Research Alert: Local direct mail advertising on the rise

In the rush to focus on digital, you may have missed the fact that consumer usage of direct mail advertising has been on the rise. In fact, direct mail recently surpassed daily newspapers as the leading way consumers get coupons.

To learn more, Borrell Associates surveyed 1,640 local businesses that advertise via the U.S. Mail. The findings are now available from Borrell Associates. Click here to read the Executive Summary, purchase the full report for $995 and register for a 30-minute webinar. (The report and webinar are free to Borrell Associates subscribers.)

Here are some highlights:

• Direct mail is a $7 billion local ad category, the 5th largest, behind radio.
• Nearly half of all local businesses now use it to advertise.
• It's used primarily to maintain existing customers or reach lapsed ones.
• Consumer usage of mailed advertising is up 8.4 percent since 2012.