Why Direct Mail is More Relevant Than Ever

Many marketers are quick to dismiss the effectiveness of direct mail, believing that their audiences would never want to receive their marketing message via the mail box. However, this is juxtaposed to the reality of the growth in direct mail volume seen in Q1 2022. With more than 8.4 billion direct mailers sent, resulting in an increase of 11.3% from the previous year it is clear that direct mail has only been gaining relevance since its brief decline in 2020. Here are some reasons why its popularity is not slowing down at all, and is actually growing.
Physical Direct Mail is Meaningful in a Digital Age
Those from older generations remember a time at which receiving advertisements via email was not a regular occurrence. For younger people though, it’s hard to imagine a world without the conveniences of the internet and the constant connectivity that comes with it – as many of them grew up alongside the rise of such technology. Therefore, most who were born in the 90s and early 2000s have had email access for the majority of their lives – and they are accustomed to seeing large volumes of email ads in their inboxes. In fact, the average person receives more than 600 emails weekly, and only 16.8 pieces of physical mail according to BKM Marketing.
Few consumers have the time or willpower to thoroughly read through that many email advertisements a week. Even those who voluntarily sign up to receive email notifications from their favorite brands, may end up getting fatigued by the overall volume of incoming messages and start ignoring them. The lower frequency of physical mail arrivals combined with a lower rate of checking said arrivals (which is usually just once per day) – makes direct mail a more impactful way to communicate with your audience.
Physical Direct Mail Benefits from Fewer Interruptions
The shortening of the average human attention span is often attributed to the increase in instant gratification-granting applications and services provided by way of computers and the internet. Everyday computers and smartphones are full of distractions that can divert a user’s attention from the task at hand. This of course, applies to the task of reading emails as well. A marketing message sent by email may have to contend with being interrupted by notifications, sharing the recipient’s attention span with music & podcasts, or even getting lost or mass-deleted alongside other ad mail.
While not immune to distractions, the process of retrieving mail tends to demand that the recipient disconnect from their devices and thoroughly examine what they have received. You can’t simply hit a button to delete a postcard out of existence, it must be looked at before it is thrown away. From a marketing standpoint, even a postcard in the trash has likely fulfilled the purpose of getting its message in front of the eyes of its recipient.
Postcard mailing campaigns require careful planning to achieve the best result. You’ll want to work with an industry expert to help you maximize your campaign’s potential.

Click here to view our design gallery full of effective postcard designs.
Cactus Mailing has completed more than 50,000 direct mail campaigns over the course of more than 20 years.