A version of this article first appeared in the October BAI Executive Report: Anticipating banking’s 2025 marketing trends. Check out more of the issue for insight on data-driven budget asks, agency relationships, corporate branding shifts post-SVB and an AI boost for customer loyalty.
Even in the digital age, paper remains relevant. At least when it comes to direct mail and targeted financial services messaging.
“Millennials and Gen Z like receiving direct mail,’’ says Martha Bartlett Piland, president of Banktastic, a financial brands marketing agency. “That may seem counterintuitive. But if it’s a compelling offer for your audience, it can be effective, no matter their age.”
Consider it a sign of the times. “We’re blasted with so much digital noise,” direct-mail automation platform pros at Postalytics stress in their report, Direct Mail Statistics for Marketers in 2024. The strategists find that direct mail marketing is so underused and undersaturated that bank and credit union marketing teams can tap this format to create a campaign edge, or for use as a lead generator and more.
You read that right. In an age of TikTok, LinkedIn and Instagram, old-fashioned snail mail has its place.
“Personally, and empirically, I love direct mail,” says Richard Dedor, vice president of marketing at Premier America Credit Union. “It has the power to interrupt, surprise and provide value.”
The numbers back him up. According to Postalytics:
- Direct mail has a higher open rate of 80% to 90% compared to email’s 20% to 30%;
- Direct mail garners the highest ROI at 112% across all mediums, followed by texting’s SMS (102%), email (93%) and paid search (88%);
- Americans feel the most “comfortable” when receiving direct mail, with 25% preferring it over any other advertising channel, including TV and radio ads (24%), digital advertising (11%) and social media ads (11%); and
- This sentiment expands across generations. Some 57% of Boomers, 45% of Gen X, 41% of Millennials and 37% of Gen Z would be disappointed if they stopped getting physical mail, they told the marketing firm.
What is clear, the industry has changed since COVID. “Direct mail has always been a quiet powerhouse for marketing, even as digital channels emerged and evolved. That said, there has indeed been a resurgence of popularity for direct mail during and since the pandemic,” says Todd McNab, vice president of client strategy with marketing experience company Quad.
“This is generally correlated to a shift in behaviors where consumers are spending more time at home [where they interact with postal mail closer to real time] and there’s an increase in digital content fatigue,” he says. “These factors, combined with the overuse and oversaturation of email and display advertising, have created a renaissance for well-crafted direct mail.”
For Blaze Credit Union, direct mail has always been part of the marketing strategy. “How and when we use it has changed some over the years,” says Lisa Lehman, vice president of marketing. “It is still a very effective way for us to communicate with our members.”
For Blaze, it “provides an opportunity to share detailed information with our members,” she says. “Some people are more comfortable reading a printed piece that they can hold versus an electronic message on their phone. We aim to communicate with our members how they want to be communicated to.”
Here are 10 tips for considering (or reconsidering) direct mail as part of your marketing strategy:
Show variety. Digital mail must be part of an overall campaign, not the only element. “The key is to use direct mail judiciously, as part of an integrated marketing strategy rather than relying on it as a standalone or primary channel,” says Preetha Pulusani, CEO and founder of DeepTarget.
Incorporating digital strategies alongside direct mail can significantly enhance engagement. Vericast, in its 2024 Financial Services TrendWatch, says its data showed a roughly 39% incremental lift in household response rates when adopting this multichannel approach.
Be personal. According to Postalytics, more than half (52%) of customers expect the mail to be personalized.
This doesn’t have to be expensive. “Advanced printing technologies allow for highly personalized direct mail pieces, rivaling digital personalization capabilities,” says DeepTarget’s Pulusani.
Meanwhile, “with robust databases of consumer profiling available, a brand should never waste money on broad, universal distribution,” McNab adds. “Know your audience and personalize materials to be relevant to their needs and preferences. Let the information you have about them drive how you market.”
Think targets. “For direct mail to work effectively in the digital age, it must be highly targeted and data-driven,” Pulusani says. “Sending direct mail to your entire membership or customer base is akin to burning cash.”
Create a lasting impression. As you personalize, think about the pitch. What is truly different about your enterprise? “Every bank offers exceptional customer service or experience or convenience,” stresses Rick Hall, managing director of the banking and financial services practice at BKM Marketing. “Direct mail needs to be thought of as valuable and finite real estate. Use it wisely. A bank branch isn’t a donut shop, so stop marketing them like they are.”
Give it time. You won’t see success overnight. “Direct mail is hard because ROAs take longer to see, which makes people feel like it doesn’t work,” Dedor says. “But when someone sees your digital display ad but doesn’t click, do we say it doesn’t work? No. It’s all a long game, but direct mail absolutely works.”
Seek a response. Consider a way to engage the recipient, adds Bartlett Piland. Think about a contest, an offer or a whitepaper that spurs a conversation.
Think beyond postcards. “I like to remind people that direct mail can take different forms: a postcard vs. a letter vs. a package,” Bartlett Piland says. “For a highly considered purchase, a standout package that’s more expensive might be very effective at moving the prospect deeper into the sales pipeline.”
Consider competition. Direct mail won’t work if sent at the wrong time, Bartlett Piland adds. Election season, for example, is awash in mailed postcards and other campaign materials. Holidays, meanwhile, are a time of catalogs and cards. “This would be another time to avoid because the offer could easily be overlooked,” she says.
Remember longevity. Direct mail may have a longer shelf life than other tactics. “It can be put on the refrigerator or board in the kitchen as a reminder and not deleted, never to be looked at again,” according to Lehman.
Measure, measure, measure. Finally, as with any campaign, there needs to be a way to measure effectiveness. “Brands can track the performance and success of direct mail with simple, straightforward mechanisms, such as QR codes, or more specifically, flowcodes, which, when added to direct mail pieces, allow them to track the immediate effectiveness of their call to action and the impact of their campaign,” McNab says.
Overall, “direct mail can be a strong part of a multi-media effort,” Bartlett Piland says. “When combined with other media – and planned correctly – it can build an impactful campaign that’s worth more than the sum of its parts: 1 + 1 = 3.”
Indeed, “it’s understandable that, at first glance, direct mail may seem outdated. But that stereotype is deceiving. Today’s brands are competing against a vast amount of competition for digital promotions, as well as general consumer content fatigue. Compared to digital ads, receiving a tangible piece of direct mail at home feels more personal and increases brand engagement,” McNab emphasizes.
“Plus, direct mail operates just like digital one-to-one channels do. The way the audience is generated, the way the creative is produced, and the way that leads and conversions are measured are the same as email, social media ads and targeted display. It’s just created in a physical manner.”
D. Hardesty is a contributor to BAI.
