Direct mail is the second most used medium (57%), tied with social media.

(Source: ANA/DMA Response Rate Report 2018)

Direct mail response rate was 4.9% for prospect lists in 2018.

Direct mail response rate was 4.9% for prospect lists in 2018. This is significantly higher than in 2017 and the highest since the report started in 2003.

(Source: ANA/DMA Response Rate Report 2018)

All Consumers

76% of consumers trust direct mail when they want to make a purchase decision.

76% of consumers trust direct mail when they want to make a purchase decision. In fact, consumers trust traditional advertising channels more than digital channels when making a purchase.

Boomers

According to a MarketingCharts study, direct mail was found to be the top purchase influencer among Baby Boomers.

According to a MarketingCharts study, direct mail was found to be the top purchase influencer among Baby Boomers. It even beat out recommendations from friends and family.

Millennials

Let’s look at how Millennials interact with mail. Here are some revealing statistics.

17% of Millennials pay attention to direct mail advertising.

90% of Millennials think direct mail advertising is reliable.

57% have made purchases based on direct mail offers.

87% of Millennials like receiving direct mail.

50% Nearly half of Millennials ignore digital ads, yet only 15% ignore direct mail.

	Direct mail requires 21% less cognitive effort to process than digital media and elicits a much higher brand recall. In other words, it's easier to understand and more memorable.			Research strongly suggests that greater emotional processing is facilitated by physical material than by virtual.

	Recall of messaging via direct mail is 70% higher than a digital ad.			The tangible aspect of direct mail leaves "a deeper footprint in the brain.

	Direct mail's motivation response is 20% higher than digital media's, which means it's more persuasive.

Receiving and Reading Direct Mail

The U.S. Postal Service partnered with the Center for Neural Decision Making at Temple University’s Fox School of Business on a study to gauge responses to physical and digital advertising pieces. The researchers used brain imaging, biometrics (e.g., heart rate and respiration), eye tracking, and questionnaires to measure reactions.

They found that:

Participants processed digital ad content more quickly.
They spent more time with physical ads.
Physical ads triggered activity in a part of the brain that corresponds with value and desirability.
Participants had a stronger emotional response to physical ads and remembered them better.

98% of consumers bring their mail in the day it is delivered; 77% of them sort through it immediately.

70% of Americans say that mail is more personal than the internet.

73% of US consumers said they prefer direct mail for brand communications because they can read it at their convenience.

59% of U.S. respondents agreed with the following statement, “I enjoy getting postal mail from brands about new products.”

56% of customers perceived print marketing as the most trustworthy amongst other avenues of marketing.

44% of customers visited the brand’s website after reading a direct mail advertisement.

4.4% Targeted B2B direct mail has a response rate of 4.4% — nearly 37 times that of email (.12%).

56% of consumers say they have tried a new business after receiving direct mail, while 70% have renewed previous relationships with businesses.

Direct Mail Statistics

(Source: ANA/DMA Response Rate Report 2018)

(Source: ANA/DMA Response Rate Report 2018)

(Source: ANA/DMA Response Rate Report 2018)

All Consumers

Boomers

Millennials

Receiving and Reading Direct Mail

Strategize a Direct Mail Marketing Campaign for Your Business