Advertising mail
Some organizations attempt to help people opt out of receiving advertising mail, in many cases motivated by a concern over its negative environmental impact.
In order to qualify for these rates, marketers must format and sort the mail in specific ways – which reduces the handling required by the postal service.
Direct mail encompasses a wide variety of marketing materials, including brochures, catalogs, postcards, newsletters and sales letters.
For example, a person who has demonstrated an interest in golf may receive direct mail for golf-related products or perhaps for goods and services that are appropriate for golfers.
Database targeting combined with an effective pricing, creative and list strategy can reduce waste and maximize profitable results for the mailer.
Certain organizations and individuals have become known for their prowess in direct mail, including in the US, the Free Congress Foundation in the 1970s, Response Dynamics, Inc. in the 1980s, the National Congressional Club, and Richard Viguerie.
Before the ZIP code, it was difficult to target appropriate recipients of direct mail fundraising appeals, and before the computer, compiling and maintaining lists of supporters was tedious and costly.
The explosive growth of the nonprofit sector in the United States—quadrupling in the 1980s and doubling again in the 1990s and early 2000s—led to a massive expansion in the use of direct mail to build and sustain large, nationwide donor and membership lists.
Nonprofits supplement direct mail campaigns with email blasts and social media posts, using similar messaging and visuals to tie the various communications together.
In the United States, the common practice of address standardization can defeat the purpose of advertising mail by stripping away local identity, thus leaving many recipients alienated.
[28] It has been reported that large publishers like the Tribune Company and RR Donnelley have growing direct mail divisions.
Traditionally, this worked in one of two ways: as a direct sale, therefore precluding the use of a salesperson or a retail store, or as a method of generating leads for a salesforce.
[29] Several organizations offer opt-out services to people who wish to reduce or eliminate the amount of addressed advertising mail they receive.
[36] In response to a US Supreme Court ruling (Rowan v. Post Office Dept., 397 U.S. 728 (1970)[37]), the United States Postal Service enables an applicant to obtain a Prohibitory Order, which gives people the power to stop non-governmental organizations from sending them mail, and to demand such organizations remove the consumers’ information from their mailing lists.
In Canada, the highly publicized Red Dot Campaign[38] offers advice on reducing unaddressed advertising mail.
In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 44% of junk mail is discarded without being opened or read, equalling four million tons of waste paper per year,[41] with 32% recovered for recycling.
[43] In the UK, the Minister of State responsible for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs estimated that "direct mail and promotions" accounted for between 500,000 and 600,000 tonnes of paper in 2002, with 13% being recycled.
[45] Mike Berners-Lee estimates that receiving five letters per day plus two printed catalogs per week results in 480 kilograms (1,060 lb) CO2e per year.
[52] Researchers at the University of California recently found that four out of five Americans favor a do-not-mail law, similar to the existing do-not-call telemarketing registry.
