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Direct mail is one of the fastest growing media of the past 10 years. Since 1986 the volume of direct mail has increased by 60 percent. Expenditure has risen by 99 percent over the same period.
Some of the increase is due to inflation in the costs of materials, wages and postage, while part can be attributed to a greater commitment to precision targeting of direct mail campaigns and a more widespread availability of sophisticated targeting tools. (See Table One.)(Table 1 omitted)
It is estimated that mail users generate L12 billion worth of income each year in the United Kingdom and provide somewhere in the region of 25,000 jobs.
Total advertising expenditure in the United Kingdom rose by 47 percent between 1986 and 1991. Direct mail expenditure exceeded this, rising by 89 percent over the same period. (See Table Two.)(Table two omitted)
There are many reasons why direct mail has increased in popularity with advertisers. It is an accountable medium that can provide precise information on the effectiveness of a campaign. Another reason for its increased use is that it offers advertisers a level of versatility that other media cannot match.
Additionally, there has been a general move toward more specialized methods of advertising to smaller, more specific market segments.
THE CONSUMER LETTERBOX
The items that are received through the average letterbox can be divided into four distinct groups: personal mail, direct mail, free newspapers and leaflets/coupons.
Receipt is shown in relation to socioeconomic group in Table Three.(Table three omitted) It can be seen that some groups are targeted with greater frequency than others. AB households, which are the wealthiest of the socio-economic groups, receive twice as much direct mail as the average U.K.household.
WHO SENDS DIRECT MAIL?
Table four shows the volume of consumer direct mail sent by different sections of industry and the percentage of each type that is requested by consumers. (Table four omitted)
Overall, 11.3 percent of direct mail is requested by consumers. Some sectors, however, have significantly more of the direct mail they send requested by consumers than others. One example of this is estate agents who send 75.2 percent of their direct mail upon request.
Mail order has traditionally been the largest single source of direct mail that...