There is nothing quiet like sitting down with a catalog, or picking up a brochure or even a business card while visiting a business that I like or have been impressed by their service. I'm not in the demographic of this study anymore (I'm almost 40) but I can definitely relate. I tend to totally disregard emailed marketing messages, but if I receive something in the actual mail, I will sit down and read it through.
I work for www.weprintquick.com, and I have been trying to help small business owners understand that simply marketing their business online isn't going to get them where they want to be. This study confirms my belief, because like myself, the young American consumers avoid online marketing, but will look through print materials.
If your company needs help deciding what type of print marketing is right for you, visit us at http://www.weprintquick.com. We'll help you make smart choices to stretch your marketing dollars.
Do Young People Prefer Print Marketing?
Summary: It may seem counter intuitive, but Doc was not completely surprised to see that in the results of a new study on direct marketing, for certain types of products and services, 18-34 year olds prefer receiving messages by print.
It may seem counter intuitive, but Doc was not completely surprised to see that in the results of a new study on direct marketing, for certain types of products and services, young people in the 18-34 year old bracket prefer receiving messages by print.
The study, titled “Finding the Right Channel Combination: What Drives Channel Choice?” was conducted by ICOM, a division of Epsilon Targeting, and surveyed over 2500 U.S. and 2200 Canadian households and found that, when asked their preference, consumers prefer direct mail over online media for many types of marketing communications.
By the numbers, here are some of the key results from ICOM’s 2010 study of North American consumers’ marketing communication channel preferences:
For household and health products, the preference among 18-34 year-old Americans for receiving marketing information from offline sources led by mail and newspapers is 2 to 3 times greater than online sources such as social media.
Examples of consumer preferences for offline versus online are:
Product: Offline: Online:
Personal Care 62% 22%
Food Products 66% 23%
Cleaning Products 66% 20%
Over the Counter Medicine 53% 21%
Sensitive Health Products 46% 21%
Prescription Medicine 45% 21%
Travel was the exception, where 18-34 year-old Americans preferred online to offline information by a 42% to 35% margin, however, insurance and financial services followed the overall trend, with the 18-34 age group preferring offline sources 43% to 21% and 44% to 19%, respectively.
The survey also indicated that consumers of all ages are finding postal mail more trustworthy these days. Information is more private if sent through the mail versus e-mail or online, according to 36% of US respondents and 38% of Canadian respondents.
You’ll have to give out some information, but you can download the report here.
So what did Doc learn from this report? That for certain types of information that is deemed either more personal or important, even young people have more trust in print. Very interesting.
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ZDNet introduces Doc (The DocuMentor), sponsored by RICOH. Through his blog, Doc will educate you about Document Management. So who is Doc? Doc is something of an enigma. He was born to a Russian ballerina and a German electrical engineer who some believe was running covert operations for shadowy corporate interests. Doc grew up in various locations in the United States, although no one seems to know precisely where, least of all Doc. His early schooling was unremarkable except for the time he was caught trying to replace all the mimeograph machines with high-tech color copiers that had mysteriously disappeared from a shipment to Albania. At MIT, he made a name for himself by transforming a large printer into a robot that hunts and eats Roombas. Professionally, he reportedly has seen the insides of more brands, versions, and generations of printer and printer-related hardware than almost anyone. Some say his obsession with paper, printing, and mechanical movement was either started by, or evidenced by, a traumatic childhood episode when he crawled inside an old Xerox 2400 and tried to print himself.
Anyway, Doc has hands on experience with stuff like printer maintenance and fleet management, but his mastery of document management leaves no stone unturned. Important issues like sustainability, security, and regulatory compliance are top of mind for Doc, as are other business technology needs like networking and IT services, making him a true blue IT renaissance man.
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