Millennials and Direct Mail Marketing
As it turns out, Millennials love receiving mail. Not just birthday cards from grandma, but catalogs, coupons and even bills. Millennials and Direct Mail Marketing are key to driving success and effectively reaching the new generation.
A recent study by the United States Postal Service and Summit Research found that “Millennials enjoy it when they receive mail– even MORE than non-Millennials.”
In fact, 50% of the Millennials who took part in the study “like to discover what the mail brings every day and consider time spent looking at and reading mail time well spent.” However, Millennials end up receiving a lot less mail than any of the older generations. Perhaps this is why they are more excited to receive mail in the first place?
The study is forcing businesses to reexamine direct mail and how it can make an impact on younger consumers.
Who is a Millennial, Anyway?
A Millennial is defined as someone who was born in and between the years of 1976-1998. At the time of the study (February, 2016), that would make Millennials 18 through 39 years old. Older generations mail habits were studied in the research as well. These included: GenX-ers (40-59 years old) and Baby Boomers (60-79 years old).
Marketing to Millennials via Direct Mail is so “retro-chique”
Retailers and other businesses looking to extend a hand to Millennials via direct mail better scoot up a chair and take notes. The study offers a ton of great information for marketers and business owners alike.
It reports that Millennials are more likely to scan all of their mail, rather than just discard it without reading. This is great news for online and/or brick and mortar retailers. This means you have an attentive audience when you send out catalogs, coupons and special offers. Especially if you offer a product or service that is geared towards a Millennial audience. Knowing that they will actually take the time to read the mail sent to them makes it more compelling for marketers to craft a targeted message with the recipient’s name on piece of mail.
Millennials are also more likely to show mail to others, as opposed to the Gen-X and Baby Boomer generations. This means that they are more likely to pass along a company’s catalog or save a coupon or special offer for a friend.
Local Businesses – Listen Up!
Most importantly, Millennials think local businesses should use mail more often. Let’s be honest, in this over-saturated world of coupon codes, emails and Facebook ads, sometimes it is just nice to receive a personalized mailer for the coffee shop down the street. It says, “Hello neighbor… nice to see you!” and is guaranteed to get their attention…and most likely their business too.
Time to jump
With direct mail being the ‘comeback kid” of marketing in recent years, maybe it’s time for your business to take another look at reaching out with mail. If you’ve seen stagnant results from your digital marketing as of late, it might be time to think about adding direct mail to your campaigns.
Reach new customers with the help of DatabaseUSA.com. We offer a database of over 200 million consumers and over 100 million U.S. homeowners. We can provide you with a targeted marketing list that can help you zero-in on your best prospects. We offer hundreds of selections including age and gender, geographical location, marital status, household size for consumers as well as hundreds of other lifestyle selections.
Using these selections, you can target the right person and save valuable dollars to make your direct mail efforts more profitable.
Contact DatabaseUSA.com at 877-831-0101 and connect with one of our professional account executives today.
Source: Phil Vinnedge- USPS, Conducted by Summit Research March 2016 – USPS Customer & Market Insights