The public perception of direct mail is improving, with almost half of consumers seeing it as good business communication, according to a recent survey, as reported in PrintWeek. Data specialist Wilmington Millennium questioned 2,000 consumers in December and found 48% thought it is a good way for businesses to connect with them, a rise of 7% since a similar survey in 2014. The research also found 44% of consumers ranked direct mail and door drops as their favorite form of direct marketing, compared to 42% who preferred email. Website pop-up advertisements received the least approval, with only 2.7% of those surveyed preferring them. Karen Pritchard, product director of Wilmington Millennium company Mortascreen, which provides deceased data files used for DM suppression, said the increase in positive impressions for direct mail was not a surprise. “We’re pleased by the outcome,” she said. “There has been a great deal of effort put in to responsible direct mail over the past few years, targeted and directed to the right people, so its good to see that effort is now paying off. “Customers are approaching direct-mail communications far more readily than they were in the past. There was a point when there was far too much untargeted mail being sent out. When a correctly addressed and targeted piece of direct mail comes through the door, they are not seeing that as intrusive in the same way as a pop-up ad, for example.” This is not to say all types of direct mail are highly regarded. According the article, charities were not considered to be the worst sector for sending irrelevant mail; that fell to financial services companies (30% of the surveyed saw them as the worst, compared to 28% for charities). Utilities were the third-most complained about companies (24%) and estate agents and local councils also came under fire. The travel and retail sectors, respectively, have the best reputation among consumers in terms of effective use of direct marketing as a marketing channel. Pritchard said travel companies did not necessarily have better data, they were just more specific in the mailings they send out. She added direct-marketing print volumes would never return to the heady days of the 1980s or 1990s but 2015 saw mail volumes and spend rise and this was expected to continue on the same trajectory through 2016. By Mark Pageau