Only Half of Surveyed INSTORE Readers Still Use Direct Mail

question:

Do you ever use direct mail campaigns?

Yes: 47%

• We use direct mail for most of our major in-store events. We found it to be the best form of advertising besides constant contact. Part of our routine at take-in for repairs or special orders is the question, “How did you find out about us?” No. 1 word of mouth, No. 2 reviews on Yelp or Google, and No. 3 direct mail and Constant Contact. I love that kind of feedback; it tells me where to invest my adverting budget for the most impact! — Denise O., La Grange, IL
• It seems to work, especially to our regular customer base. They will let us know if they do not get a mailout when others have. — Gene, John and Krista P., Tuscaloosa, AL
• I can use EDDM [Every Door Direct Mail] and target where I want to send the cards. I can also time the cards so I’m not sending out 10,000 at a time with several hundred customers coming into my store at about the same time, overwhelming us. — Dale R., Loveland, OH
• I did so during my Retirement Sale and aspire to do so monthly through Drive Retail and The Edge clienteling integrations. I’d love to reward our customers for choosing us, coming back for jewelry spa days and seeing what’s new! — Jill K., Danielson, CT
• It works if you do it well. Our yearly catalog always brings people in, usually with dog-eared pages! — Kim H., Sumter, SC
• We do a highly targeted, very luxe mailing to our top 100 during the holidays. — Melissa Q., Chicago, IL
• It works. We mail 8-9 times a year a postcard, and then at the end of the year, we take our best-sellers and put them in a Christmas brochure. — Ragnar B., Vancouver, BC
• We use direct mail campaigns when we want to personalize the customer experience. For example, we have a 50/50 sale coming up. We will mail personalized letters to customers invited to shop the sale early. This is based on their shopping history. Everyone else will find out about the event via email and social media. — Beth G., Binghamton, NY
• We believe it is another touch point to our customers and part of our overall marketing strategy. — Christopher S., Wexford, PA
• Once or twice a year, thinking of doing more in the coming months. Many of our customers don’t have email, so they need a personal reminder. — Nancy and Pierre P., Swansea, MA
• We use them very sparingly and always make it highly personal. We do letters in A2 envelopes with a real stamps and handwritten addresses. This gives the mail we send the greatest open-and-read rate of anything we do and helps customers feel a personal touch from us when we do mail stuff out. — Kyle Bullock, Bullock’s Jewelry, Roswell, NM
• They work for us! We send out oversized postcards for important events and a catalog/look book once a year (for the holidays). — Jennifer H., Bozeman, MT

No: 53%

• I received no return on the campaigns, and the only returns I received were the undeliverable cards sent. Bad mailing list. — Laurie C., Hyde Park, NY
• It’s expensive and time-consuming. — Eve A., Evanston, IL
• Use direct text messages. — Susie Greenwald H., Pahrump, NY
• We stick with digital formats to suit our client preferences to limit “junk paper mail.” — Jim T., Seattle, WA
• Used to. Thinking it might be worth a try again, but I’m not sure I have a good snail mail database anymore, just emails and phone numbers. Thinking to revamp that. — Ellie T., Chicago, IL
• We have not seen a big difference for the money. — Karen H., Batavia, IL
• We switched to email a long time ago. — Zdena J., Solvang, CA
• Too costly … especially when I can target market, demographics and geographic areas on social media for much less. — Patty Gallun H., Cedarburg, WI
• I used to, but social media was cheap and effective. I have considered doing a promo because now there is less direct mail than the amount of junk mail there used to be. — Kas J., Jefferson City, MO
• I don’t like receiving them and I imagine the same for my customers. Old-fashioned notion? So be it. — Steven W., Chatham, MA
• We did, but frankly, with our focus on recycling and sustainability, adding to the landfills was a conflict. We instead use email. — Beth C., Dublin, OH