In an industry where newer channels and breaking news dominate the headlines, it’s understandable that some traditional marketing channels don’t get the attention and credit they deserve.

But make no mistake: direct mail is the original data-driven performance marketing channel that savvy omnichannel marketers have been successfully using for years to deliver marketing results. With capabilities like A/B testing, attribution modeling, behavioral triggers, personalized messaging, and ABM strategies, its evolution rivals that of any digital counterpart.

At Alliant, we’ve been at the forefront of this transformation, helping our clients use direct mail to deliver amazing results. So, let’s air out some misconceptions and showcase the innovation of this powerful channel.

Old school, yet new school

Direct mail is commonly thought of as a dated channel without the same value as newer digital, video and social media tactics. Yet in a world where there’s a battle for consumer attention, mail is the only tactic that delivers a dedicated physical message directly into the hands of a consumer.

Over half of consumers see value and like receiving direct mail, and unlike digital, they don’t swipe, scroll or click through it immediately. In fact, 58% of consumers feel overwhelmed by digital brand messages, while 53% say direct mail feels more special, valuable, or exclusive. Mail stands out not by being louder, but by being different.

Surprisingly, younger generations are leading a direct mail renaissance – with 85% of Gen Z and Millennials engaging with direct mail, which is an increase over Gen Xers or Baby Boomer generations. Direct mail’s evolution is due in large part to innovative advancements in modeling techniques, localization and dynamic creative, resulting in relevancy of the mail piece.

High-tech scientific approach

In an ROI-driven industry, direct mail has to be done right – delivering the right message to the right person at the right time. And while it may seem straightforward, achieving that level of effectiveness involves a lot more than meets the eye.

Long before digital media made “testing and optimization” buzzwords, direct mail pioneered these techniques. Today, direct mail experts still take a highly scientific approach—leveraging data, rigorous testing, and continuous refinement to drive results.

Building a direct mail campaign is a complex, multi-step process. It starts with a review of past campaign results, then moves into establishing goals and a strategy to accomplish specific KPIs. This includes setting a budget, a plan for testing, timing, and finding the right partners from data providers to printers.

That’s where Alliant comes in. As an independent data partner, Alliant plays a significant role in the planning phases, but mainly delivers audience Optimization solutions using predictive modeling. These audience modeling solutions, whether custom or off-the-shelf, help mailers reach only the most qualified and relevant audiences at scale.

Optimization doesn’t stop at audience selection. It’s a continuous process of analyzing performance to identify which audiences perform the best—and which don’t—then using those insights to refine future mailings. This includes prioritizing high-performing segments and suppressing underperformers, all with the goal of consistently reaching the best possible customers and prospects.

Seriously, how many channels give you direct access to actual data scientists advising you on audience strategy? Direct mail has been doing just that for decades.

New Innovations

The evolution of direct mail is keeping pace with other performance channels. Especially in the areas of personalized messaging, omni-channel marketing and delivery formats.

A new development that marketers may not be aware of is the ability to use dynamic personalized creative within their direct mail efforts. Modern direct mail is not about printing thousands of copies of a single piece of collateral and sending it to everyone under the sun. Dynamic personalized creative allows marketers to deliver different messages to different audiences depending on a variety of criteria, whether that’s their location, or an action they have taken such as a product purchase or digital engagement.

Hyper-personalization in direct mail is also driven by artificial intelligence. From analyzing consumer data and segmenting audiences to optimizing and personalizing creative messaging, AI is changing the game in real time.

The direct mail channel plays a huge role in omni-channel performance marketing working in tandem with digital, TV, social and other tactics to drive collective results. Direct mail shouldn’t be planned in a silo when thinking about an advertising media mix. Marketers can use mailers to drive better search results, fit into an ABM strategy, retarget website visitors, or target based on other behavioral triggers. Consumers’ newfound comfort with QR codes makes it easier than ever to connect mailers with online activity, closing the loop on what works.

Embracing the new look

With all that’s possible with direct mail today, marketers need to throw their old-school printed mailer mindset out the window. It was and still is the original data-driven performance marketing channel, now transformed into a sophisticated, high-tech cornerstone of modern marketing.

It’s time to think about mail differently, and a reliable, deeply experienced partner like Alliant can help!