Direct mail vs Email Marketing

Direct mail versus email marketing

There has been a long debate about which is better: direct mail vs email marketing. At our firm, we offer both options for our clients. Direct mail is tried and true, and statistically, it has a higher response rate. However, according to a new article in Chief Marketer, email marketing has the highest ROI (return on investment).

Larry Riggs, writing for Chief Marketer, writes:

Direct mail may generate the highest response rates of all direct marketing vehicles, but email posts the highest ROI (return on investment), according to the Direct Marketing Association’s annual response rate report.

According to the study, response rates for letter-sized direct mail sent to house files was 3.4%, more than 30 times the 0.12% response rate for email. But email’s ROI was 28.5% compared to 7% for direct mail. 

Direct mail vs email response rates

In other words, even though people are more likely to respond to a direct mail piece, by the time you deduct the cost of writing, printing, and mailing the campaign, it ends up costing more than the email campaign. Email may have lower response rates, but it ends up making more money. This is especially true if you are emailing your customer base in a cross-selling attempt.

Remember: Direct mail is tried and true, and statistically, it has a higher response rate.