State of Direct Mail 2026 | Financial Services
Financial services win more
of the right customers with
direct mail
In this year’s State of Direct Mail, financial services companies aren’t treating mail as a side
channel – on average, they’re giving it a real slice of their 2026 marketing budget and relying on
it to bring in, grow, and keep high-value customers.
They’re using mail where it hits hardest: new customer acquisition, key product offers, and
high-stakes lifecycle moments. At the same time, familiar friction points – logistics ownership,
USPS changes, and measurement – are making it harder to plan with confidence.
This report highlights how financial services leaders invest in direct mail today, where it’s
working hardest, and the operational gaps they’ll need to solve for in the year ahead.
Study methodology
Lob, in partnership with Kelsey White Research Consulting, surveyed 250 senior marketing and
operations leaders in North America who oversee direct mail programs. Respondents
represented companies sending 1M+ mail annually across industries including financial
services, healthcare, insurance, retail, and automotive. Financial services makes up 30% of the study sample.
Financial services is putting real budget into
mail – and using it to win new customers.
Nowhere is that clearer than in acquisition: 68% of financial services leaders say direct mail is very
effective for new customer acquisition – the highest rating among the industries broken out.
Approximately what percentage of your company’s 2026 marketing budget is
allocated to direct mail?
Logistics are the pressure point for financial
services mail
For financial services teams, the real tension isn’t whether mail works, it’s whether the engine behind it
can keep up. Like the rest of the market, 87% of leaders say logistics (printing, shipping, distribution)
are a blind spot, and 82% have dealt with surprise printing or delivery costs or missed campaign
windows because no one clearly owns logistics.
87%
of leaders overall say logistics are a blind spot.
82%
have dealt with surprise costs or missed delivery windows due to lack of logistics ownership.
Financial services leaders feel the cost side more acutely than most. 41% of them name USPS pricing
increases as a top challenge for their 2026 direct mail campaigns, compared with 25% in healthcare.
When no one owns logistics, postage becomes the line item that blows up a carefully planned
campaign.
Measurement and visibility still need to
catch up
Financial services teams use a mix of signals to see if mail is working, things like dedicated phone
numbers, web visits after a drop, and follow-up activity from customers. The problem isn’t that the data
doesn’t exist; it’s that it’s slow and scattered. Nearly half of financial services leaders say getting real-
time performance data is still a big challenge, which makes it hard to adjust offers, timing, or audiences
while campaigns are still in motion.
What are your top 3 challenges when it comes to tracking and measuring
direct mail campaigns?
Financial services is out in front on AI and
automation
Financial services teams aren’t just experimenting with AI, they’re baking it into how mail gets built
and sent. 63% use AI for personalized messaging and 49% use it for automated workflows, helping
them handle complex rules (product, risk tier, geography) without piling on manual work. The next step
is making sure logistics, USPS strategy, and measurement keep up with the level of automation they
already have.
How is your company using AI and/or automation in direct mail campaigns?
Three ways financial services teams
can act on this data
We hope these State of Direct Mail insights help you plan where mail fits in your 2026 strategy, from
channel mix to logistics and compliance.
Here are a few action steps to consider:
Model USPS costs into planning, not just reporting.With 41% of financial services leaders calling USPS pricing a top challenge for
2026, postage and zone mix need to sit alongside audience, offer, and creative
in campaign planning, not show up as a surprise after the fact.Build a deliberate routing and vendor strategy.Move beyond single-location print and ad-hoc vendor decisions. Define when
you’ll use regional print, which campaigns justify premium entry, and how you’ll
balance cost vs. speed across vendors and zones.Upgrade measurement for high-stakes mail.For rate changes, renewals, compliance notices, and big product offers, you
need more than one success metric. Track who responds, what they do next,
and how they respond (phone, PURL, QR, web) so you can show results with
real numbers.
Ready to put this into practice?
Talk with our team to map these insights to your campaigns
and spot quick wins for next year’s mail.