5 Direct Mail Trends to Watch

The last few months of the year tend to evoke things like pumpkin spice lattes, turkey dinners, and impressive displays of holiday lights. But for direct mail printers, this is often the single busiest season of the year. Here are a few of the trends they are facing this mail season — trends that will carry into 2027.

1. Postage Struggles

It’s no secret that the USPS has been raising postage rates rapidly the last few years as a way to try and stem the significant financial losses the service has faced. And while many can understand needing to bring rates in line with modern costs, that doesn’t ease the pain of the constant shifting postage landscape. 

Many brands and marketers look to plan their budgets for the next year — including mail costs. Direct mail printers are struggling to try and ensure the estimates will cover potential postage increases without needing to make mid-year adjustments, while at the same time not pricing brands out of mail altogether.  

That trend doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. The USPS is still struggling, with political battles over funding, service, and postage rates ongoing. Direct mail printers need to take a hard look at the pattern of increase over the past few years, and then design estimates accordingly. You can always refund customers if rates don’t increase as much as expected, or bring other ideas to the table to enhance a campaign with those same dollars, but it’s a tough sell to go back to a customer and ask for more after a budget was long set. 

2. Service Struggles

Another USPS reality right now is that service levels have been unpredictable in some locations. There are states, cities, towns, and local post offices across the country putting forth a heroic effort to fulfill their mission to deliver mail; but logistics challenges, financial pressures, service obligations set by Congress, and a years-long program to try and modernize have all meant there are some hiccups along the way. 

For mailers, this means that time-sensitive campaigns might not reach recipients when they need to, adding an extra layer of complexity. In response, direct mail printers should be advising clients with these types of campaigns that need to hit by a specific date to print and mail earlier in the cycle. It is much better to get something to a customer a few days before a sale or event starts, than for them to find out about it after the fact. 

3. Embellishments are Going Strong

Digital technologies have created something of a renaissance for print embellishments, and mail is certainly no exception to that. By eliminating the need for things like costly dies, or even, in some cases, extra equipment and consumables, embellishments have become far more economical, and a much easier sell to marketers and brands looking to stand out. 

Whether it’s foil on an envelope, a textured postcard, or scented letters, the possibilities for capturing a consumer’s attention are somewhat limitless these days. Research has consistently shown that on average, a mail piece has about three seconds to either make someone stop to read it or find itself in the recycle bin. Embellishments of all kinds are helping brands overcome that and be the pieces in the stack that get noticed. 

4. Targeted Doesn’t Have to Mean Personalized

Sure, a completely personalized campaign, where every single piece is unique to the person receiving it, is going to have a high ROI. No one can deny that campaigns like that are highly effective. But they are also the most expensive option on the direct mail menu. 

For direct mail printers looking to nudge marketers into campaigns that get a better ROI but don’t break the bank, well-targeted versioning is the way to go. With even just a few points of data — the gender of the recipients, their zip code, their age — a direct mail piece can have just two or three versions that feel like they were meant for an individual, rather than a mass mailing. Add in one or two more data points — do they have children? Do they have pets? What sports do they enjoy? What is their purchase history with the brand? — and those two or three versions will feel like a personalized direct mail campaign without the high cost of complete variable data.  

It also gives marketers a bit more flexibility to layer campaigns throughout the year. For example, start with a versioned piece that goes out to a broad subset of the target audience. Then follow up with a second piece that uses some of the data collected from the first to further refine the offer, the targeted customer, etc. For the same budget they allocate to a mass mail campaign, brands can have a smaller run perhaps, but a mail piece that will get better results, which in turn means they will be more open to mailing more in the future. 

5. Direct Mail is a Trusted Source of Information

Finally, as the digital age has taken over our lives, screens have become ubiquitous, and AI is in everything, consumers are getting fatigued. They are beginning to mistrust the emails, texts, and digital offers, never quite sure if it’s coming from a brand they know and trust, or a bad actor trying to steal information. 

Mail, on the other hand, consistently ranks high in the trust department — an average of 60% of people say they distrust electronic marketing today, but 80% say they trust mail. And that coveted 18-35 age range actually view mail as exciting and new — for those that grew up with screens, mail is a novelty, something tactile they can hold in their hands and that doesn’t disappear with a swipe. When they get a piece of mail, they don’t question if it’s from a legitimate brand or if it’s just a phishing attempt — whether they respond to the call to action rests on the strength of the piece, not their trust in the sender. 

And marketers are paying attention. While brand managers certainly aren’t looking to abandon digital channels, they are increasingly recognizing that direct mail needs to be part of the mix. Whether it is the opening introduction, a touch-point halfway through a campaign, or the final thought, direct mail as part of a broader communication strategy is seeing a resurgence. Direct mail printers with the systems and experience to integrate mail campaigns with digital elements will be the winners in the months and years to come.