|
WILL THE INTERNET SOUND THE DEATH KNELL FOR DIRECT MAIL?
Fear, Mania and Hysteria
Fears are understandable.
The Internet Is growing faster than any other communications medium in the past. The press is full of dot.com mania, some pundits predicting all other communications media will fall by the wayside. Investment in digital communications Is growing and there is no doubt that more and more consumers are choosing to complete business and personal transactions on the web.
No one In our business could be blamed for asking,
"What does all this mean for the future of DM producers?"
Forget the hysteria - what are the facts?
Pitney Bowes has conducted significant research amongst large producers of direct mall to find out the facts. We wanted to establish how the Internet has really influenced our customers' activities, and elicit their opinions on how the Internet will Impact on the volume and the sophistication of direct mall.
Now for the GOOD news...
A winning combination = Internet + physical mail
Our research shows that one e-commerce transaction generates three mail pieces, and that households with Internet access receive 50% more mall.
DM is emerging as a major tool to promote e-commerce
|
|
The majority of our research respondents bear witness that companies are not only using DM to drive traffic to their sites, but that It is the most successful medium for this.
-DM is used by 68% of respondents to encourage customers to visit their site.
|
|
-According to 49% of respondents, DM was the most successful medium for encouraging site visits (closely followed by press 43%, Internet 27% and TV, editorial, posters and radio following behind).
|
The Internet is opening the way for new channels BUT mail will still grow
It Is clear that e-mail will become a major DM channel over the next five years.
36% answered that to a greater or lesser extent, e-mail has replaced some DM activity.
-When asked to predict whether e-mail will become a major direct marketing method in the next five years a significant majority of the sample agreed that it would to a greater (51 %) or to some extent (41 %).
But take heart, because it is also clear that e-mail will not erase the need for traditional mall. The growth in the Internet is also generating a growth in DM
|
-A vast majority (78%) of visitors to our respondents' websites request literature to be mailed to them.
New channels have meant a change of communications (electronic billing may reduce traditional posting) but they are also producing growth in other types of mailed communications such as marketing offers.
|
|
When asked to predict whether transactional mall will be replaced by digital delivery in the next five years, 86% believed it would.
The majority of orders placed on the Internet site are delivered by mall (56%).
|
IGNORE THE WEB AT YOUR PERIL
• The market is concentrating on the growth of net-based communications.
• Customers want a choice of media -one channel is no longer enough.
• The Internet is just beginning to transform the DM and list broking industry.
|
-When asked if the Internet had transformed the DM industry, 37% said it had to a great extent, 45% said it had to some extent and 18% believe the Internet has had no effect on the industry
-On the question as to whether the Internet is transforming the list broking industry, 22% said it was to a great extent, whilst 65% said it was to some extent, with 8% saying it had not had any effect.
|
|
When asked to gaze into their crystal bail, and predict how the Internet will influence DM activities over the next three years there was common agreement that its influence will rise.
-43% said it would to a great extent, with a further 47% saying it would to some extent. Only 6% of the sample felt that the Internet would have no influence.
|
|
When asked if DM volumes will increase in the next five years, 67% believed that it would to some extent. Only 14% were sure that it would to a great extent, with 20% believing that DM volumes will not increase.
|
The Internet will engender sophistication of DM
|
Only 6% thought that the Internet will have no effect, the majority feeling that it will to a greater or lesser extent.
|
|
|
KEEP INNOVATING...
DM producers need to take a leadership position in the growing e-commerce arena to give customers the electronic interface they want.
|
According to our research, many companies do not appear to be taking full advantage of the Internet (63%),
But in order to succeed in the changing environment, DM producers will need to keep innovating and will need to gain control over their digital messaging strategy. Only 10% of respondents were using information from their website to a great extent when developing DM programmes, and only 4% said that their website had greatly improved the targeting of DM programmes.
A staggering 78% did not know which media generated the most orders from their site.
There is still a great need for world-class mailing solutions, and for those experts who maximise operational effectiveness. They will still be expected to play an important role in creating and designing on operation that will deliver effective, high quality and high-integrity output for their corporation. But this must be combined with web technology.
The UK will follow the same pattern as the US
Many look to the US to predict how markets will develop in the UK. The results of our UK research shadow similar Pitney Bowes studies in the US. There, 70% of dot.coms use DM to promote their websites and 32% of dot.coms believe that DM is the most successful method of generating website visits. 43% of dot.coms believe that DM is the most successful method of generating sales, and 37% of dot.coms confirm all orders by physical mail whilst 50% of dot.coms deliver their products via physical mail.
Back to the Production Mail and Software info Centre
|
