10 Statistics That Show Digital & Direct Mail Tech Combined Increase Results

You don’t have to choose between high-tech digital marketing and traditional methods like print advertising. You can combine direct mail and digital technology to create a powerful force that increases lead generation and revenue.

Statistics show that digital integration with your direct mail campaign supercharges your results. So keep reading to discover the research on how digital tech and direct mail make a powerful combination.

For the past couple of decades, there has been an increased focus on social media and digital advertising. You really can’t run a business without it these days. However, direct mail is certainly making waves with digital at its side.

A number of years ago, I decided to update our direct mail campaigns by including follow-up digital advertisements — we call it Everywhere Small Business.

Right after prospects receive a mailer, they start to see digital ads that look similar to the postcard in their social media feeds, like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Google search pages. It works because the digital ads direct prospects back to the company’s website and encourage them to call or make a purchase. They also increase brand awareness.

But these follow-up digital ads aren’t the only new tech strategies increasing return on investment. Automation is also a fantastic way of generating new leads. Direct mail automation essentially allows a business to mail advertisements, like letters, postcards, and catalogs automatically.

These mailings can also happen based on certain triggers like when a person visits a website, abandons an online shopping cart, fills out a form, and more. The unique relationship between online and offline activity boosts results.

We even have a product called Website to Mailbox that has been very effective at bringing back interested prospects to purchase a product or service. After a person visits a website, they receive a mailer within 24 hours.

Automation technology can also connect to Customer Relationship Management software so that any new action triggers a mailing, such as when you add a new client, make an appointment, or schedule a service.

Beyond automation, technology makes it easy for you to personalize direct mail pieces. You can add a person’s name, their birthdate, a photo of their current home based on Google Maps information, and more!

All of these high-tech strategies grab the attention of prospects and signal to your audience that you are attentive to their needs.

But you don’t have to believe me on faith! Take a look at all of these statistics we’ve compiled that show how much better it is to combine your digital marketing strategy with your direct mail campaigns.

Marketing campaigns are more effective when digital and print advertisements are combined.

• Technological advances enhance direct mail’s effectiveness because they have bridged the gap between the print and digital world, offering personalized URLs, QR codes, and AR voice activation techniques to encourage users to interact with the brand. MarketReach (2021)
• When primed by mail, people spent 30% longer looking at ads on social media. JICMAIL (2020)
• Integrated direct mail and digital campaigns elicit 39% more attention than single-media digital campaigns. Canada Post (2016)
• Brand recall peaks when direct mail follows email, outperforming the average for the other single and integrated media campaigns by 40%. Canada Post (2016)
• Marketing campaigns that used direct mail and 1 or more digital media experienced a 118% lift in response rate compared to using direct mail only. Merkle (2015)

Personalized and automated direct mail generates an even greater response.

• Only 40% of marketers use a technology platform to execute direct-mail campaigns. Comperemedia (2023)
• 79% of affluent customers say it’s exciting to discover a coupon or discount on a product they were already thinking about buying. Vericast Consumer Intel Report (2021)
• The use of direct mail automation is highest when a company’s email/digital team is in charge of executing direct mail campaigns. If a dedicated marketing manager or team executes direct mail campaigns, the use of automation declines to 31%. Comperemedia (2023)
• 84% of people in a study said they were more likely to open/pay attention to a direct mail piece if it was personalized. InfoTrends (2015)
  
• A study by Frank Romano and David Broudy revealed the response rate to direct mail increased by 135% when it was personalized by the recipient’s name and was in full color. When all factors were combined—name, color, and database information—the response rate went up even higher to 500%. “An Investigation into Printing Industry Demographics.” By Frank Romano and David Broudy, Rochester Institute of Technology (2010)

If you liked reading this entry, check out this larger article that includes 94 direct mail statistics about many more topics!