Dire Prediction for DM

New research from Borrell Associates predicts a massive drop of 39% in Direct Mail spend over the next five years. From the firm that predicted the near demise of Yellow Pages in the US, they have this to say about DM:

Now, our latest prediction: The kudzu-like creep of the Internet is about to claim its third analog victim – the largest and least-read of all print media – direct mail. Direct mail has begun spiraling into what we believe is a precipitous decline from which it will never fully recover.

Needless to say, they also talk about DM becoming a more targeted element of a wider multi-channel approach to marketing, which is good news for those printers that are getting involved with variable-content digital printing and web-to-print. Borrell go on to say that e-mail marketing will continue its inexorable rise at the expense of print and other media:

Most of the growth in e-mail marketing will be local. We’re expecting local e-mail advertising to grow from $848 million in 2008, to $2 billion in 2013, as more small businesses abandon direct mail couponing and promotional offers and turn to a more measurable and less costly medium, e-mail.

Now is the time for printers to take their businesses online.

www.w2p.co.uk