15 for '15: More Direct Mail Statistics

We’ve rounded up fifteen new stats that represent the state of direct mail in 2015. If you’re keen on knowing more about how direct mail gets results, check these out.

It’s Not Going Anywhere.

Direct mail spending grew 2.7% in 2014, exceeding estimates!
82% of marketers expect their direct mail usage to grow or stay the same in the coming year.

People Love It, Especially When It’s Personal.

Almost two times as many US adults react positively to receiving mail than negatively.
55% look forward to getting their mail.
67% feel that physical mail is more personal than electronic.
78% of CMOs think that custom content is the future of marketing.
But be careful, 50% of consumers report thinking poorly of brands who get their name wrong when marketing to them.

It Gets Response…

At 3.7% for a house file, direct mail yields a remarkable median response rate in comparison to the majority of marketing channels. Last year, direct mail’s median response rate was 8.8% higher than in 2012.
Overall, oversized envelopes have the best response rate, at 5.0% for a house file.
For B2C mailings, catalogs rank the best, with a response rate of 13.8% for house lists. Postcards also perform well with house lists, serving up a cost per response of $14, the lowest among mail formats.
Cost per acquisition (CPA) for direct mail, at $19, ranks well with other channels and remains highly competitive.

…and Holds Its Own in a Digital World.

Direct mail outperforms all digital channels by nearly 700% in terms of response rates.
Direct Mail yields a CPR that is less than half that of Internet ads.
Direct mail’s strong ROI of 15-17% is one of the highest reported and outranks those of most digital channels.
Direct mail’s overall prospect file response rates were 10 times that of email, which came in at just 0.1 percent.