Why Movers Still Matter for Mail

Lately I’ve been thinking a great deal about moving.

Not me personally; I’m good for now. And I’m far from the only one.

At the National Postal Forum a few weeks ago, one workshop that I went to kept circling back to a reality that’s affecting just about everyone connected to direct mail, that people aren’t moving the way they used to. According to one stat I found, only about 15 million in 2025.

Between affordability concerns, higher interest rates, economic uncertainty, and even changing attitudes about aging in place, the “great slowdown” in moving is very real. The panelists noted that the old patterns, like predictable seasonal spikes and cleaner forecasting models, have become harder to rely on in the years since Covid.

Even though fewer people may be moving overall, movers are still one of the most valuable audiences in marketing.

One speaker described movers as “super consumers,” with spending levels that can jump dramatically during the moving process. We've all been through that, right? A move doesn’t just change an address. It changes routines, habits, loyalties, subscriptions, services, and shopping patterns all at the same time.

That’s why timing matters so much.

Marketing to movers isn’t just about who you reach. It’s about when you reach them.

A move really happens in stages. There’s the planning phase months out. The address-change period. The settling-in period. And then the longer term lifestyle adjustments that happen after the boxes are unpacked.

A lawn care company might not matter during a move in December, but it matters four months later. Summer camps, home maintenance, utilities, security, furniture, insurance, pet care, streaming services, and appliances are just a few of many categories that can become highly relevant at different points in the mover journey.

After I got back from NPF, I read through a new report about movers released by Speedeon. And it turns out that brands have a small window to make an impression on people who move.

Their 2026 State of Mover Spending report found that 85% of movers reconsider every brand in their lives during a move. Even more important is that 78% choose one of the first brands they discover during the 60-day moving window (30 days before and 30 days after the move).

That should get every printer and marketer paying attention.

Because if your client waits too long, somebody else has already claimed that customer relationship.

The survey also found that 67% of movers say it’s important for brands to show up across multiple channels, which reinforces something those of us in print and mail already understand: Mail works even better when it’s part of a larger multichannel strategy.

One sad statistic also jumped out to me. Get this: 43% of movers said they dropped a brand because nobody reached out.

Why miss an opportunity to maintain or even strengthen a customer relationship?

Reaching movers effectively still comes down to data quality. One of the more useful reminders from the NPF session was that not all moves are reflected the same way in databases. Some consumers move but continue receiving mail elsewhere. Some never file a formal change of address at all.

So good address hygiene is more important than ever.

CASS certification helps standardize and validate addresses. NCOA processing helps identify consumers who >have filed address changes. Both of them are important.

You’re printing for someone specific. Someone at a moment in their life when they’re reconsidering brand loyalties.

In a slower moving market, that’s a big opportunity for mail.

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.