Direct Response Driven Sales per $1 of Advertising
The Direct Marketing Association has released findings on the historical and projected returns of direct marketing channels. The results in the graph below are calculated to show the average return on investment for a dollar spent in each channel.
Notable Observations on the ROI of Direct Marketing
- Overall electronic media still enjoy a higher return than traditional mediums such as telemarketing, direct mail, newspaper, and even direct response television.
- No surprise, email has the highest performing ROI of all mediums. (For more information on this topic visit, Reach and Engagement: Email Marketing’s Big Challenges.)
- You’ll notice the slow, steady rise in the ROI of direct mail, and the decline of ROI in online channels, such as email and internet.
- Even the mid and some of the lower performing channels are still producing profitable campaigns.
So what does this all mean for marketing in the future? If the numbers provided by the DMA are averages, that means that within each category there are higher and lower ROI numbers. Some marketers are achieving great results, others not so much. My bet is the ones achieving positive profitability are the ones who are getting creative, trying new things, and conducting statistically significant tests to know what is really working and what is not.