Direct Mail Response vs. E-Mail: Which is Higher?

(Direct) Looking to increase returns? Go digital.

Whether campaigns are sent to outside mailing lists or house files, marketers anticipate—and have seen—higher responses to their e-mail efforts than they have to traditional mailings, according to two studies by Direct magazine.

Late last year, Direct asked readers what their response rates to traditional mailings had been during 2005. On average, outside lists generated a healthy mean response of 10.1%. Drops to house files did even better, at 16.6%.

Not too shabby for a workhorse channel. But according to a new survey sponsored by Direct and Multichannel Merchant, e-mailings sent to outside lists achieved 17.8% response rates, while those targeting house files got 18.5% returns.

Why the difference? Well, there’s the immediacy of e-mail, or more specifically the immediacy of response. It takes more time to hunt down a pen, and in some cases a stamp, than it does to click a reply button.

By and large, those polled are seeing higher responses as the years go on. Among those answering, 14% said they got better responses to e-mail campaigns aimed at their outside lists than they did in 2004; only 4% indicated they were lower.

The results are even more striking for house e-mail lists. Thirty-one percent said they received better responses to e-mailings that targeted their house files than they did in 2004, and just 6% claimed they were lower.

DMers doubtless are taking more care with their e-mailings because the rewards are greater. Many agree that e-mail promotions are more profitable than others. And most said these were either at least as, or more, profitable than those run in other channels.