Nerd Alert: The Psychology Behind Direct Mail Performance

Welcome to Nerd Alert, a series of special episodes bridging the gap between marketing academia and practitioners. We’re breaking down highly involved, complex research into plain language and takeaways any marketer can use.

In this episode, Elena and Rob uncover what design elements actually drive direct mail success. They explore research showing that opening and keeping mail require different strategies, with personalization playing a critical role in campaign effectiveness.

Topics covered: 

• [01:00] "The Effects of Mailing Design Characteristics on Direct Mail Campaign Performance"
• [02:45] The impact of extreme personalization
• [03:40] Why opening rates don't correlate with keeping rates
• [05:10] Design elements that increase open rates
• [06:00] Features that make people keep mail instead of tossing it
• [07:30] Finding the balance between brand building and direct response 

 





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Resources: 
Feld, S., Frenzen, H., Krafft, M., Peters, K., & Verhoef, P. C. (2013). The effects of mailing design characteristics on direct mail campaign performance.International Journal of Research in Marketing, 30(2), 143-159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2012.07.003 
 

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