Digital marketing has dominated the industry for years, but that doesn’t mean direct mail is dead! In 2025, overlooking the power of physical mail will be a costly mistake.

Direct mail continues to drive high engagement, strong conversion rates, and lasting brand recall—making it a crucial tool for acquisition, awareness, and retention. That’s why, even in today’s digital landscape, direct mail should be a key piece of your marketing mix.

2025 will be the year of direct mail! Here are some direct mail statistics and best practices to consider as you plan your next campaign. 

Direct Mail Statistics for 2025

Marketers are betting big on direct mail this year! 61% of marketers have increased direct mail investments in the last 12 months, likely because it can effectively cut through the digital clutter. And, this trend isn’t slowing down: 81% of brands plan to increase their direct mail budgets for 2025.

As competition for consumer attention grows, it’s important for brands to find ways to stand out from the crowd. With many consumers experiencing digital fatigue, businesses should turn to tangible, personalized mail to create lasting impressions and drive engagement.

Why are direct mail campaigns so valuable?

If you’re not leveraging direct mail in your marketing strategy, now is the time to start. Here are 3 reasons why direct mail marketing is a worthwhile investment in 2025:

1. Performance is Improving: 70% of marketers reported direct mail performance has improved over the last 12 months
2. Lower Mail Volume = More Attention: Postal rate increases caused a decline in mail volume, making it easier for marketing materials to stand out.
3. Response Rates are High: Direct mail has the highest ROI for individual media (161%) despite rising postal costs.

These direct mail statistics prove that direct mail is not only effective today but is poised to become even more impactful in the future.

Consumer Psychology: Why Direct Mail Advertising Works

For consumers, direct mail’s tangible nature engages the senses, captures attention for longer periods, and provides extended recall. Consumer sentiment surrounding direct mail is positive, and consumers seem to trust direct mail more than other channels.

Research shows that as a result of direct mail… 

• 57% visited the brand’s website
• 53% searched for that brand online
• 46% searched for online reviews
• 38% visited a physical location
• 36% made a purchase
• 28% visited another website
• 20% checked that brand’s social media.

These direct mail statistics show that direct mail is highly effective in driving consumer action!

Tips for Successful Direct Mail Marketing in 2025

Here are some of our best tips for successful direct mail marketing campaigns.

Tip #1: Personalization is Key

Consumers expect personalized experiences, and direct mail is no exception! 64% of consumers are more likely to engage with personalized messaging rather than generic marketing. Using data to personalize names and segment your list to include tailored offers provides a more customized approach—increasing response rates and strengthening customer relationships.

Tip #2: Include a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)

When someone receives your direct mail piece, it’s important that they know what to do next. Make it easy for recipients by including a QR code, the URL to your website, or information about redeeming a special offer. Remember: Your CTA should be compelling, specific, and easy to follow.

Tip #3: Use Direct Mail to Complement Digital Campaigns

Increase your response rates by reaching the same audience through direct mail and digital channels. Using tools like QR codes and social media retargeting can help create a seamless omnichannel experience that drives conversions, boosts engagement, and improves direct mail ROI.

This approach is crucial as it empowers marketers to meet their audiences where they are, providing seamless experiences that drive consumers to act. This is accomplished by extending reach to a broader audience, consistent messaging that creates awareness, and a variety of touchpoints that make responding easy.

When direct mail and digital marketing channels are combined…

• 68% of marketers have experienced increased website visits
• Marketers see conversion rates of 40% 
• 60% of marketers have reported increased ROI

Effective omnichannel campaigns rely on high-quality data; it’s important to be able to reach the same, exact audience across physical and digital touchpoints. That’s where Deep Sync can help. Contact us to get started!

6 Benefits of Cross-Channel Data Activation

Experience increased campaign response rates by leveraging audiences that support cross-channel initiatives. Unlike traditional marketing, which tends to focus on independent channels and generally relies on separate datasets to power campaigns, cross-channel marketing places emphasis on the audience, promoting consistency across channels.

There are 6 key benefits of cross-channel data activation:

1. Reach more of your desired audience by leveraging multiple touchpoints.

By leveraging multiple touchpoints to share your brand’s message, you reach your audience where they are most comfortable. Incorporating email, programmatic, and/or social media advertising alongside your existing direct mail efforts creates additional opportunities for engagement where your audience is already spending time.

2. Enhance brand visibility with consistency across channels.

A consistent presence with familiar messaging across multiple channels reinforces brand awareness and enhances recall of your offerings. When your audience encounters your brand on a variety of platforms, it strengthens their perception and recognition of your brand and its value proposition.

3. Accommodate stages of the buyer journey with multiple channels.

Different channels are known to cater to consumers at different stages of the buying journey. For instance, social media is effective for brand awareness and engagement, while email marketing can nurture leads towards conversion. Using multiple channels enables you to tailor your messages and strategies accordingly.

4. Support retargeting initiatives that drive consumers to make a purchase.

Cross-channel audiences are ideal for retargeting initiatives that drive consumers toward making a purchase. For example, individuals who have engaged with direct mail can be retargeted through digital channels, reinforcing your brand’s message and encouraging them to take action.

5. Increase response rates by capturing attention across channels.

Consistent, personalized messaging across channels aids in capturing your audience’s attention. Consumers are more likely to interact with brands when they feel understood and valued; this can translate to increased engagement, email open rates, social media interactions, and website visits.

6. Optimize marketing performance by increasing conversion rates.

By optimizing marketing efforts based on data-driven insights, brands can experience reduced marketing costs by avoiding wasted impressions, increased revenue from higher conversion rates, and improved customer lifetime value by building stronger relationships.

Overall, a thoughtful combination of digital and direct mail outreach can boost direct mail response rates and return on investment (ROI).

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Reach Audiences with Deep Sync

Reaching your desired audience with the right message at the right time can prove difficult in today’s world of disparate datasets and fragmented channels. Doing so requires maximizing your first-party data and leveraging compliant, trustworthy third-party audiences.

Deep Sync’s best-in-class datasets and integrated offerings enable you to create an audience once and activate it across online and offline channels for impactful marketing that drives meaningful results. With information on 97% of U.S. consumers age 18 and older and more than 1,500 attributes across Consumer, B2B, Home, and Student datasets, here are some of Deep Sync’s data offerings:

Want more direct mail resources?

• Receiving direct mail pieces can evoke feelings of nostalgia and help cut through consumers’ growing digital fatigue. Learn more in this blog post: Direct Mail Nostalgia & Digital Fatigue
• Cross-channel data activation can boost the effectiveness of direct mail marketing by increasing reach and utilizing a variety of touchpoints. Learn more about the latest direct mail statistics and how adding digital channels to direct mail campaigns increases conversions in this Solution Sheet: Boost the Effectiveness of Direct Mail with Cross-Channel Data Activation
• Postal rate increases may pose a challenge for direct mail marketers, but data can help offset the cost. Learn how in this blog post: Navigating Postal Rate Increases with Data