So-So Quarter for Mailers: Survey

OLD-FASHIONED PAPER mailers reported mediocre results for 1998’s third quarter, according to a survey by Edith Roman Associates.

A third said mailing results were down from the previous quarter; 30% said they was up. (“Results” are defined by Roman as overall margin.)

The best results were had by publishers, associations and those manufacturers or industrial marketers that don’t have a catalog. Almost every other category was down.

“It wasn’t a good quarter,” says Michelle Feit, vice president of Internet services at Edith Roman.

In contrast, “Nothing was down on the e-mail side,” she notes.

Results are based on a sample of 100 companies out of 3,000 that registered on Roman’s Web site. The e-mail response made up 42% of the total; the rest don’t use e-mail.