In a recent interview, Margaret Pepe, USPS Executive Director of Product Management, shared that overall direct mail volumes dropped in 2023, but predicted growth in 2024.

Surprisingly, overall mail volumes dipped, but performance is up. In a recent survey of 250 businesses that use direct mail (report by Lob and CompereMedia), 84% identified it as their highest ROI channel in 2024 – a 17% jump from 2022.

• 82% of respondents plan to increase their direct mail budgets in 2024.
• 85% indicated mail delivers their best conversion rate. 
• 84% agreed it produced the best response rate out of all channels they use.

Thysse can confirm these findings. Our direct mail clients are increasing their usage. As we analyze trends and engage new customers, several insights stand out and may prove useful to you:

1)Trade Secrets

Companies with direct mail experience and success often keep quiet about it. (We sign a lot of lengthy NDAs.) Competing for attention in a mailbox is typically a 1:6 matchup, which drops to 1:1 or 1:0 within an industry. In the digital environment, competition starts at about 1:4k ads– each day. Organizations that have developed successful mail programs are difficult for competitors to detect.

2)  New Use Cases

Thysse is seeing growth in all mail outreach, with a new trend in frequent, "triggered" and relatively small, personalized mailings. A common goal is lead nurturing within digital campaigns. For example, when an email is opened several times without a conversion event, that interaction could trigger a postcard mailing.

Here’s what that might look like:

This example illustrates:

• Success depends on the average lifetime value of your customers (CLV) and current customer acquisition cost (CAC). 
• Data is valuable. What would you do with DM_3A and DM_4B?
  
• Optimization takes a sustained effort over time and offers significantly better value than one-off blitzes. Use budgets to break mailing volumes down to levels that can be sustained for at least three iterative mailings within a campaign. 
• Print and digital outreach have a lot in common and can be managed using the same techniques. 

The big driver over the past few years is speed. It’s fast and easy to get personalized print messages delivered. It used to be prohibitively slow for effective time-sensitive touches, but with new digital press technology and Direct Mail Automation solutions (DMA), mail files can go from your screen to on-press in just hours, not days. Many of our new mail customers are surprised by how sophisticated the process is.

3)  Opportunity Cost

An ongoing trend (and challenge) is bridging the print opportunity awareness gap with many digital-only marketers. While all marketing channels are subject to ROI analysis, there's often a reluctance to test in the print assets space despite the significant cost of experimentation in the digital landscape. Not testing is not knowing, which equates to a hidden opportunity cost for businesses lacking direct mail experience.

4)  Targeting

While digital targeting options are undeniably incredible, many marketers are unfamiliar with the unique options available to mailers. Targeting Specialists listen to campaign goals and apply their experience and vast data modeling resources to provide custom-tailored and highly targeted lists of prospects. Familiar demographic attributes can be refined with thousands of other powerful filters to generate incredibly dialed-in lists. Overlaying drive-time-distance, category-specific purchase history, dwelling type (condo vs. house)– even intent data like pre-car buyers, pre-home buyers and expecting mothers are available. If you haven't worked with a Targeting Specialist before, you may be surprised by the options.

Mail tracking solutions have come a long way, but lack the performance insights into every campaign interaction that are available in the digital landscape. That’s true, in aggregate- but that granular detail is available for a subset of your overall mailing. With volume, statistically significant and incredibly reliable data comes out of mailings, making it a leading way to test messaging and validate targets.

Additionally, overall performance is easy to measure for new mailers with benchmarking, simple split tests and versioned offers. Attribution can actually get tricky the longer you mail. 

We’ve seen highly sophisticated marketing teams inaccurately measure the impact of their long-established mailing programs and cut them. The ensuing revenue declines undergo troubleshooting, which often result in “The Three Ups”: Mailings are back up, revenue’s up and hands are up. 

The cost of direct mail is higher, per impression, than digital. A fact that chills interest in adding mail to marketing mixes. But customer acquisition cost and ROI are relative. Like all digital campaigns, if an iterative and sustained effort is applied within a converting marketing funnel, your chances of success and driving down CAC are statistically good with mail. Referring back to the survey results, direct mail may actually be your highest ROI channel.

So, is direct mail thriving or dying? The fact that it can deliver better ROI is a difficult opportunity to ignore. As experience with modern omni-channel direct mail widens and confidence in the channel grows, Margaret Pete’s prediction about the future of direct mail is easy to agree with.

If you’d like more information about Thysse’s direct mail solutions, reach out. Our friendly experts are here to help you. 

Calling all Direct Mail mavens and budget-concious besties! We’re back with more on the 2023 USPS Promotions. First on the list, we’ll  dive into the one sure to make your recipients say, “oooh that is VERY nice!” 

Whether you already have a piece designed or you need assistance imagining an eye-catching mailer, we’ve got you covered. From sensory treatments and interactive elements to specialty inks, your options are (almost) endless. And the best part? You’ll save 5% on postage while increasing customer engagement.

Ready to learn more? Join us for a good ol’ fashioned brainstorm on wacky ways this promotion could be used.

