Direct mail
Encyclopedia
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
material to recipients of postal mail
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
. The delivery of advertising mail forms a large and growing service for many postal services, and direct-mail marketing forms a significant portion of the direct marketing
Direct marketing
Direct marketing is a channel-agnostic form of advertising that allows businesses and nonprofits to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques such as mobile messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional...
industry. Some organizations attempt to help people opt out of receiving advertising mail, in many cases motivated by a concern over its negative environmental
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
impact.
Advertising mail includes advertising circulars, catalogs, CDs
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, “pre-approved
Prescreen
Prescreen is the process by which a lender proactively evaluates a consumer's credit history in order to decide whether or not to offer them credit. The process of prescreening consumers happens without the consumers' knowledge and without any derogatory effects on their credit file...
” credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
applications, and other commercial merchandising
Merchandising
Merchandising is the methods, practices, and operations used to promote and sustain certain categories of commercial activity. In the broadest sense, merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer...
materials delivered to homes and businesses. It may be addressed to pre-selected individuals, or unaddressed and delivered on a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood basis.
Postal services
Bulk mail
Bulk mail broadly refers to mail that is mailed and processed in bulk at reduced rates. The term does not denote any particular purpose for the mail; but in general usage is synonymous with "junk mail."...
permits. In order to qualify for these rates, marketers must format and sort the mail in specific ways – which reduces the handling required by the postal service.
Income from advertising mail represents a significant and growing portion of some postal services' budgets, and it is a service actively marketed by them. In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, addressed and unaddressed advertising mail accounted for 20% of Canada Post
Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post , is the Canadian crown corporation which functions as the country's primary postal operator...
's revenue in 2005, and the share is increasing. Postal services employ the terms advertising mail, admail, and direct mail, while avoiding and objecting to the pejorative term junk mail.
In many developed countries, advertising mail represents a significant and growing amount of the total volume of mail. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, "Standard mail: advertising" comprised 29% of all mail in 1980 and 43% in 2003.
Direct mail marketing
Direct mail is a common form of direct marketingDirect marketing
Direct marketing is a channel-agnostic form of advertising that allows businesses and nonprofits to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques such as mobile messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional...
, and may be employed by for-profit businesses, charities and other non-profits, political campaign
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
s, and other organizations. Advertisers often refine direct mail practices into targeted mailing, in which mail is sent following database
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
analysis to select recipients considered most likely to respond positively. For example, a person who has demonstrated an interest in golf may receive direct mail for golf-related products, or perhaps for goods and services that are appropriate for golfers. This use of database analysis is a type of database marketing
Database marketing
Database marketing is a form of direct marketing using databases of customers or potential customers to generate personalized communications in order to promote a product or service for marketing purposes...
. Alternatively, unaddressed direct mail may be sent on a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood basis. Whether at the individual or neighbourhood level, direct mail marketing allows recipients to be targeted, attempting to match the demographic profile of the recipients to one most closely matching that of likely customers. Individually targeted direct mail may be tailored based on previous transactions and gathered data. For example, all male recipients of an offer may receive a personalized package with a man’s picture on the cover, while all female recipients receive a picture of a woman.
Political usage
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
s make frequent use of direct mail, both to gain votes from the electorate as a whole, and to target certain groups of voters thought to be open to a candidate's message and to appeal for campaign funds.
Certain organizations and individuals have become known for their prowess in direct mail, including in the US, the Free Congress Foundation
Free Congress Foundation
The Free Congress Foundation , is a conservative think tank founded by Paul Weyrich. It was based near Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C...
in the 1970s, Response Dynamics, Inc.
Response Dynamics, Inc.
Response Dynamics, Inc. is a privately held Vienna, Virginia-based direct marketing company. It was founded in 1981 and specializes in political fundraising and direct mail marketing...
in the 1980s, the National Congressional Club
National Congressional Club
The National Congressional Club was a political organization controlled by Senator Jesse Helms through the mid-2000s. It was described as a "vast and sophisticated enterprise." As a political fundraiser, Helms had few rivals...
, and Richard Viguerie
Richard Viguerie
Richard Art Viguerie is a conservative figure, pioneer of political direct mail and writer on American politics...
. With the advent of the Internet in political campaigns, direct mail became just one of many campaign management tools
Campaign management tools
In the past, political campaigns were conducted using traditional methods of personal contact, such as television and radio media purchasing, print advertising and direct mail...
, but still played a significant role.
