Bring the Hammer

When it comes to reaching consumers, marketers have a bigger toolbox these days.

A…much…bigger…box.

The advent of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and Tumblr have added a surplus of new tools capable of reaching consumers—whenever and wherever—on their mobile devices.

And with more opportunities come more costs, which pull marketers’ budgets in every direction. The question becomes: What tool delivers the most ROI?

According to a Target Marketing Seventh Annual Media Usage Forecast survey of nearly 250 U.S. marketers, the answer is direct mail. Business-to-consumer marketers indicate direct mail continues to deliver the strongest ROI for customer acquisition and retention. For B2B marketers, email—with direct mail not far behind—delivers the customers and retains them.

So, what do you have in your toolbox?

Direct Mail Pounds the Competition

When it comes to customer acquisition and retention, direct mail beats all other tools.

• For customer acquisition, direct mail tops the list (31.3%), with email (16.7%) and social marketing engagement (12.5%) rounding out the top three.
• For customer retention, again, direct mail is the top choice of respondents (37.5%), followed by email (29.2%), and trailed by social medial (10.4%).

In Good Company

80% – Number of  business-to-consumer marketers using direct mail.

Tools Change with Time

When Target Marketing first conducted its annual survey of marketers’ media spending plans in 2007, social marketing engagement wasn’t even a topic listed on the survey. Today, it is the third most effective tool.

Business-to-consumer marketers indicate direct mail continues to deliver the strongest ROI for customer acquisition and retention.

Media Delivering the Strongest ROI