- Direct mail response rates took a tremendous leap in 2016 with a 5.3% response rate to house lists and 2.9% to prospect lists. These are the highest levels the DMA has tracked since 2003. For comparison, in 2015 the rates were 3.7% and 1.0% respectively. In 2010 it was 3.4% and 1.4%.
- Just like our previous recap of the DMA’s 2015 findings, direct mail response rates blow digital channels out of the water, with no other channel cracking 1%. The other channels ranked in order of highest to lowest were Online Display (0.9%), Email (0.6% house/.3% prospect), Social Media (0.6%), and Paid Search (0.5%).
- Industries with the highest use of direct mail are Financial Services—Banks or Credit Unions at 71%, Consumer Packaged Goods at 63%, Retail at 55%, Travel or Hospitality at 55%, and Publishing or Media at 54%.
- Direct mail has the third highest ROI according to the report. Email led with 122%, followed by social media at 28%, direct mail at 27%, paid search at 25%, and online display at 18%.
https://thedma.org/marketing-insights/response-rate-report/
