Direct Mail Response Rates

When you want to start on a direct marketing campaign, no matter what industry you are in, you want to know what kind of response you will get back to know if it will be worth engaging in. With consumers preferring direct mailing over digital, it is always profitable to do direct mail. In this day and age of digital media, the occasional traditional direct mailer is definitely preferred because it is a breath of fresh air compared to all the emails people receive everyday. To keep it interesting and keep your customers engaged, you have to think outside of the box and continuously intrigue your customers with new marketing techniques to create the best response rate.

In a study conducted by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), the average response rate for an industry-specific campaign was 2.61%. Non-profits seem to be gaining the best results by direct mailing with a whopping 5.35% response rate. Retail stores receive a 3.36% response rate and B2B direct marketing came in at 3.34% received back.

Your response rate can be affected by many different aspects of direct mail. You have to have the perfect balance between specific and broad. When you want to reach a lot of customers at once, saturation mail is the best way to direct mail. After you decide who you want to mail to, to receive the best response back, you have to be specific in your message to cater to that target audience but also broad enough that everyone in that audience can find something for them in your mailer.

Your response rate is definitely affected by all the aspects of mailing. It's tough to pinpoint an exact response rate for your specific mailing campaign. Things that can affect your direct mail are what you offer, who you target, when you mail, and how your piece is designed. These aspects all affect what kind of response rate you receive. So making the most out of your mailing and offers will improve your chances for a great response rate!