We all see mail pieces every day, this promotion encourages the added combinations of sound, smell, touch, and even taste to engage your audience and create a memorable sensory experience.

1. What smells? (Scent Marketing): Imagine you own a local wedding venue and are working to fill some of your less desirable dates. On St. Patrick’s Day, you decide to send off scratch-and-sniff cards scented with hints of Guinness and reasons to tie a Celtic wedding knot on one the luckiest days of the year. 
2. “WHAT?!” (Sound Marketing): More like “QUAAAAAAACK!!” As an auto body shop, you test out a mailers with. a few funky sounds to different audiences, with messages like “Waddle on in for a tune-up.”
3. Giving you all the feels (Texture Marketing): From House Hunters to TikTok, handy DIY homeowners are everywhere these days. Drum up business for your hardware store by using textured coatings reminiscent of sandpaper to get a gritty message out to your prospects.  
4. You’ve got great taste (Taste Marketing): Are you selling quantity or quality? As a small purveyor of exotic coffee blends, we’re assuming you’re interested in prospects preferring the latter. Try sending a mailer with Peel ‘n Taste strips of your seasonal blends and a discount code for bulk buys.

The key to keeping prospects engaged is to continually surprise and delight your recipients by giving them a dynamic experience each time. Interactive mailers can include three-dimensional elements, pop-ups, infinite folding, cutouts, and much more. 

1. How Did You Pull That Off? (Perforated + Peel Off Opportunities) The Main Street watering hole is looking to attract a broader base of regulars. They develop a mailer with realistic pull tab plays, with each card winning the recipients a seat at the bar and a “First beer free.”
2. What’s Popping? (Specialty Folding and Pop-ups) The last entry on the list gets a tad bit morbid, but also, you’re still here so… An independent insurance agency might promote a life insurance policy by sending cards with pop-up coffins (yikes) or perhaps, a gentler option of a white paper bouquet.

Another opportunity for mailing enhancements lies within the inks themselves. Specialty inks can showcase the unique properties of your message and products in a variety of ways. If you’re interested in using conductive inks, thermochromic, photochromics, or metallic and optically variable inks, let’s chat about possible applications!

By now, you can see there’s a myriad of applications available for this promotion, and each will save you up to 5% on postage costs! This gives flexibility to try out something new while staying within your budget goals.

Curious to learn more? Drop us a line to see why Thysse is still where you go with your brand™.

The U.S. Postal Service recently announced their 2023 Mailing Promotions and we quickly read through them a few dozen times to break them all down for you (you’re welcome!).  Here at Thysse, we’re kinda known as THE Direct Mail experts. So buckle in, because over the next few months, we’ll be sharing all the ins and outs of these upcoming promotions to help you properly navigate them (and save a buck or two while we’re at it). 

This year, there are six different promotions scheduled to take place (two of which are brand-spanking new). We’ll be here to fully explain each promotion – along with all the important dates that go with it. Look for updates about a week ahead of promotion registration. Or just stay tuned to our socials and we’ll happily remind you each time one comes up!

Looking to get a jump start on any of the promos? YOU’RE IN LUCK because we’ve compiled a comprehensive list below. 

1. Tactile, Sensory, & Interactive – Trigger Sensory Engagement and awaken the senses (with a 5% Discount to boot!)
   Registration Begins: January 9, 2023
   Promotion Period: February 1, 2023 to July 31, 2023
   
   
2. Personalized Color Transpromo – Stand out from the crowd using personalized full-color marketing and messaging while saving 3% on your mailers!
   Registration Begins: January 9, 2023
   Promotion Period: February 1, 2023 to July 31, 2023
   
   
3. Emerging Technology – Boost brand awareness through AR, Voice Assist, and more! Depending on mix of technology, you could save up to 4% per piece!
   Registration Begins: March 15, 2023
   Promotion Period: July 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023
   
   
4. NEW Reply Mail IMbA™ – Save between 3-5% by encouraging reply mail customers to adjust barcodes.
   Registration Begins: May 15, 2023
   Promotion Period: May 1, 2023 to November 30, 2023
   
   
5. Informed Delivery® – Navigate eligibility and incentives of this incredible consumer-facing tool.
   Registration Begins: June 15, 2023
   Promotion Period: August 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023
   
   
6. NEW Retargeting – Increase conversions and save 5% with follow-up mailings.
   Registration Begins: July 15, 2023
   Promotion Period: September 1, 2023 to November 30, 2023

If you’re already using the Thysse permit, we can quickly sign you up for any incentives outlined here. If you plan to use your own permit – what the heck?! Just teasing! You’re still able to sign up for incentives yourself, but #TeamThysse is always here to answer any questions you may have. 

It’s not a promotion, but we do want to promote it loudly – USPS has also released their shipping services increases, effective January 22, 2023. 

The following changes will take effect: 

• Priority Mail service prices will increase by 5.5%
• Priority Mail Express service prices will increase by 6.6%
• First-Class Package Service prices will increase by 7.8% 

You can find more detailed information on these increases in the table below.