A Clearinghouse of Research on Print Media Effectiveness
B2B Attitudes Toward Channel Choices
Pitney Bowes surveyed 4,000 B2B marketers—divided equally throughout the U.S., U.K., France and Germany—to uncover current B2B thinking regarding marketing channel choice and business communications in today’s complex and challenging communication environment.
The survey finds:
An average of 50 percent of B2B companies in the U.S. and 53 percent across the U.K., France and Germany (E.U.) report it is increasingly difficult to reach and influence customers as a result of media fragmentation.
B2B marketers recognize the enhanced effectiveness of combining traditional and digital channels—58 percent of U.S. firms and 53 percent of E.U. firms feel that concentrating solely on electronic media would seriously damage their ability to generate leads.
Examining stand-alone and multichannel B2B marketing efforts for generating business:
Direct mail comes out as the top stand-alone channel. In the U.S., 19 percent of companies feel that stand-alone direct mail generates the most business for them. In the E.U., 12 percent of companies report this.
In comparison to stand-alone direct mail, 10 percent of U.S. companies favor solo e-mail campaigns (8 percent E.U.) and 7 percent rely on stand-alone search engine marketing (6 percent E.U.).
In contrast, more respondents favor integrated marketing as the best approach: 30 percent of U.S. firms cited a combination of mail, e-mail and web campaigns as generating the most business for them (27 percent E.U.).
Direct Mail ROI: Every Dollar Spent Generates $12.57 in Sales
According to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), in 2010 every dollar spent on direct marketing advertising resulted in $12.57 in direct marketing-driven sales, on average.
ROI: Summary of DM-Driven Sales Per $1 of DM Advertising
Return by Medium 2004 2008 2009 2010 2014
Direct Mail $12.33 $12.55 $12.53 $12.57 $12.61
Direct Mail (Non-Catalog) $15.59 $15.52 $15.22 $15.28 $15.48
Direct Mail (Catalog) $7.06 $7.28 $7.32 $7.34 $7.27
Telephone Marketing $8.49 $8.57 $8.48 $8.42 $8.29
Internet (Non E-Mail) $25.93 $19.88 $19.83 $19.86 $19.77
Internet Display $25.53 $19.78 $19.57 $19.57 $19.21
Internet Search $27.60 $21.84 $21.85 $21.90 $21.93
Social Networking NA $12.57 $12.39 $12.45 $13.02
Internet Other $17.59 $16.62 $16.48 $16.75 $17.03
Commercial E-Mail $58.01 $44.93 $43.62 $42.08 $36.70
DR Newspaper $13.26 $12.77 $12.46 $12.26 $11.89
DR TV $7.02 $6.81 $6.63 $6.62 $6.48
DR Magazine $10.30 $10.11 $10.27 $10.26 $10.06
DR Radio $8.66 $8.60 $8.29 $8.28 $8.09
Insert Media $11.76 $11.60 $11.45 $11.43 $11.35
Other* $6.93 $7.01 $6.89 $6.91 $6.87
*Print in the Mix (from
www.printinthemix.rit.edu)
*Other includes all other trackable DM delivered media including outdoor, facsimiles, podcasting, displays, and kiosks.