When 1+1 = 3: The Synergy of Direct Mail in Credit-Informed Marketing

When it comes to credit-informed marketing, growing your business and increasing profitability hinges on acquisitions. But with brand-aware consumers being six times more likely to convert than those who don’t know your business as well (or at all), the effort you put into building familiarity and trust with your audience should have a clear impact on your ROI.

In other words: If your audience isn't seeing your brand deliver the same consistent message across your display ads, emails and offers in the mail (for instance), you're likely leaving opportunities on the table.

There are countless ways to approach full-funnel marketing, some more effective than others. Would it be nice if a single magic formula existed to maximize the effectiveness of your campaigns? You bet. But understanding how the tools in your marketing kit work together — from building relationships through digital channels to sending firm offers of credit via direct mail — and optimizing accordingly is a strong start.

The pursuit of equilibrium in credit-informed marketing

Effective outreach takes creativity, especially when it comes to multi-generational, full-funnel marketing (say that 10 times fast). On one hand, strategies must be adapted to reach younger, tech-savvy consumers as they continue to dominate the credit market: TransUnion found nearly half of new bankcards originated in Q2 2024 went to Gen Zers and Millennials, and that rate is only going to grow. On the other hand, you don’t want to miss connecting with older generations who might respond to different media.

So, where does this leave you?

It’s obvious a strong digital presence is critical for reaching those researching and making financial decisions online. But the power of traditional channels like direct mail can’t be understated, especially when it comes to precisely targeting those with the right credit criteria.

While there's no one-size-fits-all approach, one thing is clear: A synergistic approach to marketing — or leveraging channels that buoy each other for greater impact — is a must-have for greater campaign effectiveness and lowering acquisition costs.

Let’s talk direct mail

If you’re like other lenders, direct mail is a key part of your marketing mix. Of course, how you prioritize it will depend on things like budget, past performance and who you’re trying to reach. For some, direct mail can seem like an expensive tactic that doesn’t get enough traction with more digitally inclined consumers. For others, it may be the biggest, most effective tool in the marketing kit.

Yet, regardless of your sentiment toward direct mail, the possibility remains it’s not being fully optimized.

Where there’s synergy, there’s strategy

To better understand the impact of direct mail on digital channels, we recently leveraged our own TruAudience® Marketing Mix Modeling solution to analyze its performance alongside other and primarily digital channels for both retail banks and credit card companies. Using data from 2022 to 2024, our goal was to assess the synergy of direct mail with other forms of media.

In other words, we used TransUnion’s multiplicative model to measure how digital marketing channels enhanced the effectiveness of direct mail — and vice versa — when executed at the same time.

The findings revealed about 20% of direct mail performance was boosted by synergies with digital channels: particularly TV, paid search, online display, online video and paid social.

Piecing it all together

As consumers interact with modern and traditional media, it’s crucial to align your full-funnel goals with data-driven audiences in the appropriate channels. This alignment is essential for unlocking synergies, optimizing your marketing strategies and driving more growth:

• If the top of the funnel is all about driving brand awareness, broad-reaching channels like TV, connected TV, social media and online display can serve as your brand’s megaphone. When people see your ads while browsing the web or scrolling through social media, they start to recognize and trust your brand. This is where you can leverage non-FCRA marketing data to develop broader audiences.
• As you move down the funnel and aim to target those who are financially eligible for your products, accessing non-FCRA credit-informed data can help you align audiences with your risk criteria and prescreen models. Channels like email, online video and direct mail are perfect for guiding these consumers toward considering your products.
• And now, we’re at the bottom of the funnel, talking about acquisitions — right back where we started. Traditional, trended credit and alternative data can be used to create highly specific prescreen audiences at the individual level — where channels like direct mail and online prequalification are crucial for turning these targeted consumers into customers.