Five Quick Insights on Lob’s Direct Mail Report

Talking with a friend the other day about our industry, I said that staying on top of everything that's going on is “like drinking from a firehose.”

Real original, right? Maybe it's an old cliche, but not a tired one.

Everyone’s busy, even stressed, trying to keep up with technologies, economic conditions, and postal developments, among other things. And all of them can affect the planning and performance of your direct mail.

Last week, I was honored to be part of a webinar panel of mail experts to talk about Lob’s State of Direct Mail: Business Insights 2026. For its brand new fourth annual report, the company surveyed 250 senior marketing and operations leaders about their direct mail programs.

Much of what we discussed related to one of the main findings:

• 87% of marketers say logistics are a blind spot for them

When you have bottlenecks for printing, shipping, and delivery, it results in lower ROI, higher costs, and schedule delays. If nothing else, I highly recommend reading through the logistics section of the report to see if anything hits home for you and your work, and if so, to find out what you can learn from others.

I want to focus, though, on five other areas, because there is something interesting in this research for almost everyone.

AI

It’s 2026. If you’re still hesitant, consider that:

• 74% of high-ROI teams use it to create personalized messaging, 59% to integrate behavioral data, and 57% to develop stronger attribution models.
• 66% of operations respondents say they are using AI tools to enhance productivity in their campaigns.

Mail Formats

The report notes that the strategy of a campaign determines which format is used.

• 50% of respondents mail letters/envelopes, just ahead of postcards at 49%; however 21% use catalogs the most, with snap-packs at 20%, a shift upward for both.

Personalization

Always one of my favorite strategies, and still underused. 96% of those surveyed say it lifts results (true). But with what?

• 46% leverage browsing behavior, 41% milestone/birthday data, and 36% loyalty/subscription data.

And where is it more effective?

• 63% use data to create a personalized journey across several channels, instead of mail alone.

More of that, please.

Measuring Performance

Tracking response to a campaign identifies what works and proves your ROI. Lob asked which methods were being used.

• 41% said social media, 38% customer activity, and 37% PURLs.

Strangely, only 22% claimed to use QR codes, which is a missed opportunity.

High-Volume Campaigns

Operations leaders were asked about their challenges in managing high-volume campaigns.

• 46% said consistent quality control, 40% production capacity across multiple facilities, and 38% controlling costs

Because 90% of respondents said that they were increasing their direct mail spend this year, it’s important that inefficiencies be identified along with places to invest in automation.

There’s so much more in the report that covers campaign goals, compliance concerns, data platforms, and much more. For me, the bottom line is that with the right coordination of resources and attention, companies and organizations can create, mail, and optimize high-performing mail campaigns.

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with Printing Impressions. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Printing Impressions. Artificial Intelligence may have been used in part to create or edit this content.