This couldn’t be further from the truth. Direct mail remains a powerful and insightful tool for reaching and engaging customers, as 72% of consumers regularly read or look at mailed ads, and 82% look at them at least once weekly.  

Overlooking direct mail as a complement to digital communication methods is a mistake. Instead, recognize the enduring importance of direct mail to your customers and its potential to build trust, complement your digital marketing efforts and maximize your return on investment (ROI). By supporting direct mail, even amid rising costs, you can enhance customer communication, reduce expenses and take customer engagement to the next level.  

Many people still look forward to opening and reading well-designed, personalized direct mail, whether flyer, postcard or insert. According to a recent Vericast Direct Mail Influence Study, customers spend an average of 1.6 minutes with a direct mail ad compared to 1.1 minutes for a digital ad. Digital is great for quick attention, but direct mail is a strong choice for a message that aims to deliver a powerful and lasting impact. 

But do these elements help to build trust?  

The same Vericast study also revealed that direct mail is a highly trusted form of marketing. 58% of survey respondents found direct mail trustworthy, with 67% stating they trust it regarding their privacy concerns. The study also showed that 54% of respondents felt that looking through mailed ads is a pleasurable and relaxing experience. When researchers further segmented participant responses, the study revealed that 58% of parents and a notable two-thirds of millennial parents enjoy looking through direct mail.  

The physical presence of a well-designed piece of direct mail makes it difficult for customers to overlook, and the effort invested in producing and delivering it makes recipients feel valued. The effort and attention to detail not only improve the customer experience but also boost ROI, proving that including direct mail in your customer communication strategy is worthwhile. 

Financial institutions can leverage the strength of digital marketing with direct mail to enhance customer engagement. Together, digital marketing and direct mail can create a seamless customer journey. For example, with the right customer communications management technology, a well-designed, printed and mailed flyer with a QR code can drive customers or members to a personalized landing page.   

Using customer communication software makes it easy to use collected digital data to segment your customers or members and tailor direct mail pieces to each based on demographics, customer preferences, or purchase history. This level of customization ensures your message truly resonates with the right recipient for higher conversion rates. 

Striving for instant, personalized and interactive experiences that appeal to customers who prefer direct mail can significantly enhance engagement and overall campaign performance. According to the Vericast study, 60% of participants indicated that direct mail ads are easier to remember when ready to purchase, compared to only 44% for digital ads. A unified approach ensures consistent messaging across multiple touchpoints, reinforcing customer confidence in your brand.  

While direct mail remains a crucial communications channel for many customers, we must recognize the continued rising costs. In July 2024, USPS announced a rate increase of 5.4% for Ground Advantage, 5.7% increase for Priority Mail services and 5.9% for Priority Mail Express. It’s clear that moving forward, you can’t simply stop direct mail services — you must find innovative ways to maintain profitability from mail campaigns.  

One of the best ways for financial institutions to see ROI from print and mail marketing campaigns is to include marketing messages on customer statements and other regulatory communications.  

Whether print or digital delivery, statements have an incredibly high open rate of 95%. Of those customers, 85% read them more than once. It’s critical to evaluate your current statement design to unlock unused white space that can help maximize your ROI.  

With a modern design, various templates with the right fonts, colors and design elements can make statements more straightforward to read and understand, helping to reduce calls to customer support.  

It’s also possible to get specific and create targeted content with data-driven, personalized information that speaks directly to different customer segments. Onserts make adding campaign images to unused blocks of space simple, while inserts allow you to add selective pieces of content to the statement package.  

Here’s where combining digital marketing with print and mail communications becomes crucial. Adding QR codes and personalized URLs to track and monitor response rates to campaigns or regulatory documents like statements helps you to continuously refine your strategies from gathered customer data.  

Reviewing this data allows you to refine your strategies to ensure each subsequent campaign is more cost-effective and delivers higher ROI.  

Direct mail is very much alive and well! Despite going digital, you must acknowledge that direct mail remains a crucial tool in your customer communications arsenal. By providing truly omnichannel, personalized communications that include tactile direct mail that complement your digital marketing efforts, you can maximize your ROI and offer superior customer experience.