statistics from the annual research of marketers and consumers on the health of the direct mail industry in the uk
Annual research of marketers and consumers on the health of the Direct Mail industry in the UK, carried out on behalf of TNT Post UK by fast.MAP and a survey by TNT Post UK to their customers, has found that DM appears to indicate a strong performance in the next twelve months, despite the current economic situation in Britain. The positive outlook reflects a resurgence of spending on DM particularly by financial services and FMCG companies. Of those respondents who took part in the survey 76% said they expect DM volumes to remain stable or grow in the next twelve months.
All this is of course is good news for the digital print industry particularly those companies involved in variable data print. Another interesting statistic to emerge from the survey was that 69%of respondents believe that DM is their most important promotional medium, followed by a website at 33%and email at 20.4%.
These facts seem to fly in the face of all the online marketering which has developed over the last year or so and begs the question of whether the web has become too invasive, or has DM just learned a lesson in how to communicate better, more targeted and less intrusive!
Commenting on the results Lieneke Happel, Director of Marketing and Strategy, TNT Post UK said: “We are pleased that direct mail continues to be seen as the most effective promotional tool used by marketers and that it is holding its own in a very competitive landscape. The consumer insights were revealing and present some creative opportunities for DM users knowing that many of their targets will read DM in bed or even on the loo!”
Interestingly it seems that consumer habits relating to DM vary. The majority of recipients prefer to read their DM as soon as they pick it up from the door mat and for those who wait till later in the day most read it on the couch in the living room (65%), followed by at the kitchen table (52%), in the garden (23 %) and 18 % on the toilet. There is also an age and gender difference in where people look at their DM. Males are far more likely to read direct mail either in the toilet or at work than females and the young are most likely to read it in bed and in the toilet.
Tells you something about our reading habits maybe!
About TNT Post
TNT Post is the second largest UK postal company and has the resources to deliver both addressed and unaddressed items. It currently handles more than 200 million items a month.
