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<\/p>\nI recently received a letter from my local department store containing no less than six free hot drinks vouchers, and if I\u2019m honest, it made my day! I put this down to the fact that I will soon be hitting middle-age…but apparently I\u2019m not alone. According to a new study by Royal Mail MarketReach and TNS, a staggering 89% of consumers consider mail communications to be \u2018believable\u2019, while only 48% feel the same way about email.\u00a0Additionally, 70% of respondents admit that mail makes them feel more valued.<\/p>\n
At face value, the survey findings may seem a little unexpected: haven\u2019t we been \u2018told\u2019 for ages that direct mail is dead? After all it\u2019s an out-dated medium, far from environmentally friendly, more costly and to add to this, response metrics can often be much harder to track compared to digital. But the emerging paradox, it seems, is that as our world has become increasingly digital, the scarcity of \u2018real\u2019 mail is stimulating its revival, and consumers say they are more inclined to trust its authenticity.<\/p>\n
If we dig a little deeper, the findings begin to make some sense. We\u2019re living in uncertain times, and over the past couple of years consumer trust in digital has been continually eroded by reports of fake online news, privacy concerns, malware, phishing and a lack of transparency in sponsored content, among other things, which may be creating some \u2018trust fatigue\u2019 with digital channels. The Edelman Trust Barometer (2016) supports this view, showing that in the past 12 months 48% of global consumers have chosen not to buy from a company because they lack faith in them.<\/p>\n
The survey included questions relating to emotional engagement, and as the illustration below shows, attitudes and perceptions towards direct mail are far more favourable than email. For example, 70% said real mail gives them a better impression of an organisation, rising from 53% in 2007 and 55% in 2013.<\/p>\n
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The findings strongly indicate that mail still works, when it\u2019s well targeted and the communication is thoughtful and timely. Many of us are fed up with the deluge of email that we battle with daily, and as the \u2018no email\u2019 or five sentence email movements gather pace, more and more individuals would prefer to hear from companies through other mediums, it seems. One potential reason for this positive shift towards mail may be down to the fact that marketers have over-utilised email marketing for batch and blast campaigns, which have often been poorly targeted, lacking in personalisation, and occurring way too frequently. I\u2019ve lost count of the number of brand email subscriber lists that I\u2019ve tried to remove myself from recently, for these very reasons, and I\u2019m sure I\u2019m not alone.<\/p>\n \n Get exclusive insights into digital \n \n \n Stay Forward <\/h2>\n
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