Direct Marketing Statistics - from DMIS

Key Statistics | Summary

These are top line statistics on the Direct Mail industry. It gives you a snapshot of the Direct Mail industry in terms of volume, expenditure and other key statistics taken from our most recent surveys allowing you to quantify the benefits of Direct Mail in real terms.

The UK advertising expenditure increased by 2.6% to nearly £19 billion in 2005 with Direct Mails accounting for 12.5% of all advertising expenditure.
It is estimated that consumer Direct Mail generates over £27 billion worth of business every year (+0.9% on the previous year)
£2,371.32 million was spent on Direct Mail advertising in 2005
For every £1 spent £14 is generated
Direct Mail expenditure has increased by 118% in the last 10 years
The overall volume of Direct Mail has increased by 87% in the last 10 years
5134 million items were mailed in 2005
These were split between 77% (4,002 million items) consumer mailings and 23% (1,132 million items) business mailings
In 2005 Direct Mail expenditure was split between postage £973.33 million and production £1398 million

RECEIPT & TREATMENT:

The average British household receives 13.2 items of Direct Mail every four weeks
67% of consumer Direct Mail is opened, 45% is opened and read
32% of consumers had responded to Direct Mail at least once in the past 12 months, with 42% saying they had ever made a purchase
AB Households receive considerably more Direct Mail than the average UK household (an average of 370 items per annum)
The average consumer spends approximately £577 through Direct Mail per year
Of the £27 billion, just over 50% - or £13.6 billion is spent on Clothes, while Books account for £2 billion, Electrical goods £2.4 billion with £1.4 billion spent on household items
38% of overall spend was generated by those in the ABC1 segment
Those in the 35-54 brackets are most likely to purchase through direct mail with 46% purchasing in 2005. This compares to 41% for the 16-34 age group and 37% for the 55+ age group

Business managers receive an average of 13 items per week at work

Business Managers open 70%, 9% is redirected to a colleague and 20% is filed or responded to
The cumulative total spending for business managers in response to Direct Mail over the last 12 months had a mean of £8,476.15
In 2003, 15% of business people had their mail intercepted by a 'filterer', compared with 11% in 2000

SATISFACTION & ACCEPTANCE:

87% of consumers are either “very” or “quite” satisfied with the products they buy through Direct Mail
56% of consumers said that value for money was the main benefit of buying through Direct Mail, whilst 63% said convenience

Actions taken as a result of direct mail received

Used a voucher or coupon - 47.9%
Bought something in the shops - 44.3%
Visited a store - 40.9%
Looked for information on the internet - 33.6%
Ordered something by phone - 27.5%
Kept it for information - 27.5%
Ordered something by post - 27%
Made an enquiry by phone - 26.5%
Tried out a new product or service - 26%
Ordered something on the internet - 23.5%

Top reasons which would “be likely to increase consumer interest in direct mail”

I’m already a customer/have dealt with the company - 73.4%
I feel its relevant to me - 72.3%
I have heard of the brand name - 69.4%
I am interested in/considering this type of product/service - 68.4%
It is correctly addressed - 67.5%
It looks like it contains a free sample - 62.9%
It has the name of the company on the envelope - 62.6%