The latest research from direct communications specialist GI Direct reveals that over 70% of UK adults say they are between and five and ten times more likely to respond to properly personalised marketing offers, compared to standardised or superficially personalised communications.
 
The study, aimed at obtaining a basic benchmark for the uplift generally produced by highly personalised direct marketing and direct mail, revealed some interesting regional variations. Scotland and the South emerge as the greatest devotees of personalised direct marketing.  In contrast, East Anglia and the North West appear more jaded and less receptive to high levels of targeting.  However, leaving these relative differences aside, the overall picture remains that personalisation has a very significant effect on at least three fifths of the population.
 
Many brands and retail outlets will also be interested by the finding emerging from this study that women are particularly keen on personalisation, with 78% indicating a very significant response uplift, compared to just 65% of men who gave the same answer.
 
Patrick Headley, Sales Director, GI Direct, comments: “This research finding gives hard evidence of the critical importance of targeted direct marketing in the current recessionary climate, when sales and campaign response are generally in decline.
 
“The fact remains that the majority of organisations are not using more than superficial levels of personalisation in their direct marketing.  Marketers in the current economic period therefore need to examine the level of personalisation generally applied in their direct marketing campaigns, in order to ensure – at the least – they are matching competitor standards, and – at best – exceeding the market norm in order to improve campaign responsiveness and subsequent sales.”