NEW YORK — Consumer response to direct mail has risen 12 percentage points since 2001, according to the annual direct marketing survey by Vertis, a technology-based integrated marketing and advertising solutions vendor.
Released at the DMD conference yesterday, the survey contacted 2,000 adults and was conducted by Marshall Marketing and Communication of Pittsburgh.
“The results … indicate that so far this has been a good year for direct marketers,” said Scott Marden, director of marketing research at Vertis. “2001-2002 proved to be a challenging time for the industry, but the new figures show that both traditional forms of direct mail and online campaigns are having a strong impact with consumers, and there has been a significant increase in the level of responses to this form of advertising.”
The study reveals that 34 percent said in 2001 that they had responded to direct mail advertising in the past 30 days. In 2003, that figure climbed to 46 percent. Furthermore, the data show that younger baby boomers' response rates have risen from 36 percent to 49 percent.
As for weekly readership of direct mail, Vertis' research finds that the year-to-year figures are consistent, at 55 percent. But weekly direct mail readership is growing among adults with $75,000-plus household incomes.
In addition, almost three-quarters of total adults surveyed confirmed that they read direct mail, staying steady with last year's figure of 73 percent. Seniors and adults ages 35-44 saw the largest percentage increases over the past year, rising from 65 percent to 75 percent for seniors and from 73 percent to 78 percent for those 35-44.
