As Channel Proliferation Increases, Consumers Still Prefer and Trust Direct Mail for Financial Services Communication

According to a just released consumer channel preference study from marketing services firm Epsilon entitled, The Formula for Success: Preference and Trust, 36% of consumers prefer to receive financial services communication through the mail (compared to only 8% preferring email), while 50% state that they pay more attention to direct mail than email. Interestingly, U.S. consumers actually receive an emotional boost from receiving mail, with 60% agreeing that they “enjoy checking the mailbox.”

The 2011 study is the latest in a series of studies conducted by Epsilon around communication channel preferences. In the latest study, it was found that the preference for direct mail extended to the 18-34 year old demographic, highlighting the risk in making assumptions around age and channel preferences. Part of this preference bias compared to email and other channels could be caused by the level of trust associated with the channels reviewed, since 26% of U.S. consumers found direct mail to be more trustworthy than email. The least trustworthy channel continued to be social media, with the channel only being viewed as trustworthy by 6% of consumers. Consumers also found direct mail to be more ‘private’ than email or online channels (important for 37% of consumers).

“Consumers use and trust certain communication channels more than others,” states Warren Story, VP of product marketing at ICOM. “This means that marketers need to understand which channels resonate most at various stages of the consumer purchase cycle and incorporate a cross-channel strategy that leverages data and technology to communicate on a 1:1 basis.” Story also suggests starting with direct mail and layering other channels into the marketing mix for message reinforcement.

Not only do consumers seem to prefer direct mail communication, but there seems to be an increasing frustration with the amount of email received and the level of satisfaction received from receiving emails. The study showed that 75% of U.S. consumers get a lot more emails that are not opened, with 65% saying they get too many emails overall. Conversely, 43% of consumers surveyed still enjoy receiving emails from brands on new products, indicating that targeting and messaging of communication is needed to capture attention.