Direct Mail Drives Traffic Directly To Websites
By John Byrnes

Increasingly, the line between direct marketing and online marketing is blurring. "True 'relevance' lies in the content and context of a marketing message, not in the mere strategic placement of a recipient's name or other customer data in a marketing solicitation," Bruce Biegel of Winterberry Group told attendees at the DMA 2006 Conference in San Francisco. "If marketers expect results, they must tailor relevant messages by utilizing data and analytics programs that react to geo-, demo- and psychographic information to enhance behavioral targeting and measurement."

In the "What's in the Mailbox?" survey, meant to find how to stand apart in a crowded marketing landscape, researchers found that 21% of respondents visited a corresponding Web site within 30 days of receiving direct mail, up from 14% in 2003, reported eMarketer.

According to Internet Retailer, the results indicate that direct-mail-influenced Web traffic grew 50% over the past three years. Though that may be putting the case a little strongly, the trend is definitely up. Direct marketers are doing a number of things to make their mailings more effective.

Though over 80% of them only modify the salutation and a few basic content elements, the survey shows that 44% of marketers are now using some form of personalization in every e-mail campaign they send.

Paid, Non-Paid Magazine Distribution Yields Similar Ad Response
By Karl Ghross

The Value of Magazine Readership study, from the Magazine Publishers of America, suggests that many assumptions may not be accurate about the connection between consumers' reaction to magazine advertising and the price paid and circulation source for the magazines that they read. This report shows that:

Differences in the ways subscribers, newsstand buyers and public place readers respond to magazines and to the advertising in them are often insignificant.

Public place copies generate significant advertising exposure opportunities, often to readers with desirable demographic characteristics.

The analysis of MRI data by DJG Marketing, and, and Waiting Room Subscription Services shows that in 2006 approximately one-fourth of magazine reading is done in public places, up from 16% in 1996. Rick Jones, of DJG Marketing, notes that "Public place copies are individually addressed and strategically targeted to specific locations. They are third-party auditable copies with proven readership value for the advertiser."

Their research found that "Public place distribution can and frequently does enable advertisers to reach a larger body of readers who are involved, demographically qualified and responsive to their advertising message."

Factor (Public Place/Newsstand) is the multiple of readers per copy that public place copies offer as compared to newsstand copies. For example, among total readers in the titles studied, public place readers per copy are 7.5 times those of newsstand buyers, reports The Center for Media Research.

McPheters & Company conducted a study in which the subscriber base of multiple magazines was anonymously matched with the base of MRI respondents. According to Rebecca McPheters, who led the analysis, "The price paid by a subscriber for a particular magazine does not predict the quality of the reader nor is reader quality determined by the method by which a reader acquires a magazine. Quality is a function of reader characteristics..."