Swing voters say direct mail is more helpful than other media in deciding how and whom to vote for, a new USPS survey has found.
Fifty-eight percent of respondents said direct mail is either “very helpful” or “somewhat helpful,” beating television (55 percent), the internet (48 percent) and email (46 percent).
Not only do swing voters find mail helpful, most of them respond to it: 54 percent say they read political direct mail immediately upon receiving it, while 24 percent save it to read later.
“When political races are tight, campaigns need to know what influences swing voters,” said Sales VP Cliff Rucker, who noted political mail spending has increased nationally by 50 percent since the previous presidential election.
Political mail is a priority this year for USPS, which is working with organizations and publications and introducing digital tools to help campaigns.
The new survey, which was conducted by Summit Research, also shows voters find direct mail most helpful overall for learning about registration information and early voting deadlines.
Additionally, voters are most likely to use political mail to learn about a candidate’s positions on the issues.
The Oct. 12 news release has more information.