Millennials and mail: A more likely combination than you might expect! Sure, most people associate the millennial generation with smartphones and the digital age, but, according to the 2016 USPS Customer and Market Insights report, Millennials are checking their mailboxes more than you might think. In fact, there are several common misconceptions about how Millennials feel about getting mail in general.
With this in mind, we decided to review—and debunk!—some common myths about Millennials and direct mail, based on the USPS’s latest findings:
Myth #1: Millennials don’t enjoy receiving mail — FALSE
They do! In fact, 47% of respondents who answered that they “Like to discover what the mail brings every day and consider time spent looking at/reading mail time well spent”, 50% of those respondents were Millennials. This fits in with the fact that 70% of all respondents agreed with the statement “I enjoy receiving mail and don’t see sorting the mail as a chore.”
Myth #2: Millennials don’t take the time to go through their mail — FALSE
“Though they receive less mail overall, Millennials spend more time sorting their mail and are more active consumers of mail.” In fact, when evaluating groups of respondents sorted by generation—Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers—Millennials were found to spend the most time sorting through their mail. This is a significant takeaway, because it illustrates that Millennials will take the time to review and organize what your business has sent them in a way that is deliberate and meaningful.
Myth #3: Millennials don’t prioritize reading their mail — FALSE
“Regardless of age, most consumers get their mail at the first opportunity…indicating high value of mail.” Contrary to popular belief, picking up the mail is not an afterthought for Millennials; they read it as soon as they can. This, plus the fact that 86% of respondents (not just Millennials) said they pick up mail at the first opportunity, should act a strong signal for companies who are thinking about investing in their direct mail strategy.
Myth #4: Local businesses are wasting their time targeting Millennials via mail — FALSE
Perhaps one of the most eye-opening takeaways from the USPS Customer and Market Insights is the fact that Millennials are actively interested in hearing from local business via mail. (Yes, you read that correctly.) In response to the statement “Businesses in my neighborhood need to do better job of using mail to keep me informed”, 54% of Millennials agreed. This becomes even more noteworthy when comparing their response to those of their generational counterparts (only 38% of Gen X and 40% of Boomers agreed). USPS spells it out: “Neighborhood businesses may be losing opportunities to sell to Millennials if those businesses do not use mail.”
To read more about USPS’s deep dive into the current climate of direct mail marketing as it relates to Millennials, be sure to check out their report.
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