Email still has the hearts of direct marketing advertisers and pride of place in their media strategies, but social media is gaining ground and running a close second. The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has published results of its study, “Response Rate Report 2021: Performance and Cost Metrics Across Direct Media,” reporting that email was the most used medium in all campaign types—B2B, B2C and split B2B/B2C—averaging an 82 percent usage rate among respondents. Social media came in second at 74 percent.

Following email and social media, ANA’s report placed paid search (51%), digital display advertising (42%), direct mail (38%) and SMS (18%).

Although email was the top media choice of marketers, its usage has declined 6% since the last Response Rate Report was issued in 2018, while social media advertising scored the most significant shift in reported usage, up 17% since the last study.

In terms of ROI, survey respondents indicated that while they certainly make use of modern technology in their direct marketing efforts, traditional methods such as sending messages in a letter-sized envelope via the U.S. Post Office can be extremely effective. Those who did so reported a 112% ROI, followed closely by text messaging at 102% and email at 93%.

The mail format that produced the best ROI to “house” lists was postcards (92%). The mail format that produced the best ROI to “prospect” lists was letter-sized envelopes (112%), the highest of all formats. Other notable formats to prospect lists include dimensional and oversized envelopes, both of which surpassed 90% ROI.

“This important study demonstrates that traditional forms of direct marketing continue to be powerful engines for accelerating brand growth,” says ANA CEO Bob Liodice. “The findings will help marketers plan and optimize their marketing mix and drive sustainable long-term growth.”

Looking ahead, survey respondents said that overall, they plan to increase their use of email (53%), paid search (52%), social media (50%) andtext messaging (50%) over the next 12 months. Of all media types covered, marketers said they were least likely to anticipate that social media usage would decline.