Annual research of marketers and consumers on the health of the Direct Mail industry, carried out on behalf of TNT Post UK by fast.MAP and also a survey by TNT Post UK to their customers, has found that DM can look forward to a strong performance in the next 12 months, despite the current economic gloom.

The positive outlook reflects a resurgence of spending on DM by financial services and FMCG companies. 76% of respondents expect DM volumes to remain stable or grow in the next 12 months.

Encouragingly, 69% of respondents believe that DM is the most important promotional medium that they use, followed by a website at 33% and email at 20.4%.

Further insight into consumer habits of DM found that nearly half of consumers prefer to receive their DM in the morning with those over 65 most wanting their DM at this time compared to the 18-24 age group, which had a stronger preference for DM to be delivered in the afternoon.

The majority of recipients prefer to read their DM as soon as they pick it up from the door mat and for those who wait till later in the day most read it on the couch in the living room (65%), followed by at the kitchen table (52%), in the garden (23%) and 18% on the toilet. When looking at where people look at their DM, males are far more likely to read direct mail either in the toilet or at work than females and the young are most likely to read it in bed and in the toilet.

Commenting on the results Lieneke Happel, director of marketing and strategy, TNT Post UK says: “We are pleased that direct mail continues to be seen as the most effective promotional tool used by marketers and that it is holding its own in a very competitive landscape. The consumer insights were revealing and present some creative opportunities for DM users knowing that many of their targets will read DM in bed or on the loo.”