Quad is leading the conversation about the evolution of direct marketing.
In a new Forbes BrandVoice piece titled “4 Things Marketers Need To Know About Direct Marketing Right Now,” Arthur Hall, Quad’s Senior Director of Consumer Research & Insights, commiserates with marketers who may be feeling overwhelmed by a flood of consumer data gathered via direct metrics, surveys and other instruments. He suggests that the way to “see the forest for the trees” is to “step back — way back” to figure out how to best engage with consumers across campaigns.
“That’s why at Quad we’ve built a research and insights practice,” he writes, “that regularly surveys both consumers and marketers on their engagement with, and deployment of, channels — everything from digital and broadcast to social media and direct — independent of specific campaigns.”
Hall notes that Quad’s “recent big-picture research effort focuses on direct marketing (both digital and print),” and he shares some of its key survey findings, including:
Direct mail continues to be a cornerstone of marketing strategy
“Despite rising costs — thanks particularly to higher postal rates — nearly seven out of 10 (68%) marketers surveyed reported that their direct mail budget allocation had either increased or stayed steady year-over-year,” Hall notes.
Younger consumers in particular find direct mail to be useful
“In Quad’s survey of consumers,” Hall writes, “84% of respondents said that the direct mail they receive from a company they purchase from regularly is ‘extremely useful’ (24%), ‘very useful’ (26%) or ‘somewhat useful’ (34%) — statistically on par with email (with a combined extremely/very/somewhat usefulness of 87%).” He adds that “younger generations are the most enthusiastic about the usefulness of direct marketing — both in the form of direct mail and email. A total of 90% of 18- to-34-year-olds said they found email extremely/very/somewhat useful, and 85% said the same about direct mail.”
Hall offers his take on other findings from the research in sections titled “Multitouch — and personalization — matters” and “Direct mail isn’t fleeting — and consumers like that about it,” and he invites readers to dive deeper by downloading a copy of “The direct marketing revolution 2023: New consumer & marketer intel reveals how brands should shift their DM strategies.”
To learn more, read Arthur Hall’s entire column here: “4 Things Marketers Need To Know About Direct Marketing Right Now” — and be sure to visit Quad’s Forbes BrandVoice page for more marketing thought leadership.
