J. G. Navarro
Research expert covering advertising and marketing with a focus on South America
Direct mail advertising and marketing in the United States – statistics & facts
Is direct mail marketing facing its biggest challenge in the United States since the pandemic? According to early 2025 projections, most traditional advertising channels would experience a decline in revenue following the 2024 peak, boosted by the presidential elections. Direct mail's ad spending in the U.S. was forecast to decrease by little more than one percent in 2025. A year earlier, the average number of direct mail marketing pieces received by a U.S. household plummeted by one-fifth – a decline deeper than that seen in 2020. However, a late 2024 survey revealed that four in five U.S. marketers and media professionals planned to raise their direct mail spending in the following year. The apparently conflicting figures point to the crossroads where this marketing tactic finds itself: Direct mail has to endure the consumer habit shift that reduces traditional media's overall presence in shoppers' routines, but it remains a darling of the ad industry thanks to its trackability and personalized features' appeal to recipients.
As of mid-2025, advertising mail's reach in the U.S. stood below 25 percent, more than 20 percentage points behind television. Marketers can see this reduced scope of work as a benefit. During a 2024 survey, quality audience targeting data emerged as the leading advantage of direct mail for U.S. marketing strategy leaders. The second place was a triple tie between its easy-to-track attribution and performance, ability to integrate with digital campaigns, and the flexibility with creative and format. Once again, marketers' perspective seems aligned with recipients' expectations. As of 2024, over half of U.S. adult consumers wanted direct mail to be personalized, saw it as more relevant than receiving an email from a brand, and considered it an important way for brands to build a relationship with them.
Direct mail's benefits – for consumers and marketers
According to a late 2024 study among U.S. marketers, about seven out of 10 respondents believed that artificial intelligence (AI) would advance direct mail's effectiveness or efficiency over the following three years. A poll among the general population conducted around the same time showed that almost six out of 10 U.S. adults saw AI-personalized marketing messages very positively, as they enhanced their shopping experience. Another 18 percent deemed it somewhat positive: helpful, but not always accurate. This is only one of the more recent instances where brands' and audiences' expectations toward this ad medium tend to converge.As of mid-2025, advertising mail's reach in the U.S. stood below 25 percent, more than 20 percentage points behind television. Marketers can see this reduced scope of work as a benefit. During a 2024 survey, quality audience targeting data emerged as the leading advantage of direct mail for U.S. marketing strategy leaders. The second place was a triple tie between its easy-to-track attribution and performance, ability to integrate with digital campaigns, and the flexibility with creative and format. Once again, marketers' perspective seems aligned with recipients' expectations. As of 2024, over half of U.S. adult consumers wanted direct mail to be personalized, saw it as more relevant than receiving an email from a brand, and considered it an important way for brands to build a relationship with them.
