Direct mail, one of Canada’s most trusted marketing channels, is undergoing a digital transformation. Data and automation are increasing its performance and value to the point where the only thing direct mail today has in common with its traditional roots is that it’s a physical presence. Yes, direct mail is becoming more agile, targeted, timely and measurable – making it an essential part of an omni-channel strategy.
While traditional digital channels and digital programmatic ad buying dominate investments in Canada, direct mail’s evolution (and elevation) is important because it makes it easier to orchestrate and connect any channel in the media mix. This means it will be easier for marketers to pursue omni-channel strategies and diversify channel investments.
Media is evolving quickly – from traditional to digital to digitalized and now to intelligent media systems. It’s opening up a world of possibilities for how marketers can engage audiences across multiple touchpoints online and offline. Marketing mix modelling and cross-channel data connectivity are collapsing channel silos and making sophisticated modelling more accessible and holistic (faster and cheaper). With the ability to connect online and offline, a necessity in marketing and commerce strategies, direct mail is a future-forward media channel for its ability to combine tech and tangibility and bridge marketing and commerce.
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As media evolves, it’s not about digital vs. traditional anymore; it’s about how smart media can create connections. Boundaries between marketing and commerce are evaporating. Digital is an expectation, but it doesn’t need to be on the front end of what a consumer experiences.
Programmatic direct mail is a prime example of how old boundaries are being erased. The integration of AI and data-driven automation enables marketers to target specific audiences more effectively than ever before. With automation, direct mail can now operate seamlessly alongside digital channels, enhancing overall campaign performance.
For instance, automated direct mail can help bridge the gap between online and offline experiences. Brands can sync direct mail campaigns with digital efforts, using customer data to create highly personalized and timely communications. This is media at its most intelligent – efficient, responsive, dynamic and fully integrated.
With these new tech traits, direct mail combines the best of digital with the tangible impact of physical media. This technology and tangibility intersection is at the edge of where media is going, which is why direct mail can be seen as a very future-forward channel.
This evolution of direct mail, however, isn’t happening in isolation. It’s a key part of a larger shift toward intelligent media systems that are reshaping the entire marketing industry.
Best of both worlds
In our crowded and complex media landscape, marketers face several challenges to optimize ad effectiveness: soft consumer spending, media inflation, audience fragmentation and shrinking budgets.
With automation, however, direct mail becomes an accessible channel that can be integrated into broader marketing strategies to complement digital efforts and close these deficits that impact total media performance. As digital ads face issues like ad fraud, low attention rates and ad blocking, direct mail offers a brand-safe, highly trusted environment where marketers can connect with consumers at home. This authenticity and tangibility are increasingly valuable in an age of media saturation.
Traditionally, direct mail has been all about addressability, and now, programmatic technology is enhancing this capability. By leveraging data and automation, marketers can deliver even more precise and personalized campaigns, creating a seamless cross-channel experience that ties in perfectly with traditional digital ad efforts, first-party data, CRM systems and new digital opportunities like connected TV (CTV) and retail media networks (RMN).
A great example comes from Mejuri, which saw a 50x return on ad spend by integrating real-time online intent data with always-on direct mail campaigns. This is where the power of programmatic direct mail lies: It makes physical media work harder, smarter and in tandem with other marketing efforts.
But what exactly does this technology look like in action, and how can Canadian marketers, who are facing their own unique challenges, leverage it effectively?
Learning from Lob
To delve deeper into the world of automated direct mail, we spoke with Tyler Dornenburg, VP of Strategic Sales at Lob, a leading U.S. direct mail automation platform that has been forging a path in this space.
What is automated direct mail in a nutshell?
Simply stated, automated direct mail is trigger-based, personalized and measurable direct mail marketing driven by automation and customer data. The thing I like to burn in-to people’s brains about it is that automated direct mail is a part of omni-channel marketing by design and not as an afterthought. Right now, direct mail really doesn’t have a seat at the table with other digital channels. What we stress is that direct mail is digital too, and if you’re not thinking of it that way, then you’re using the wrong tools. Automated direct mail is the key to that kind of thinking.
What’s important to understand about automated direct mail?
Our goal is to make direct mail as easy as sending an email. That was a foreign concept a decade ago. Admittedly, it’s still a loaded statement.
