Pitney Bowes surveyed 10,000 people as part of a pan-European study that took in the UK, Germany, France, and Scandanavia.

According to the report, 60 per cent of those interviewed felt that marketing such as addressed mail was more effective in prompting a visit to a company’s website, compared with 24 per cent who felt that an e-mail, website advert or sponsored link was a stronger means to inspiring a first visit.

On a more in-depth level, direct marketing was seen as being more effective at creating consumer traffic than digital advertising across all the age groups surveyed.

Of those questioned, 67 per cent of consumers in the 35-44 age bracket were more likely to visit and consider a purchase following the receipt of an offline message.

Gareth Stoten, general manager of Pitney Bowes DMT in the UK and Ireland, said: “These figures demonstrate how critically important it is for businesses to find the right marketing mix.

“Online channels such as social networking are a hot topic, but it is the traditional print and mail channels that are driving people to make web purchases.”

Read the original article at www.printweek.com.

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