According to a recent survey, direct mail has been found to be the most influential channel on purchasing decisions.

The study examined consumers’ use of different marketing platforms and found that 76 per cent of those polled said they had bought something after receiving a direct mail piece.

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has condemned plans for a national postal strike to be held in the UK.

The direct marketing industry body claimed that “no party” would gain from the Communication Workers Union’s (CWU) industrial action, with businesses being the ultimate loser.

Representatives from the Direct Marketing Association have met with the special adviser to business secretary Lord Mandelson, Geoffrey Norris, to repeat its call for government intervention in the Royal Mail postal strike.

At the meeting, the DMA told of the damage that the continuing Royal Mail strikes are having on the direct marketing industry and businesses that use the service, as well as DMA members.

According to the DMA, businesses are overlooking opportunities to add value to their offering by failing to use insight to its full potential.

The body’s chief of membership and brand, Robert Keitch, is urging marketers to prioritise strategic thinking to ensure that tracking studies, pre- and post-awareness research, creative testing and price evaluation all become integral to the direct marketing discipline.

According to new research, direct marketing agencies run the risk of disappointing their clients by failing to nominate their campaigns for industry awards.

The research investigated the attitudes of direct marketing practitioners and their clients towards the value of marketing industry awards programmes.