Mailed it: The power of putting pen to paper
Opinion
In an age of fleeting digital marketing, a well-designed piece of branded direct mail can help businesses stand out and stay top of mind.
In a world dominated by digital marketing, it’s easy to think we’ve perfected how to reach consumers. Hyper-targeted ads, personalised recommendations and a seamless funnel have become the default playbook for marketers.
But is this precision creating a bubble?
Yes, it’s effective — consumers ideally only see the most relevant ads and brands consistently reach the audiences who want them. Yet this “perfect loop”, if never disrupted or questioned, can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Businesses risk building a bubble where all customers look, think and shop the same. Without innovation and a diverse channel strategy, brands can stagnate, limiting their growth potential.
Reinvention, for both people and brands, is key to staying relevant and sometimes that means revisiting more traditional, tactile approaches.
Across the board, consumers crave thoughtful, engaging and personalised brand communications. Two-thirds expect ads to be tailored to their needs, but here’s the thing: this doesn’t always have to be digital.
One often overlooked method of reaching new potential audiences in an engaging, attention-grabbing way is by sending a creative piece of branding directly to their home. In short: direct mail.
The power of mail
In a screen-centric world, the act of receiving mail signals thoughtfulness, opening a sincere dialogue between brands and consumers. Think about how you’d react to a well-designed, personalised or curated piece of branded direct mail on your doorstep.
Unlike a pop-up ad or email, mail demands a physical interaction. Recipients pick up letters from their doormat, hold them, read them and even display them on a mantelpiece or table. Data shows that over 80% of items with an envelope are opened and this tangibility gives mail marketing real staying power.
While digital marketing aims to capture attention in fleeting moments, the permanence of mail helps businesses remain top of mind until the moment consumers need them: an impressive 58% of mail is kept for future reference.
Meaningful conversations
During my time as senior director of brand and reputation marketing at Google UK, I witnessed the symbiotic relationship between technology and creativity. Even when promoting intangible services, physical media like direct mail played a critical role in our marketing mix.
When encouraging business owners to create a business profile, the lack of physicality in Google’s services posed a challenge. Digital-first businesses understood our value proposition, but those less digitally inclined needed more convincing.
To expand the perception of our audience, we turned to direct mail to reach local bakers, educators, pub landlords and hair salons — businesses that didn’t yet have a digital footprint but trusted what they could hold in their hands. Direct mail helped bring Google to life, creating a foundation for a meaningful conversation with potential customers. It gave a global tech giant a personal touch.
Of course, this was just one part of a multichannel strategy. We integrated direct mail with email marketing, digital ads and OOH campaigns to target potential users and drive action. But direct mail added a depth to our campaigns that significantly boosted our reach and conversion rates.
When I spoke to Rory Sutherland recently on his Mail Unleashed series, we discussed how intensely personal mail can feel. For me, seeing an envelope on the doormat evokes memories of birthdays, wedding invites and postcards from far-flung places.
Even for branded mail, the act of opening and reading through it is intentional. Perhaps this is why direct mail remains one of the least diluted marketing channels, with 63% of recipients giving it their undivided attention.
Reinventing the approach
The challenge for brands today is to constantly reinvent themselves and find new ways to connect with audiences.
Reinvention is something I’m passionate about — not just for brands, but for people. Whether it’s launching a new business, pivoting careers or finding fresh ways to stand out, reinvention keeps us agile, relevant and inspired.
Direct mail embodies this spirit by forcing brands to think creatively and distil their values into something tangible. By putting ideas to paper, brands can build a piece of communication that people will want to hold, open and — crucially — act on.
Marketers should ask: what aspects of our brand story are the most compelling? What challenges can we solve for the recipient? Is there an exciting brand moment we can invite customers to share, building real brand affinity?
Knowing how a brand should look and feel across every part of the media mix is key to crafting a strong, cohesive identity. When consumers are used to digital touchpoints — regular emails, texts about new sales, targeted ads on social media — being the brand that disrupts the norm by placing something tangible into their hands is hugely powerful.
As with all marketing, standing out and using that moment of attention to deliver the right message at the right time is pure gold dust.
When marketers execute great creative, we create moments. But when we master direct mail, we craft pieces of branding that earn a place in someone’s home. And what’s more powerful than that?
Nishma Patel Robb is founder and CEO of The Glittersphere