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Rumours of direct mail's demise have been greatly exaggerated. Despite the rise of alternative communication channels, such as email and SMS, direct mail has retained its status as one of the foremost methods in the minds of marketers.

The reasons for this are varied, but the simplest explanation is that direct mail is an ideal medium from which to track response rates. Also, in contrast to email – where people have multiple, often changing addresses – postal addresses tend to remain fixed and can be found in the phone book.

This is a huge advantage, as it allows DM users to target, for example, every individual in a particular postcode, knowing that the audience will receive the item and not have it either blocked by a spam filter or turn up at a redundant email address. However, the one inescapable disadvantage of DM versus electronic media is its cost.

Money worries
The cost of mail is an ever-increasing burden (tied inextricably to the cost of fuel) and, with the credit crunch hitting the bottom line, companies’ marketing budgets will always be the first to suffer. This is where intelligent software comes in – helping to reduce the cost and im­­prove the effectiveness of direct mail.

Direct mail can be traced at least as far back as the first half of the 15th century and, arguably, even further. The British Museum holds an advertisement offering a reward for the return of a runaway slave, which was written on papyri and unearthed from the ruins of Thebes. It has been dated to 1,000BC. More recently, Gutenberg’s seminal creation, movable type, led to the printing of the first deal catalogues and with them the birth of the modern direct mail industry.

Since then, DM has come a long way and, thankfully (for the consumers at least, if not printers), the days of scatter bomb mail shots running into the millions are drawing to a close. Instead, direct mail has become much more targeted, with the aim being to hit the right people at the right time with the right information. Software is key to this process and DSTi is one of many companies helping mailers to achieve the DM dream of plus 30% response rates.

Relevance is key
Danny Narey is head of the DSTi subsidiary Hi Response, which is a communications management service created to help businesses to issue effective, personalised messages within tight deadlines. Unsurprisingly, he is a big believer in DM and its ability to communicate with customers in the most timely and relevant manner possible.

He says: Smart targeting allows communications to be more succinct – both research and common sense tell us that increased timeliness and relevance bring uplift to responses and increases in call-to-action.

Whether the communication channel is paper or electronic, removing the fog of messages unnecessary to that individual can improve these exponentially. Applying the right software solution to customer communication means only one thing to me: saying ‘just enough’. In other words, apply the appropriate solution to reduce the delivery of non-relevant messages to that recipient. The more pertinent communication shines through so much brighter.

Sefas is another UK company that has developed software to reduce the cost and boost the effectiveness of customer communication. It specialises in financial mailings and recently signed a deal with the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, which in­­stalled Sefas’ Open Print software across its European branch network. Business development manager James Weaver says that, as the financial world continues to weather the credit crunch, the drive to improve cost efficiency through enhanced IT has never been greater.

Software assistance
He says: Automated Infor­mation Technology (AIT) is playing an increasingly important role in helping companies boost their bottom line and enhance customer communication. It can combine design, print and distribution into a fluid, all-in-one system, managing the entire document production process from conception to distribution, ensuring cost efficien­­cy, as well as data integrity.

The company’s Open Print software can intelligently group all the documents going to the same recipient, add the appropriate integrity markings for automatic finishing and select the appropriate delivery channel for each communication. This can significantly reduce the costs associated with the production of essential banking literature, says Weaver.

With postal costs likely to continue rising and the financial climate looking more likely to worsen than improve, companies need to start thinking about reducing the cost of essential literature and making the literature they do produce as efficient as possible. There are many ways this can be achieved, but one way worth considering is to let the software do the thinking for you.