We’re living in an attention economy, where consumers are bombarded with advertising at every turn – from morning phone checks to late-night scrolling, during commutes and lunch breaks.
When faced with such an overwhelming digital landscape, it’s no surprise that consumers are looking for more intimate, personal connections with the brands they engage with.
How are they getting this connection?
With direct mail (DM). Even when faced with a near-constant barrage of online messaging, DM offers a physical presence for brands – providing a level of tangible trust and personalisation that digital simply can’t match.
Here’s what we’ve learned works best:
Personal Connections
Unlike fleeting digital ads, a physical mailer creates a tangible moment of interaction between a brand and its consumer.
Today’s DM uses the data you already have – purchase history, browsing behaviour, demographic preferences – to create genuinely relevant communications.
The impact is measurable, too: DM achieves a 10-30x higher response rate than email campaigns, and is kept in the home for an average of 4.4 weeks.
Did you know: DM also requires 21% less cognitive effort to process when compared to digital media? This means your mailers are likely to lead to higher brand recall, a stronger emotional connection, and – most importantly – a greater likelihood of driving a desired action, like a purchase.
Not only is a strong piece of DM easy on the eyes – it’s easy on the brain, too!
What works: Use digital behaviour data to inform your physical mail content. If someone browsed a specific product category online but didn’t purchase, reference those products in your mailer!
Higher ROI
The most successful campaigns now integrate direct mail strategically with digital efforts, to leverage the strengths of both channels.
This is exactly why direct mail deserves a place in your marketing mix. For every £1 spent on direct mail, a business can expect an average return of £14. And, when integrated with digital campaigns, businesses see a 35% higher return on investment compared to using a single channel.
Physical mail is also responsible for driving digital engagement. Recipients scan QR codes, visit personalised URLs, or search for brands online after receiving direct mail. Each action creates another chance to convert.
Recent research from WARC also shows that, when direct mail was incorporated into a digital campaign, over a third saw an increase in revenue, and 35% also experienced an increase in ROI – compared to just 23% for the average UK marketing campaign.
What works: Time your digital and physical touchpoints strategically. A direct mail piece that arrives when your customers are more likely to be receptive can significantly boost related digital campaign performances
Integration that works
Successfully integrating direct mail into your digital campaigns requires synchronising data, messaging, and timing cross-channel to create a seamless customer experience.
Data synchronisation ensures that your messaging is consistent across platforms. Using sequential messaging coordinates timing between your digital and physical touchpoints – each channel reinforces the others.
Trackable elements like QR codes and UTM strings bridge the gap between your online and offline journey, enabling you to track conversions accurately. Moving beyond basic demographic targeting to create relevant communications using the first-party data you already have access to is key.
What works: Phase direct mail releases to match response capacity. Rather than sending 500,000 pieces at once, release them in batches of 150,000 every few days to effectively manage inbound volume.
A collaboration opportunity for digital agencies
More digital agencies are being asked to incorporate traditional marketing activities – like DM – into their campaigns.
Digital agencies excel at data collection, analysis, and customer targeting. These skills are directly transferable to creating a strong DM campaign – but there’s a gap in specialist print production knowledge.
Print design differs from digital design, requiring considerations like bleed allowance and CMYK colour profile.
We know the most successful partnerships combine digital strategy expertise with direct mail production specialists, allowing agencies to offer a comprehensive, omnichannel solution without needing the experience in-house.
What works: Always produce a physical proof before finalising your designs. What looks perfect on-screen may fail when folded, posted, and handled by recipients!
Next Step? Mail it!
Direct mail isn’t a marketing activity from a bygone era – it enhances digital marketing campaigns. Physical communications provide the personal touch and memorable experiences that consumers are craving.
Integrating DM into your next digital campaign presents a strategic opportunity for agencies looking to deliver superior results. Combining digital precision with physical impact will create a more superior campaign that cuts through the noise and drives results.
