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The newest ‘Mail Moments’ survey sponsored by USPS was conducted to understand the overall mail habits of consumers, specifically as they relate to the act of retrieving and sorting mail.

Survey says ... the generational differences among the boomers, Gen Xers, and millennials aren’t so extreme after all. 

• Overall mail engagement has increased since 2012, and millennials are at least as engaged with the mail as non-millennials.
• Regardless of age, most consumers get their mail and sort it as soon as possible (same day), indicating a high value of mail.
• Though they receive the least amount of mail overall, millennials spend more time sorting their mail and are more active consumers of mail.

 The Personal Touch

When parsed by generation, 50% of millennials say they like to discover what the mail holds for them, and consider their time engaging as time well spent. Another 34% feel excited at the prospect of checking their mail.

Millennials enjoy receiving mail more than their non-millennial counterparts, once again debunking the notion that the generation is paper-adverse. 

Though millennials receive less pieces of mail overall in comparison to non-millennials (an average of 27.2 pieces to the boomers’ 31.2), the heads of households are more likely to retrieve the mail and pick it up at the first opportunity. In fact, they are just as likely as older households to sort their mail immediately, and are the generation most likely to sort advertising mail.

 Sifting and Sorting is Easier with Physical Mail

“Sorters” (those with a strong attachment to mail) and “scanners” (those with a lower attachment to mail) are the most engaged mail recipients, and account for an overwhelming majority of volume (16.8B) and revenue of total bills received. 

While the millennial group is most accurately classified as “scanners,” they habitually organize the mail and/or show it to others before discarding the contents. They invest the most time in sorting mail (a 9.2 minute-lead over Gen Xers’ 7.5 minutes) and appear to be more engaged with it over the average consumer.

Mail is still important to households, and the preferred form of communication over email and telemarketing calls according to 83% of millennials, 87% of Gen Xers, and 93% of boomers.

Direct Mail is Big Business for Local Businesses

Another interesting key finding: 54% of millennials said businesses in their neighborhoods need to do a better job of keeping them informed, which led the survey to conclude that these businesses may be losing opportunities to sell to millennials if they do not incorporate mail into their advertising strategies.

 Other interesting stats: 

• Over half of households have a “payment plan” that they keep updated regularly. Frequency of creating and maintaining this billing process increases with age.
• The role of bills in the mail is still important to all generations – though Millennials are more comfortable with digital-only options.
• Nearly half of households consider pure online bill receipt and payment undesirable, though undesirability increases with age to just over third of Millennials (34%) to over half of Boomers (54%).
• Even if there was a easy-to-use integrated billing portal, most would still want some bills or statements sent via mail.

Opening mail provides a break in the day of your average consumer to put down the digital screens in favor of connecting with the world around them in a different and more meaningful way. When planning your next marketing campaign, remember that physical mail - be it a letter, coupon, or flyer - presents a clear benefit that your consumers can engage with and respond to, and provides ample opportunity to reach the generation with the most spending power: millennials.

 As you deploy your mailings, it’s important to stay on top of USPS rates and rules. The Streamworks’ postal experts are always available to help you navigate the USPS terrain and get the lowest rates possible.