“Point and click.” People get that. But what makes direct mail “easy”? When we say “easy,” we’re talking about deploying an intelligent mail approach integrated directly into your data systems, automated based on behaviour or life cycle events and orchestrated with your other channels. Those are not things typical to a direct mail program, or if they are, they are manual.
The way people think about marketing now is, “Hey, I’m going to send you an email.” If you click on this social post, maybe you get a text. Or maybe you get you get put into this workflow that’s managed by Iterable or Salesforce Marketing Cloud. The place where direct mail isn’t living right now is inside of those user journeys. That’s why we talk about automated direct mail.
What are common questions and misperceptions of it from clients/ prospects?
There’s an authenticity direct mail provides that people, especially millennials and Gen Zers, are seeking and can’t seem to find elsewhere. There is no other channel you invite into your home. Think about it! People make a proactive decision to bring that marketing message into their homes and allow it physical space inside. There’s a tangible authenticity to a direct mail message that you can’t find anywhere else. That’s why the numbers show the trust for this channel is significantly higher than the trust for other channels.
What are the benefits of automating direct mail that your clients are experiencing?
Control! is not an agency; we’re a tech company. We put brands in the driver’s seat. If you know your business best – want to come up with your own answers, want to dig deep into the data, want to be in control of your own programs – we’re great for you. We give you the tools to do it. We’ll give you the insights to grow your program.
What marketing objectives and strategies are best served with automation?
Automated direct mail is awesome if we’re talking win-back campaigns. Cross-sell and upsell are also huge, and it’s great for acquisition as a part of a broader strategic marketing push. That said, if you’re going to rely entirely on direct mail for your acquisition, it’s like relying on email or another individual channel. It won’t be as effective on its own. But the incremental lift that direct mail can provide to your other channels as a part of an acquisition campaign is incredible.
You don’t need to be a marketer to truly understand that you must be taking an omnichannel approach. If you’re not doing omnichannel then you’re not doing direct mail.
Think about all your emails growing in your promotions folder right now. You’re unsubscribing from all these text message campaigns. And seriously, when was the last time you clicked on a web banner?
Direct mail is an uncrowded channel, and it’s one where you have a 100% open rate.
How do you see the role of direct mail evolving in the next 3 to 5 years, particularly in markets like Canada?
I go into a lot of meetings with larger strategic direct mail senders, and one of the first things that I’ll say to them is, “Look, if we do our job right, you’re going to be sending less mail.” It’s a better situation for everyone. Because if you’re sending too much mail that isn’t as targeted or personalized as it can be, then there’s no way to defend that budget. That means it dries up and disappears.
If we do our job right, however, they will be sending less mail because they’ll be sending better mail. Yes, the cost to send a mail piece continues to increase, but as long as we send smarter with those mail pieces, and as long as they are able to measure effectively, then it is actually a better situation for everybody involved.
Why do Canadian marketers need to think about it now? How can Canadian marketers get started today?
Look for direct mail providers with integrations that work with the tools you’re using today. Whether that’s Shopify, Marketo, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Braze, Iterable or really anyone – there are a lot of opportunities to just say, “Hey, I want to experiment with direct mail in a place where I’m already comfortable. Meet me where I am – and where I am is dragging and dropping a little mail icon into a user journey.”
Marketers can get started by looking for tools that work well with the marketing automation tools they already have. That’s where they’re going to find if automated direct mail is a fit for their business.
Embracing intelligent direct mail
As we look toward the next few years, the distinction between digital and traditional media will continue to fade. Besides, consumers don’t think in terms of channels; they experience brands holistically with increasing expectations of cross-channel connectivity, consent and on-demand interactions.
The growing adoption of automation and programmatic capabilities is positioning direct mail as an essential part of an omni-channel strategy. According to emarketer, 93% of digital ads in Canada are programmatic which shows that Canadian marketers are open to taking this digital accelerant cross-channel.
The future of media is one where tech and tangibility work hand-in-hand. Automated direct mail offers brands the opportunity to create meaningful interactions, connect with consumers in their homes and drive higher ROAS. It’s time to think of direct mail not as a tactic, but as a media-forward, tech-enhanced channel that’s part of an intelligent media landscape.