Good news for direct mail

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22-02-2018

Volume of direct mail has been declining year on year, but the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has just delivered some news that might put direct mail back on marketers’ maps.
The ICO announced that printed direct mail would not be affected by upcoming General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), due to come into force in May this year. So what does that mean for direct marketing?

Post has free reign

GDPR is being introduced to crack down on the misuse of personal data, which is predicted to affect how marketers can utilise email marketing. Although the rules are still very much in a grey area, there is no doubt that for B2C marketers especially, it will be much harder to target customers using email and text marketing messages.
However, direct mail is seemingly unaffected by GDPR, and marketers can send printed direct marketing messages through the post as long as there is a ‘legitimate interest’. Well, I don’t know anyone who isn’t interested by the latest Domino’s offers or the fact that a new window cleaner has set up business in town – it looks like direct mail is back in the game.

Creating interesting direct mail

For many, direct mail can seem like a costly and unproductive exercise, but if executed correctly it can produce some excellent results.
We’ve successfully utilised “luxury” direct mail to help our clients stand-out on the doormat, but with so little being targeted to households the ability to stand-out is far higher now than it has ever been.
Do we expect to see an increase in direct mail marketing come May? It may not happen all of a sudden, but we’re certain that there will be an increase in businesses looking to harness direct mail as a way to get around the new regulations.
If you need help creating an engaging direct mail campaign, or equally want to get some advice on how to make your marketing GDPR compliant, just get in touch!