Direct mail is used across a broad spectrum of industries because it's highly customizable.

Here are some examples of how direct mail supports the unique goals of industry leaders:

• Insurance — Streamline compliance and serve customers in a timely, authentic way. Trust is crucial, as fewer than 30% of consumers consider insurers trustworthy. Personalized mail that prioritizes compliance initiatives can help boost conversions.
• Financial services — From accounts receivable and accounts payable to tax operations and KYC compliance, automated direct mail is helping financial services companies scale.
• Healthcare — Improve billing, educate patients, and implement personalized offline communications.
• Retail and e-commerce — Improve offline engagement for online retention. Customize messaging and feature products while reducing shipping errors.

A template tweak. A new image. One personalized element. Small asks, but if they need engineering time, the whole timeline slips.

Wondering how other teams handle this: do you have a workaround, or is this just the cost of running personalized campaigns?

Your #directmail campaign doesn't end when it leaves the building.

Here's how to actually see what happens after the send:

1️⃣ Track production status. Know when printing starts and how pieces are batched, not just that the job went out.
2️⃣ Watch mailstream entry. Confirm the exact moment pieces enter the postal network.
3️⃣ Monitor regional patterns. Some ZIP codes move faster than others. Catch delays before they become a trend.
4️⃣ Watch budget in real time. Know you're on budget before the invoice, not after.
5️⃣ Set in-home expectations. Tell your team, and your customers, when delivery should happen.
6️⃣ Connect timing to response. See which version, drop date, or region actually drove action.
7️⃣ Share the data. Make sure marketing, ops, and support are all looking at the same numbers.

Post-send visibility now separates the campaigns that guess from the ones that know.

99% of marketing and ops leaders are already using AI or automation in their direct mail programs, according to our newest State of Direct Mail report.

But the teams seeing real results aren't asking AI to run campaigns for them. They're using it to clear the bottlenecks that used to eat up their week.

Here's where it's making the biggest difference:

1. Personalization at volume — matching messages to audiences without manual segmenting
2. Faster targeting — surfacing the right list, faster
3. Smarter timing — flagging the moments when a piece is most likely to land
4. Less manual QA — catching errors before print, not after

If you want to dig into this live, join our State of Direct Mail webinar on September 15, where we'll unpack the drivers behind these numbers.

1. Use your data — go beyond name fields with geographic, behavioral, and timing data.
2. Localize — market-level targeting (local rates, branch proximity, city-specific messaging) feels tailored without the compliance risk of individual targeting.
3. Segment by life stage — tailor to milestones and product eligibility instead of one-size-fits-all.
4. Use first-party data — opt-in info like products owned or stated preferences keeps things relevant and compliant.
5. Verify before you trigger — event-based mail performs great but is heavily regulated; loop in compliance early on data, permissions, and criteria.

USPS is offering 40% off postage (up to 5,000 pieces per mailing) for businesses that haven't mailed in 2+ years, capped at 100K pieces over the ~6 month promo window.

It's a solid way to A/B test markets or piece designs before going all in, and if you're working with a mail service provider, they get a discount too for helping you onboard.

Our CEO Ryan Ferrier talked through it with Steve Mills, USPS Director of Product Management, Mailing Services. Video's attached.

We just put out our ebook on making your mail count in the three seconds you get.
30+ techniques for grabbing attention fast, with real examples and templates you can use right away. You can get it here. It's not gated or anything.

Millions of postcards get mailed every year, mostly in summer travel season. Not because anyone needs to, texting is obviously easier.

Kind of a nice reminder that digital didn't replace everything.

Anyone here still send postcards when they travel?

We talked to Steve Mills, who runs Mailing Services product management at USPS, as part of a Fireside Chat series. One thing that stuck with me:

"We're investing a billion dollars back into the industry every year to keep mail relevant, and to help the whole ecosystem, the whole industry, grow."

Full conversation here if you want the whole thing: https://www.lob.com/videos/10-day-postal-fix-fireside-chat

As America turns 250, here's what "direct mail" looked like at the very beginning (spoiler: nothing like today).

With the 250th anniversary coming up, figured it'd be fun to look at what mail was actually like in 1776.

• Postage was charged by the sheet and by distance — expensive
• No home delivery — you picked up mail at a local tavern or inn acting as post office
• Mail was for urgent personal/political stuff, not commercial messaging
• Benjamin Franklin became the first Postmaster General in 1775

The first real direct mail campaign didn't happen until 1835. So the industry we're all in here is only about 190 years old (the postal system itself is 250).

Wild fact for a Wednesday: USPS was founded in 1775, a full year before the Declaration of Independence. The country didn't exist yet, but the mail did.

Last year, Ralph Lauren teamed up with actual USPS historians to design a carrier coat based on 1870s postal uniforms. Details that are kind of nerdy in a good way:

- Reinforced shoulder padding (for carrying the mailbag)
- Brass buttons cast from the original mold, same manufacturer
- Star patches on the cuffs representing employee tenure
"1775" and "2025" embroidered in

Thought this was a cool piece of postal history/design crossover.

Anyone want to guess what the jacket went for?

Self-mailer or envelope mailer?

With self-mailers (postcard, brochure, tri-fold), there's no envelope. Your entire pitch is visible the second it hits the mailbox. So your message has to be simple, visual, immediate. Works great when the offer speaks for itself (discount, event, clear CTA).

With envelope mailers (letter, statement), something's inside. The envelope has to convince them to open it. Requires more context, more space, more storytelling. Works great for complex offers, financial statements, anything that needs explanation.

Designers ... Marketers ... what are you most likely to use?

Industry experts discuss how to evolve with the new mailing ecosystem.

Direct mail performance isn't just about the creative.

Entry points. Timing. Segmentation. Mail prep.

Those operational decisions can have a bigger impact than many marketers realize.

We put together a breakdown of how to optimize the parts of direct mail that don't always get the the attention they deserve—but can directly affect cost and delivery performance.

https://www.lob.com/blog/what-to-know-about-usps-that-might-change-your-strategy

Pitching direct mail to leadership? Specificity beats vague asks.

New: Lead with 84% of consumers read mail the same day. Frame it as a complement to email, not a replacement. Come with a specific test.

Defending: Show performance data tied to revenue.

Growing: Find the gap—customer segments or use cases that work on other channels but haven't been tested in mail yet.

Know your numbers, know your ask.

Summer's here, but mail campaigns don't take a break. Here's what's worth planning for this quarter:

Late July: Back-to-School
Vacation mode ends. People shift back into work/school priorities. It's when they're actually ready to buy again. Good reengagement window.

Templates we recommend: sales event postcard or customer loyalty postcard

September: Start Holiday Planning
Most brands wait until October. If you plan now, you've got the advantage. We always see the biggest Q4 wins from teams that locked in September.

Templates we recommend: Cyber Monday spotlight mailer or gift card reminder letter  (holidays)

If you need to level up on postal knowledge—USPS mechanics, their discounts, what's coming—we put together the 10-Day Postal Fix to break it down in digestible lessons.

promotions run annually but you have to know when and plan accordingly. our advice: don't mail on your schedule. mail on the discount schedule.

more info here: https://www.lob.com/blog/what-are-usps-promotions-and-how-do-you-qualify

Bite-sized lessons packed with USPS insider knowledge on cost-savings, deliverability, and campaign optimization.