DMA Study: Non-Catalog Direct Mail Advertising Still Growing

Non-catalog direct mail advertising is projected to grow as more than 44% of respondents to a Direct Marketing Association survey said they would increase use of the medium over 2007 levels.

The 206-page report, "Direct Mail Best Practices, Benchmarks and Strategies,"  found that 90% of companies surveyed use non-catalog direct mail and that it serves as the primary advertising channel for nearly half the companies surveyed.

“Companies still consider non-catalog direct mail a critical element in their media campaigns. Despite enormous growth in online channels, direct mail remains a key and integral component of direct marketing,” said in a statement Anne B. Frankel, senior research manager at the DMA.

Non-catalog direct mail is used more commonly used by consumer marketers, while e-mail is used more commonly use by business-to-business marketers. Companies in general spend roughly 47% of their advertising budget on non-catalog direct mail.

Most companies that promote products through non-catalog direct mail receive responses through the Internet. However, B-to-B marketers typically use Internet media to capture responses more than consumer marketers do.

More than 84% of B-to-B provide a Web site address for capturing response, compared to roughly 79% of consumer marketers. About 62% of B-to-B marketers provide e-mail addresses for capturing response, compared to 48% of consumer marketers doing so.

Inbound telemarketing too is more common among B-to-B marketers than consumer marketers, with almost 76% of B-to-B marketers providing a toll free number, compared to about 64% of consumer marketers providing a toll free number.