Epsilon Targeting, provider of consumer information for targeted marketing solutions, released its 2011 Channel Preference Study titled The Formula For Success: Preference and Trust.
The report shows that through economic turmoil, technology advances and channel proliferation, direct mail continues to deliver as consumers’ preferred means of receiving marketing messages from brands.
The study is based on completed surveys from 2,226 U.S. consumers and 2,574 Canadian consumers. Key findings from the study include:
- 36% of U.S. consumers and 40% of Canadians said direct mail is the preferred channel to receive financial services information;
- 26% of U.S. consumers and 30% of Canadians said direct mail is more trustworthy than email;
- 50% of U.S. consumers and 48% of Canadians said they pay more attention to postal mail than email;
- 60% of U.S. consumers and 64% of Canadians said they enjoy checking the mailbox for postal mail, highlighting an emotional connection;
- 30% of U.S. consumers said they’re receiving more mail that interests them compared to a year ago, and just 50% (down from 63% in 2010) said more information is sent to them in the mail — indicating marketers are improving targeting efforts;
- The perception that reading email is faster declined among U.S. email account holders to 45% in 2011 (from 47% in 2010), suggesting clogged inboxes are draining time.
