Multichannel marketing reflects the realities of how consumers encounter and interact with brands. In other words, while many preach a digital-first approach to promotion, doing so to the exclusion of all other advertorial approaches is suboptimal.
There’s clear data to support this claim, and evidence that a combination of direct mail with digital marketing yields the best results. As this article from direct mail and digital marketing agency Taradel outlines, hybridizing corporate strategies enables materials to reach more people and engage those exposed to them more comprehensively. From a conversions and ROI perspective, integration beats fragmentation every time.
The first data set worth discussing comes from JCMAIL, with analysts finding that interactions prompted by direct mail are at their highest levels in five years, returning to a point close to the peak seen during the pandemic. Specifically, engagement improved significantly in Q2 2025, with 9.2% of all mail items prompting a website visit from the recipient.
Likewise, 5.9% of existing customers who were contacted by direct mail during the timeframe covered by the report then looked up their account details with the company in question. So, in addition to creating connections with new prospects, direct mail is highly effective at bringing back previous users, thereby perpetuating loyalty and driving repeat sales.
An average of 4.56 interactions was associated with each item of direct mail sent, with researchers noting that this is again a near record level of engagement. This is no doubt due in part to the 65.4% open rate, significantly outperforming the 42% open rate for email marketing messages.
Direct mail benefits from being retained in the home for an average of just over seven days. Physical mail possesses a longer shelf life or residence time within the household. It’s more likely to spark subsequent engagements and connect with multiple members of the household.
The disparity between physical and digital engagement rates underlines the necessity of an integrated approach. Nondigital channels provide a verifiable ROI that complements traditional email metrics.
The overlap between digital marketing and direct mail becomes more apparent when analyzing the impact that personalization has in both arenas. Data on response rates from ANA’s 2025 report on the matter underscores just how much of a difference-maker this can be.
Specifically, when unpersonalized marketing messaging ends up on a prospect’s home, the average response rate sits at 4.4%. However, when variable data printing (VDP) gets deployed to ensure the message within is bespoke rather than generic, response rates can rise beyond 8%. There’s variability by level of customization, but the point stands: People who receive direct mail personalized with VDP are much more likely to respond than those contacted solely via a boilerplate email, where response rates languish at 0.12%.
The case for adopting multichannel marketing with both digital and direct mail components is further solidified by ANA’s findings regarding the effectiveness of integration. A 27% uptick in response rates occurs when a postal promotion is combined with an email sent three to five days later to follow up on the initial message. This rises to 63% for hybrid campaigns that include digital retargeting, with social media proving especially impactful.
In terms of achieving effective integration, there are various options available. Including QR codes in direct mail campaigns that direct recipients to a landing page tailored to consumer needs can be especially effective. The inclusion of QR codes creates a closed-loop attribution system, allowing marketers to track a physical touchpoint's conversion path through digital analytics.
The upside for advertisers is that this also creates an opportunity to track subsequent interactions digitally, while knowing that the initial touchpoint was postal.
Research published in 2023 in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science provides a clinical evaluation of integrated strategies by analyzing the cross-channel influence of direct mail and email. Rather than assessing these channels in isolation, the study examined their collective impact on specific audience segments and total ROI.
The chief findings are that direct mail has a marked effect on customer acquisition, while email performs better for earning repeat sales from existing customers. In terms of the uptick in earnings associated with realigning marketing resources along multichannel strategy lines, the report found revenues can rise by as much as 13.5%.
The evidence suggests that an intermingling of email marketing and direct mail makes sense for businesses looking to maximize reach. Moreover, the aforementioned data shows that a multichannel approach provides benefits for both customer acquisition and retention, meaning single-channel strategies simply cannot compete for either engagement or ROI. Brands that act on this information can secure a competitive advantage and make better use of existing marketing budgets by realigning them rather than increasing them.