Traditional direct mail has already proven helpful in providing customers with information about your business and products. So, why do savvy marketers feel that programmatic direct mail is a more efficient option for targeted marketing campaigns?
This post explains an automated direct mail marketing technique known as Programmatic Direct Mail. We compare it with the traditional direct mail to help you better understand how it can enhance your marketing efforts.
What is Programmatic Direct Mail Marketing?
Direct mail marketing has been used to promote goods and services for years. Today, it holds a special place among the top marketing channels due to its effectiveness in customer engagement, acquisition, and lead generation. 42% of purchase decisions are influenced by direct mail marketing.
Recent advancements in technology have brought about the need to adopt new marketing solutions. Programmatic mail is one of these recent advancements giving marketers an edge over their competitors.
But, what is programmatic direct mail? Programmatic mail is a direct mail marketing technique in which businesses rely fully or partially on automated systems to run their direct mail marketing campaigns. Software triggers mailings when a consumer meets specific parameters or exhibits certain behaviors, such as leaving an item at the checkout form.
Here's a glimpse of how it works:
The marketer installs a simple tagging code on a website, which allows it to track the behavior of the visitors. So, let's say that the customer failed to get through to the end of the sales funnel. Perhaps they didn't make a purchase but left at the last stage of the checkout process. The system responds by sending them retargeted tailored direct mail delivered to their physical address within hours. Doing this increases the chances of a sale.
More companies are now leaning towards programmatic mail advertising to improve customer engagement and boost their return on investment (ROI). According to Statista, the 2020 global programmatic ad spend was $129.1 billion. This figure was expected to reach $155 billion in 2021.

Programmatic Direct Mail Marketing vs. Traditional Direct Mail: Pros and Cons
Programmatic direct mail marketing can automate most of the operations associated with traditional direct mail campaigns. For instance, compiling a list of recipients, creating a new postcard design, printing, and mailing. It also allows integrating your direct mail campaigns with other marketing channels. For example, you can set up a triggered direct mail campaign to run after an email marketing cycle doesn't work.
While direct mail is delivered to an audience in the traditional sense by using an existing list of customer data or purchasing an audience list, programmatic direct marketing, which is similar to digital marketing, is a more "automated" method of distributing your marketing material to a warmer audience. These are people that already visited your website, showed interest in your products and services, and then, for some reason, failed to take the intended action.
Of course, you can still get good ROI mailing postcards using traditional direct mail marketing, but the programmatic system takes the guesswork out of it.
Benefits of using Programmatic Direct Mail Marketing
There are several benefits of using programmatic direct mail marketing to advertise your business, products, and services. For starters, it drives better marketing efficiency when retargeting prospects. Businesses often waste millions in customer acquisition because they target a general audience instead of specific groups. Programmatic direct mail solves the problem by sending direct mail to a narrowly targeted group of individuals based on their previous engagement with your web resources.