Print Advertising and Direct Mail Calms Overwhelmed Consumers
People are reeling from digital fatigue. From hours of screen time to endless work e-mails and non-stop notifications, everyday people are feeling burned out, frazzled, and foggy. Print advertising and direct mail offer a quiet, comforting, and effective alternative for businesses and organizations looking to foster authentic connections with their clientele.
While print advertising and direct mail have taken a backseat to digital communication in the last two decades, paper and ink is actually making a glorious comeback. Well-received across demographics, print offers advantages that the digital world simply cannot offer.
Digital Overwhelm is Real and It’s Hurtng the Bottom Line
Nearly 70% of consumers across all demographics and income levels reports feeling overwhelmed by brand communications on digital channels. Not only are people tuning digital ads and emails out as a method of self-preservation, they’re also actively installing ad- and pop-up blockers and utilizing private browsing to avoid feeling inundated. Many consumers create an e-mail address solely for signing up for brand communication and discounts to declutter their primary inbox as a defense mechanism for feeling overwhelmed.
Feelings of overwhelm and digital fatigue are provoking a trend in consumers opting out of digital communication. In 2024, Optimove conducted a large survey, which revealed the following:
- E-mail is the most irritating channel for consumers, with 35% reporting that they felt bombarded by messaging. Text communication comes in at second with 26% of consumers blaming this method of messaging as a source for digital fatigue.
- Over 80% of survey respondents unsubscribe from brands who engage in excessive messaging.
- More than half of survey participants reported unsubscribing from three or more brands in a 3-month period.
- Almost 40% of consumers are less likely to trust a brand that only communicates digitally.
Digital fatigue is only a portion of the great consumer tune-out. It turns out—and research confirms this notion—that incessant digital communication doesn’t align with how our brains function. Digital communications are less likely to be remembered than print. The University of Tokyo found that college students retain far more information when it’s contained to actual paper as opposed to digital content. Our brains simply process and retrieve information more efficiently when it is printed.
Research conducted by Temple University and the USPS in 2015 found that consumers feel more to desire to purchase items when they’re advertised in print over digital formats, too.
Print Advertising and Direct Mail is the Antidote to Digital Fatigue
While the research points to a consumer backlash against digital communication, people have much more positive responses with print advertising and direct mail. More brands are looking to conventional advertising and marketing to connect with consumers. Patagonia and J. Crew, for example, have revitalized their outreach by bringing back print catalogs. Other organizations are implementing personalized direct mail and retargeting campaigns to work around digital overwhelm.
Ample research conducted by well-known universities and the USPS has demonstrated that not only do consumers view print material more favorably, physical copies of brand messaging spark feelings of comfort, nostalgia, and trust. Consumers are far more likely to remember your businesses and its product/services when interacting with direct mail and catalogues than when viewing digital versions of the same content. Print doesn’t have to compete with digital fatigue, ad blockers, and spam folders either.
If you’re looking to develop a print advertising strategy that works, contact our team at Pel Hughes at (504) 486-8646. We help businesses and organizations throughout the United States develop stunning direct mail campaigns, catalogues, and so much more.
