Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Thinking about the past of direct mail and emails, where it is today, and where it’s headed truly is a mind-blowing and ongoing saga for insurance companies and marketing experts. We aren’t just thinking about the past but will discuss the future of direct mail and email marketing in a digital world.
Of course, we don’t have a crystal ball showing us the future of direct mail and emails but just look at how drastically mailing strategies have changed in just a few years! It’s remarkable and your business should not miss out on the road that direct mail marketing takes.
The future of both is packed with possibilities – but it also presents some challenges. With the emergence of AI-based tools, marketers can now target audiences precisely and send them unique, dynamic content on autopilot.
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As the economy wavers and businesses tighten their purse strings, finance marketers face the challenge of doing more with fewer resources, meaning embracing automation and AI.
But, what trends, challenges, or strategies should direct mail and email marketers be aware of in 2023 and later to stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly-changing marketing environment?
Direct Mail Today
Direct mail marketing has become more targeted, and more personalized and is delivered with speed supporting well-timed messages reaching recipients when it matters the most.
New technologies have even allowed direct mail campaign companies for direct mail to be integrated with other channels such as CRM platforms.
Here are a few ways in which direct mail had become a leader in today’s marketing strategies:
- Greater Personalization
- Data Usage For Better Targeting
- Integration With Direct Mail Automation
The Future Of Direct Mail Marketing
Direct mail has already advanced so much that you may wonder if it has reached its peak. Of course not! With direct mail being considered slow and untargeted, we can only imagine where it will be and how much more successful it will generate for those using it.
We can say that direct mail in 2025 is going to be faster, more relevant, more targeted, and even way more personalized and better.
Printing presses, communications, the ordering process, and delivery services are going to become even faster. Maybe faster than it is to plan, design, size, upload, and launch your display ads. Even the process of sending direct mail is now easy with direct mail automation where you can send a direct mail piece with just a click.
Mailbox retargeting came where after preparation you don’t have to do anything, your website visitors will automatically receive your postcard. Now imagine what else a direct mail printing company is working on to make these single processes and all other direct mail solutions even better, faster, and easier.
1. Larger Postcards
Large postcards give more space for your message, offer, headline, images, and response channels such as QR codes to stand out from the crowd. First-class campaigns tend to qualify for presort rates.
2. Trend Of VDP
Variable data printing is going to be used more as personalization becomes more attainable to all brands. And to do that, just give this level of data to companies regardless of size. Instead of giving thousands, provide 10 and see the responses coming.
3. Inkjet Pricing
It’s a fact that personalization will continue to be a big factor, that plays a big role in how prepared you are. The new inkjet technology will allow you to play real big-time with data and variable components.
Direct mail’s current trends are very high-tech. There are a couple of print and mailing services that are worth over a million dollars apiece. You will have to spend big numbers on data management platforms for clients who go tech as per the trends.
Investing in new presses that allow more use of more personalized data of consumers will give you more flexibility with your campaigns.
4. Data Analytics
Data is the point where you have to focus your attention on. What are you doing with first-party data? Will you aggregate second-party data? About a third? What’s happening with privacy laws? Make sure that data is driving all of your activity.
5. Triggered Programs
Sending email first then timing your mail, giving your audience an online experience then shortly after moving towards mail piece. It’s about putting in less effort but driving higher ROI. Be a smart marketer and ask yourself – am I partnering with the right print and mailing service provider? Interpret by looking past campaigns then create a triggered program that’s reaching your customer in a timely manner.
Email Marketing Has Scaled Beyond Its Original Design
In December 2022, spam messages accounted for over 45% of email traffic. Anyone can jam hundreds of messages into your box and can do it freely. Your inbox is critical for workflow but you don’t have control over it now.
You spend hours daily deleting, unsubscribing, and even creating new addresses to reduce the noise.
Ad targeting with email has become the norm for major email services. Email trackers come in many forms including special fonts or invisible pixels.
In today’s world, ideas are only getting bigger to promote insurance products or services, yet:
- We cannot email a file that’s larger than 25MB.
- Consider the difficulty of creating an email address that matches your identity – one that’s not riddled with numbers and letters,
- Email addresses at email service domains have become a finite source.
- Consider the use case issues we struggle with daily – in email. Bloated feature sets and icon placements that don’t match user requirements have taken over most email experiences, your inbox is bursting with so many broken-in emails, innovation will be raised out of necessity.
The accelerated speed of disruptive technology being built will introduce a powerhouse email experience that will mainstay in upcoming years. Here are the four forecasts of what the future of email marketing will bring:
1. The Audience Will Get More Choices For Email Services
New email service entrants will grow as demand increases. In the next two years alone, the number of worldwide email accounts is expected to continue growing at a faster pace than the number of worldwide email users (3% per year, reaching 4.4B users worldwide by end of 2024).
2. Email Intelligence Will Reach New Heights
AI experts today are already talking about the potential of consciousness in technology. Before you know it, your email will become partially responsive. The way mailing companies in the USA are using automation tools, there’s almost a time when an email would self-compose, self-delete, self-schedule meetings, and even send at the scheduled time.
3. The Email Will Solidify Itself As A Digital Fingerprint
Your reliance on digital identity will continue to grow in the upcoming years. All online transactions require validation of your identity via an email address and studies show Americans increasingly using email as a repository for their digital activity. The email could evolve into a type of digital social security number and the need for higher security standards.
4. No More Email Passwords And Security Will Increase
Device-based authentication and advancements in biometric security will render passwords outdated, likely in the next decade. Privacy-invasive ad targeting and the phishing scam epidemic will reach a tipping point. Encryption technology and other creations will increase and strengthen your inbox with new ways to block out prying eyes.
Final Thoughts
While some of these predictions for direct mail and email marketing may sound far off, you may see some appear in existence sooner than you expect. If you are struggling with email, don’t give up hope with marketing strategies – your email experience is likely to keep improving as technology evolves.
And suppose you are struggling with giving the best at direct mail. In that case, you can take help or ask for suggestions from a direct mail marketing company – who will suggest you the best direct mail marketing strategies or tips to create capturing direct mail campaigns that can help you get leads and bring desired results.
We hope that you have a better understanding of the future of direct mail and email marketing. If you would like to start a project today fill out the form below or call Matchbox Design Group today.
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