You can put away your hankies. The death of direct mail, widely reported in blog posts, has been greatly exaggerated. That’s according to Eye Candy, who dismisses such talk as ‘a bunch of hype’.

Pulling together some interesting statistics on print media, Eye Candy finds that catalogues are still the primary sales channel for the majority of businesses, and that most people have made a purchase following an email marketing message or in response to direct mail. 

So, direct mail is still very much alive and kicking!

A ban on the sale of voter’s personal could be on the cards as 98 percent of local government officials vote against the practice.

Since 2002 anyone registering to vote in England has been able to opt out of appearing on the lists made available for unsolicited mail-outs, and to date about 40 per cent of people have taken this option. The DMA said the lists are mainly used to verify retails rather than to compile lists.

In a bid to promote its own marketing products and services, Royal Mail is launching a direct mail drive which it hopes will engage customers by appealing to all of the five senses. They hope that by moving away from the traditional leaflet and letter format to a media pack including a CD, customers will take a “seed” idea and “grow” it into their own, customised marketing solution.

Customer satisfaction is being jeopardised by poor technology in call centres which forces agents to spend the majority of their time on administrative duties.

Call centre operatives are spending an average of 71 per cent of their time entering data, making notes, seeking advice and reading from information screens, according to new research.

A survey by Direct Magazine registers an increase of 10% from 2007, in the usage of e-mail marketing by direct marketers.

According to the report, contacting prospects through e-mail is fast becoming the most desired medium employed by the direct marketers, with over 70% contacting customers via e-mail.

However, this development doesn’t signal the end of snail mail. If not as popular, it continues to be utilized as an accompaniment for marketing strategies. The report details that 66% of direct marketers still harness direct mail as a supplement to e-mail. This is a 4% decrease from 2007. The report also records that 59% of direct marketers also use snail mail to reach sales prospects.