How is the mix of items coming through the consumer letterbox changing due to direct mail volumes falling and unaddressed volumes rising?  Ben Allan, Managing Director at TILT takes a look at the industry…  

Variables affecting the industry: 

The door drop market is beginning to mature.  Faced with increased digital spend, the credit crunch and too much clutter, door drop volumes will level out.  In terms of door to door in comparison to direct mail, they are totally different mediums in terms of cost and response.  

A well designed and highly targeted door drop will usually beat direct mail on a mid-range budget, but a combination of cost increases in distribution, too much volume and a consequential fall in the quality targeting has led to a decrease in door drops.   On the direct mail front, lifestyle data is looking tired and response rates are still going the wrong way.  

Adverse press coverage regarding ‘junk mail’, the data crises such as with HMRC and poorer targeting again have contributed to the mounting pile of direct mail problems. 

Opinion on the future:

I don’t buy into the argument that door drops fare better because of prominence; in fact the closer they resemble official mail the higher the response rate.  Yes, there was a risk of saturation across both media channels but that will now recede as budgets tighten and spend falls. 

So it’s not all doom and gloom.  We expect direct mail and door drop channels to level out in the medium to long term as client spend and consumer response reach an equitable position.  

Indeed,  there are many amongst the media owner and agency fraternity that believe we are at the beginning of a rebalance where offline spend will be calibrated properly in terms of its ability in driving online response. I don’t dispute that digital may well be the future, but there is still a place for offline and it deserves recognition for its effectiveness and part in making online such a success.

As more brands understand that online traffic is being driven through below-the-line traditional channels, in turn more and more budget will be re-allocated to direct mail and door drops. 

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