Industry News
Posted on 23/10/2008
Focus on the Filterer
While a large proportion of direct mail is often targeted at the person it is intended for - such as business managers, departmental heads and managing directors - firms with products to sell could often do well by looking at ways to get around the filterer.
Many organisations will have a team which sorts direct mail and those individuals will decide the destination of a carefully-worded marketing correspondence. Do they throw the letter away? Or does the communication find its way onto the desk of a person who can wield influence within an organisation?
The reason filterers are needed is obvious - research from the Direct Mail Information Service (DMIS) shows that two-thirds of business managers feel they do not have time to read all the direct mail they receive. This means the focus must turn to the filterer.
Employees who are the first point of contact for mail received by a firm are rarely given the title of 'filterer'. They are likely to be personal assistants, secretaries or receptionists.
According to the DMIS, only three out of ten items are passed on from filterer to business manager. Furthermore, six out of ten items opened and looked at by filterers end up in the bin.
This evidence suggests that the content of any direct mail correspondence should be targeted at the filterer - is the tone of the marketing pitch such that a receptionist or secretary will consider it to be worthwhile for their boss to read?
Enticing the filterer to open a letter can be the key - 21 per cent of letters go unopened by the individual acting as a buffer between the communication and its intended eventual reader and 81 per cent of these are thrown away.
Some of the same direct mail marketing techniques useful for targeting managers will work in the same way for filterers.
For example, producing letters in an interesting envelope made of unusual material or which looks different from the norm is likely to catch the attention of a filterer, who could then be more inclined to open or pass-on the correspondence.
It also helps if a letter is addressed to the intended receiver - if a promotional pitch carries the name of a managing director or departmental head it could be more likely to find its way to them.
Tellingly, some 86 per cent of filterers responding to the DMIS survey said that they were told to pass on all items of direct mail addressed to a member of staff.
Whichever the tactics they employ, it is time for direct marketers to start taking the filterer into account.
Posted on 23/10/2008
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