Direct Mail in a Digital World: Personalization and Specialty Print Pave the Way

A resent study of print demand in key vertical industries found the transition to digital is undeniable, but direct mail remains an important component of modern messaging campaigns. This article explores how personalization and specialty print can further increase the efficacy of direct mail.

At the end of 2023, Keypoint Intelligence completed a comprehensive multi-client study of print demand in key vertical industries. Over 1,200 respondents from businesses with 200+ employees participated in this study. The transition to digital is undeniable, but direct mail remains an important component of modern messaging campaigns. This article explores how personalization and specialty print can further increase the efficacy of direct mail.

It’s not always easy to stand out in a vast sea of marketing messages, but direct mail remains a popular choice for marketers that are hoping to foster deeper connections with their customers.
Among the 858 respondents that used direct mail to reach their customers, a strong majority (86%) were personalizing or customizing this direct mail for more targeted messaging.
Specialized printing capabilities (e.g., metallic/specialty colors, embellishments, quick response codes, NFC tags, augmented reality) can also enhance direct mail communications.

By Eve Padula

Introduction

In late 2023, Keypoint Intelligence completed a comprehensive multi-client study to gain a better understanding of how print demand is changing in eight vertical industries (i.e., education, finance/banking, healthcare, hospitality, insurance, manufacturing, retail, publishing). Over 1,200 respondents from businesses with 200+ employees participated in this research.

Our study confirms that even in today’s digital world, direct mail campaigns can be undeniably compelling when done well. It’s not always easy to stand out in a vast sea of marketing messages, but direct mail remains a popular choice for marketers that are hoping to foster deeper connections with their customers. Of the 1,215 total respondents that participated in our research, nearly 71% were sending direct mail to their customers.

The Power of Personalization

Among the 858 respondents that used direct mail to reach their customers, a strong majority (86%) were personalizing or customizing this direct mail for more targeted messaging. In this instance, examples of customization included changing images or modifying text for different groups of recipients.

Figure 1: Personalization/Customization in Direct Mail

N = 858 Respondents that send direct mail to customers

Source: United States Vertical Visions Multi-Client Study; Keypoint Intelligence 2023

On average, those respondents that were creating more targeted direct mail estimated that about 60% of their total direct mail campaigns included personalization or customization. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of respondents (98%) reported that personalized campaigns delivered significantly or moderately higher response rates.

Figure 2: Personalization vs. Non-Personalization

N = 741 Respondents that personalize/customize direct mail for more targeted messaging

Source: United States Vertical Visions Multi-Client Study; Keypoint Intelligence 2023

Making a Difference with Specialty Print

Like personalization, specialized printing capabilities (e.g., metallic/specialty colors, embellishments, quick response codes, NFC tags, augmented reality) are a popular way to enhance direct mail communications. In fact, 95% of businesses that used personalized direct mail were also including specialty printing capabilities at least some of the time. Of these respondents, the most commonly used specialty printing techniques included QR codes and specialty/brand colors.

Figure 3: Use of Specialized Printing with Direct Mail

Source: United States Vertical Visions Multi-Client Study; Keypoint Intelligence 2023

Of course, direct mail is not the only application that takes advantage of personalized and specialized print. In our vertical visions research, respondents who produced books, marketing collateral, and other types of printed documents were also asked about their use of personalization or specialty print. It should also be noted that the results of this research were broken down by vertical industry so our readers can better understand how print is evolving within key verticals.

The Bottom Line

This article provides just a glimpse of the comprehensive data that is available in our vertical visions research. Even as the digital transformation continues, print remains a vital component of marketers’ overall media mix. This is especially true when printed items like direct mail and enhanced with personalization, customization, or specialized printing characteristics. For more information on our in-depth vertical visions multi-client study, please click here.

Eve Padula is a Senior Consulting Editor for Keypoint Intelligence's Production Services with a focus on Business Development Strategies, Customer Communications, and Wide Format. She is responsible for creating, analyzing, and formatting many types of content, including forecasts, blogs, industry analyses, and research/multi-client studies. She also manages editing and client distribution for many types of deliverables.