seen over time what response rates are, and more clearly understand its value through having used it.
Pitney Bowes based its findings on completed surveys from 500 marketers.
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