Business-to-Business mailings (B2B)
When targeted to other businesses rather than individuals, direct mail is known as a business to business mailing. Traditionally, this worked in one of two ways: as a direct sale, therefore precluding the use of a salesperson or a retail store, or as a method of generating leads for a salesforce. The former method was ideally used by products that were easy to sell, were familiar to the prospect and needed no demonstration. The latter method was used for large-ticket items or for those that needed demonstration, for example.One method of direct mailing used in B2B is known as "bill-me". In this direct-mail marketing offer, the buyer is shipped the product prior to payment and then is sent an invoice later.
Opting out
Several organizations offer opt-outOpt-out
The term opt-out refers to several methods by which individuals can avoid receiving unsolicited product or service information. This ability is usually associated with direct marketing campaigns such as telemarketing, e-mail marketing, or direct mail. A list of those who have opted-out is called a...
services to people who wish to reduce or eliminate the amount of addressed advertising mail they receive. In the UK, the Mailing Preference Service allows people to register with them for removal from posted as opposed to hand-delivered mail. In the US, there are several nonprofit organizations, such as 41pounds.org
41pounds.org
41pounds.org is a nonprofit environmental organization based in Ferndale, Michigan established in 2006 to help reduce the amount of unsolicited commercial mail delivered to homes throughout the United States and, with it, reductions in the use of natural resources.The name of the organization is...
, catalogchoice.org, as well as private sector alternatives like Greendimes.
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
enables an applicant to obtain a Prohibitory Order
Prohibitory Order
A Prohibitory Order is a legal instrument issued by the United States Postal Service, against a mailer, on request of a recipient. Its effect is to criminalize any further attempt by that particular mailer to contact that particular recipient through the United States Postal Service...
, which gives people the power to stop non-governmental organizations from sending them mail, and to demand such organizations remove the consumers’ information from their mailing lists.
In Canada, the highly-publicized Red Dot Campaign offers advice on reducing unaddressed advertising mail. The campaign focuses on advertising the Canada Post policy to respect "No Junkmail" signs, noting that this policy is not promoted by Canada Post itself. The name "red dot" refers to an internal marker used by Canada Post to indicate which households do not wish to receive unaddressed admail.
The UK Royal Mail
Royal Mail
Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...
also offers an opt-out service, though it sparked public outrage by warning that unaddressed government mailings could not be separated from advertisements, and those who opted out of the latter would stop receiving the former as well.
Several websites critical of junk mail have guides for people interested in reducing the amount of junk mail they get, such as the Center for a New American Dream
Center for a New American Dream
The Center for a New American Dream is a nonprofit organization with a stated mission to “help Americans to reduce and shift their consumption to improve quality of life, protect the environment, and promote social justice." The organization works with individuals, institutions, communities, and...
.
Environmental effect
Several of the above organizations, as well as environmental groupsEnvironmental movement
The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....
, express concern about the environmental impact generated by direct mail.
In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
estimates that 44% of junk mail is discarded without being opened or read, equaling four million tons of waste paper per year, with 32% recovered for recycling. Further, the Ohio Office of Compliance Assistance and Pollution Prevention (OCAPP) estimates that 250,000 homes could be heated for a single day's junk mail (70,000,000,000,000/3 btu's of energy or 28,870,000,000/21 kwh of energy).
In the UK, the Minister of State responsible for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs estimated that "direct mail and promotions" accounted for between 500,000 and 600,000 tonnes of paper in 2002, with 13% being recycled. The government and the Direct Marketing Association (UK) together agreed on recycling targets for the direct mail industry, including a goal of 55% by 2009, though the DMA's latest estimates are that the industry will fall well short of this mark.
The CO2 emissions from 41 pounds of advertising mail received annually by the average US consumer is about 47.6 kilograms (105 pounds) according to one study. The loss of natural habitat potential from the 41 pounds of advertising mail is estimated to be 36.6 square meters (396 square feet).
In the US many commercial envelope printing companies are moving towards water-based or vegetable-based ink and laminates, and have increased the use of recycled paper.
See also
- Direct marketingDirect marketingDirect marketing is a channel-agnostic form of advertising that allows businesses and nonprofits to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques such as mobile messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional...
- Direct mail fundraisingDirect mail fundraisingDirect mail fundraising is a form of direct marketing widely used by nonprofit organizations in North America and Europe to recruit or "acquire" new donors or members and to inform, cultivate, resolicit, and "upgrade" the level of their contributions or dues. The technique has been shown to work...
- Direct response marketingDirect response marketingDirect-response marketing is a form of marketing designed to solicit a direct response which is specific and quantifiable. The delivery of the response is direct between the viewer and the advertiser, that is, the customer responds to the marketer directly...
- Direct Marketing Associations
- Direct mail fundraising