Page 46 - Print21 Jan-Feb 2022

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Relying on digital communications to
grow your customer
base does not work. Following a decade wasted on SMS, email marketing and social media blather, marketers are rediscovering the solid benefits f direct mail when it comes to gaining new customers. Luke Pearsall reckons the renaissance of direct mail is only going to grow stronger. He gives Patrick Howard the mail on the revival of DM.
e’re accustomed owner of Active Mail, puts it... “No to hearing of the one is ever going to buy insurance on ‘death of print’ in the strength of an email.”
the face of digital As a result, marketers are being technology. But at forced to find other ways to attract
least one sector is far from lying new business. Direct mail continues
Direct mail
instigated a second shift for his factory at the start of 2021 to
keep up with the growing demand for services in both print and mailing. It’s not something he necessarily wants to do. The amiable professional is as far removed as you can get from being a growth-hungry junkie, but as the work keeps on coming in to his mid-sized business, he has to adapt. He and his 30-people team are working harder than ever to avoid compromising the high quality of service to clients that has seen his business double in the past few years.
“I started an afternoon shift in January this year. We just kept on getting so much work. But I like to keep business hours. There’s more to life than working,” he said.
Getting cut-through
Pearsall believes the resurgence in direct mail is a result of marketers looking for alternatives that are effective in cutting through the media
Wmaking a comeback
down to die. Reliance on digital outreach has seen a whole generation of marketing professionals arrive at a point where clogged social media and blocked emails have stymied even basic customer communications. However much transactional business items – statements and invoices – may be able to adapt
to digital, the acquisition of new customers has become almost impossible. Or as Luke Pearsall,
to engage as an effective media. The tried and true results from targeted addressed mail are driving an increase in the amount of marketing print. After an initial dip with the first lock down, there’s been a sustained rise
in volumes throughout most of the pandemic. And it shows no sign of reaching a peak anytime soon.
The impact on the Kurnell-based mailing house, Active Mail, is notable. For the first time Pearsall
46 Print21 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022