Squarely impacted by the "triple assault" of the recession, rising postage rates and growing marketer preference for low-cost digital communications, total U.S. direct mail spending declined sharply in 2008—falling 3%—and was accompanied by an even more significant cutback in mail volume, according to a white paper released by Winterberry Group. It outlines six trends that took hold in 2008 and another three that are expected to continue defining the role of direct mail in 2009.
Expected 2009 developments include:
• While direct mail volumes traditionally bounce back after a period of economic stagnation, the magnitude and timing of the current recession are expected to affect the direct mail channel in a long-term, systemic way—effectively ending the prevalence of untargeted, high-volume campaigns
• The accelerating shift from "mass" to "targeted" direct mail programs has been enabled by an increasingly powerful array of marketing automation technologies, many of which are making their way into the toolsets of marketers both large and small
• Independent the effects of the recession, rising postage rates, declining volumes, an increasingly complex array of postal regulations and other threats to delivery efficiency may compromise the viability of the Postal Service as the principal mail delivery channel.
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