The news is good for print marketing: use of direct mail by marketers is growing, print holds the second largest piece of marketing budgets and variable printing data is on the rise.
This information comes from the 2016 version of the annual Media Usage Survey by Target Marketing. The magazine’s readers respond to a number of questions about how they allocate marketing budgets and what trends are coming into (or falling out of) fashion. Below are some key takeaways on what the survey reports about print marketing.
Use of direct mail is on the rise
We’ve reported on how direct mail remains a very effective way to drive sales, and the Media Usage Survey finds marketers are gearing up to spend more on the channel than they did last year. Of those surveyed, 25 percent said they would increase spending on direct mail this year, while another 44 percent said they spend the same as they did last year.
Additionally, marketers reported that direct mail remains an important tool for both customer acquisition and customer retention. When asked what marketing method delivers the strongest ROI for customer acquisition, 16.3 percent said direct mail. For customer retention, 14.6 percent of marketers said direct mail delivered the best ROI. In both of these categories, direct mail was the second strongest method only behind email.
Print remains a large portion of marketing budget
Marketers plan on allocating 28.5 percent of marketing budgets to print this year, including direct mail, magazines, newspapers, circulars and more. This is the second largest slice of the budget, following closely behind online marketing’s 37.1 percent share.
Variable Data Printing is growing
We’ve reported on how crucial digital printing is to personalized marketing, and the Target Marketing survey reports the popularity of personalized marketing using variable data printing (VDP) will continue to grow. 11 percent plan to increase spending on VDP in the coming year, while 16 percent plan to keep spending the same.
Contact Colorwise Printing today to find out how we help print marketing work for your business.