Is Printed Direct Mail Dead?

The editors of Target Marketing Magazine acknowledge that the USA postal service has delivered 12billion less pieces so far in 2009, and that direct mail spending is down; and that email spending and promotions are up; and that there are environmental concerns and pressure for 'greener' promotions. BUT, they have confidence that direct mail spending will increase as the economy improves. They report that 18.8 billion promotional pieces were mailed in the second quarter of 2009 and that the spend will double by 2013. Many marketing exports argue the return on the amount invested for mailed pieces is still better than other medias, and, because the share number of emails have skyrockets, in-boxes have become difficult to manage.
There was a recent survey that revealed over 210 billion emails are sent every day, worldwide. Let’s hope direct mail returns – this is very good for paper demand.