Response rates

The DMA has just pubilshed its latest response rates survey. Key summary:

"Response rates for Direct Mail as a whole are 11.6 per cent.
This is the average across 3,942 campaigns in both business-tobusiness
(B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C). This includes
375 campaigns – 9.5 per cent of the total - that achieved
outstanding results of 30 per cent or more. Removing these
campaigns produces a more realistic average of 6.7 per cent.
The average response rate for B2B Direct Mail campaigns
stands at 10.9 per cent, but this includes 86 campaigns (5 per
cent of the total) with response rates over 50 per cent.
Excluding these reduces the mean response rate to 7.7 per
cent. Excluding all campaigns with a response rate above 30
per cent (a further 73 campaigns representing 4 per cent of the
total) further reduces the mean to 6.2 per cent.
For B2C Direct Mail campaigns, the overall average response
rate was 12.1 per cent. There were 105 campaigns – or 5 per
cent of the total – which achieved a response rate above 50
per cent. Removing these brings the mean response down to
8.9 per cent. If the further 112 campaigns (5 per cent of the
total) which pulled over 30 per cent are also excluded, the
overall average response rate for consumer Direct Mail falls to
7.1 per cent."

The US DMA does a similar report.

***Imported from old blog***