There was a pretty interesting article in a recent issue of The Circulator…and we felt it was very relevant to this blog’s content.
The article summarized a study conducted by Ball State University’s Center for Media Design in coordination with email provider ExactTarget. The study looked at marketing and communication preferences for a variety of different age groups, from 15-65.
The surprising part of the study was that a higher percentage of teens (age 15-17) were reported to be more influenced to buy something from direct mail (and email) than they were by advertising found on social media sites.
That stats were:
Direct Mail: 58% — Email: 42% — Social Media: 12%
Sites like MySpace and Facebook have enormous popularity with teens…and obviously social media advertising has its place in certain marketing plans because of it’s reach and cost effectiveness.
But when you go direct, especially with direct mail, the bottom line is you’ve got less competing for your prospect’s attention…and as a result, targeted messages get noticed more.
2 comments ↓
Other than the fact that there is less competition with DM to teens, do you think there is another factor? I was thinking because they are also young, more trusting and open to ideas than adults. Would be interesting to compare the stats for adults on DM, Email, Social Media. What makes adults respond to DM?
Actually, the study was pretty comprehensive…it broke down the response stats for different lifepoints such as teen, stay at home mom, young executive, senior, etc.
The study is found here:
http://email.exacttarget.com/Resources/Whitepaper/2008_Channel_Preference_Survey.html
We’re not affiliated with ExactTarget…I just think the information is interesting and worth linking to.
Also, you asked what makes adults respond to DM. I think it’s all about the relevancy of the offer. And teens are less exposed to daily offers via direct mail…so they probably spend more time looking over the mail they receive.
These are just assumptions of course…
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