Whether it’s on a mobile phone, an e-mail inbox or a social network profile page, the personal space of a consumer is coveted real estate. This week, we had a chance to look closer at one of the most fundamental personal spaces: the mailbox.
The results of this year’s DMNews/Pitney Bowes direct mail survey are a good reminder of the power of a tactile medium. Most consumers have a spot for mail on a kitchen table, desk or on the refrigerator, allowing offers to occupy a regular place in homes across the US. What’s more, the findings suggest that mail works as a sales driver.
This isn’t news to anyone who is still seeing good return on their direct mail. I often speak to people throughout the industry who have spent their early careers in traditional media and have now made a shift to digital. The technology has changed, of course, and the varied nuances of how a consumer perceives messages from each medium will always remain. However, the tenets of direct marketing remain a clear backbone to all the work that is done in print, digital and data segmenting.
In Bryan Yurcan’s Spotlight interview this week, Bob Bernstock, president of mailing and shipping services at the US Postal Service, suggests that taking a wider perspective from both sides of the fence can really improve understanding overall. There are many other areas which could benefit from this type of cross-collaboration. For example, agencies are shifting toward an unsiloed approach, taking on accounts at the concept level.
It’s become increasingly important for each person in the industry to advocate for the power of measured marketing in the face of economic downturn, particularly a drive towards integrated messaging and CRM.
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