Random Facts about Direct Mail

Here are some fun facts you may or may not know about the Mail you get on a weekly basis...

The Average consumer receives 25 direct mail pieces per week.

79% of all households actually say that they either scan or read the direct mail ads they receive in the mail

Direct Mail represents 52% of the total mail volume in the United States

13,571,000,000 Billion Catalogs were mailed in 2009 in the United States

84% of the 12.524 Billion catalogs listed in the National Directory of Catalogs have on-line counterparts

Municipal Waste: Out of 1000 adult surveyed in December 2007 on Direct Mail Environmental issues


48% believe Direct Mail generates more than 50% of US municipal waste

36% believe Direct Mail generates more than 33% of US municipal waste

12% believe Direct Mail generates more than 9% of US municipal waste

The actual total is....


According to the EPA advertising mail from US Households accounts for only 2% of the Country's (USA) Municipal Waste.

Now on to more fun facts about Consumers and Direct Mail....

Consumers like receiving mail... fact or fiction???

The answer...

56% of respondents say receiving mail is a "real pleasure"

55% "look forward" to discovering the mail that they receive

67% feel that mail is more personal than the internet

Now what about Mail getting the message into the waiting hands of the consumer??

98% of consumers bring in their mail the day it is received

72% of whom bring it in a.s.a.p.

77% sort through their mail immediately...

Do you fit into any of these prior categories... don't be surprised if you do

Next we move on to Mail being sorted, then given to the right person of the household... we've all done it before!

90% determine which mail is kept for review

81% review Financial Documentations

84% are the principal Grocery Shoppers... coupon and discount people I'm looking at you

In the next step, we focus on how Consumers spend more time with their mail than was previously imagined.

The common notion here is that most individuals assume that we all just skim/scan articles or catalogs quickly and discard them... this could be further from the truth... Here are some facts that may surprise you

On Average Consumers spend about 30 minutes reading mail on any given occasion

Consumers spend 45 minutes with magazines, 30 with catalogs, and 25 minutes with direct mail.

And Finally we move to the bottom line... what is direct mail trying to do with its message toward the consumer... What is the commercial message performing in its distinct task?

1. Browsing for new consumption (Consumer product goods, identifying problems, solutions)

2. Managing the home

3. Overseeing finances

So as we can see there are many interesting facts about the so called pertain junk mail that meet more than the eye can see. Hopefully this has given everyone insight that it isn't just junk mail... especially if your spending almost 30 minutes or an hour of your time with our advertising pieces.