As Seen on Forbes: Direct Mail’s Defining Year

While many marketers struggle with rising ad prices and unpredictable online performance, a growing number are turning to a channel that delivers something rare: reliable, measurable impact. In his latest Forbes Agency Council article, Franklin Madison Direct’s President, Erik Koenig, discusses why direct mail is steadily gaining traction. Read a sneak peek from the article below.

The following was originally published on Forbes Agency Council.

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For years, marketers have been asking where stability lives. In 2025, with budgets under pressure, digital costs climbing and consumers showing signs of fatigue, the answer may surprise some: It’s in the mailbox.

Recent research at our direct response marketing agency, conducted in partnership with a research firm, shows that direct mail continues to gain ground. We surveyed 350 B2B and B2C marketing strategy leaders across the United States to gather insights on direct mail usage. As part of this research, we found that 67% of marketers saw improved performance over the past year, with only 3% seeing declines—the best year-over-year outcome of any channel we measured. According to ANA, direct mail’s median return on investment is 112%, compared to 93% for paid search and 89% for display ads.

That kind of performance tells us something important: Marketers are rediscovering that a tactile, data-driven medium can deliver both reach and accountability when other channels struggle to balance those forces.

Why Direct Mail Thrives In A Complex Market

Several industrywide shifts have set the stage for mail’s renewed traction, including the following:

• As brands look for efficiency, many evaluate what “proven performance” means. Executives want channels that can show clear, attributable outcomes. From arrival to conversion, direct mail’s trackability has helped it rise to the top of that conversation.

• Between rising CPMs, algorithmic opacity and new privacy restrictions, digital performance growth has stalled in many categories. Mail offers a level of control and transparency that’s hard to find elsewhere, and it’s one of the few places left where a brand can command a consumer’s full attention for more than a few seconds.

• Audiences continue to value the tangible presence of a message that arrives in their hands, not their feeds.

These factors don’t make direct mail marketing immune to challenge, but they explain why it’s proving resilient in an uncertain era.

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Keep reading on Forbes Agency Council to discover why direct mail remains a go-to option for both customer acquisition and retention, thanks to its trackability, staying power, and ability to break through consumer fatigue.