Farquharson/Tedesco on Business Development: Learn from A/B Testing Results

In all three tests, the direct mail postcard demolished the e-mail as far as overall response rates were concerned. A recent study by the Direct Marketing Association found something similar: that direct mail averages a 4.4 percent response rate compared to e-mail's measly 0.12 percent.

Direct mail usually pulls higher response rates than e-mail because it usually gets higher read rates, too. According to the USPS, about 80 percent of U.S. consumer households read or scan advertising mail (we're not aware of any published data on B2B direct mail read rates. If you are, please send it along.)