Are You Up to Speed on These 5 Direct Mail Trends?
Your Success Will Depend on It!

New trends in direct mail are being driven by rising costs, environmental concerns, privacy concerns, and the regulations that address these issues.

Balancing the scale are dramatic improvements in technology that can personalize and track mailings in deeper and more revolutionary ways. 

Five years from now, direct mail will be a very different industry than it is today.  Keep up with these 5 trends and you’ll be an industry leader.

1. Ever-Changing Postal Regulations – The passage of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 is ushering in a new era in postal rates and regulations.  Future rate increases will be capped by the increase in the consumer price index, which provides some respite from the sticker-shock increases of recent years, especially May 2007.  However, rates are never going down, and regulations are getting more complex.  On the other hand, advances in technology will provide new tracking services which will provide significant benefits.  See article in this issue:  “Plan Now for New Postal Requirements.”
2. The Rise in Do-Not-Mail Legislation – Direct mail generates $686 billion in economic activity annually. The DMA’s Mail Preference Service is an effective and economical way for consumers to opt-out of receiving direct mail.  However, due to a combination of privacy and environmental concern, consumers and states are lobbying for more and more restrictions on mailers.  Eighteen states have proposed bills in 2007-2008 that would put limits on advertising mail.  The rate of state initiatives is increasing, and each state proposes different standards and requirements.  You can track these issues on the following website: http://www.mailmovesamerica.org
3. Advances in Digital Printing – Printing technology is advancing to the point where each individual in your mailing list can receive a customized mailing package that addresses their specific interests, lifestyle, and trigger events.  “One-to-one” marketing is the wave of the future.  Fully customized mailings can improve response time, response rates, conversion rates, average order size, and profits.  For more information on variable digital printing, go to: http://www.adobe.com/products/vdp/.
4. The Benefits of Green Marketing – Being an environmentally responsible marketer takes more than printing on recycled paper and using soy inks.  It’s about conservation in every step of the process.  Recycled paper may cost more, but good data hygiene saves you money.  Personalized marketing is also “green.”  Targeted mailings are less wasteful and have a higher ROI.  Green marketing is smart marketing.
5. The Importance of High Quality List Data – Quality customer and mailing list data has always been the foundation of an effective direct mail program, but with rising costs, personalized printing, and the need for conservation, it’s more important than ever.  Ensure you have a state-of-the art contact management system.  Appoint a chief data officer to make sure someone is responsible for quality data hygiene throughout the organization.  Work with mailing list vendors that have the highest quality data, even if it costs more.  The expense will be worth it.  For more information, go to our fact sheet:  Cleaning Your Data.

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