State of Direct Mail 2025
Healthcare direct mail delivers – if you use it strategically
Healthcare companies tell us they’re increasing direct mail volume by 25% this year, reinforcing its role in patient engagement, payments, and health outcomes. But rising costs and response challenges mean success isn’t just about sending more, it’s about making what they send more impactful. The brands seeing the strongest ROI are refining their strategies with automation, better data, and deeper digital integration.
Insights-at-a-glance
Response rates need a boost
55% of healthcare marketers rank direct mail as their top-performing channel, yet 42% struggle to drive patient action.
Bad data is holding teams back
More than half of healthcare marketers say they’re working with outdated patient data.
Omnichannel isn’t fully connected
While 76% of healthcare marketers agree direct mail works best in an omnichannel strategy, many aren’t linking direct and digital effectively just yet.
About Lob’s State of Direct Mail 2025.
Lob and Comperemedia, a Mintel company, surveyed 405+ marketing and operations leaders across healthcare, financial services, and insurance to uncover the key trends shaping direct mail strategy—revealing best practices and insights for the industries that rely on it most.
Response rates are lagging. Personalization is the missing piece.
55% of healthcare marketers and operations leaders say direct mail is their top-performing channel, but with 42% struggling with response rates, there’s untapped potential.
Top challenges for healthcare marketers and operators
How To Take Action
82% of healthcare marketers say personalization is one of the most powerful levers for response. Here’s how to use it effectively :
- Send condition-based messaging that speaks directly to patient needs—like diabetes management reminders for at-risk individuals or preventative screening invitations based on medical history.
- Use smart QR codes and PURLs to connect patients directly to bill payment portals, scheduling tools, and prescription refills without friction. Currently only 32% of healthcare marketers are using personalized PURLs or QR codes.
- Localize your mailers so patients know exactly where to go. Direct them to the nearest in-network provider or pharmacy to remove barriers to care.
Pearly’s omnichannel approach pays off
Pearly, a revenue operations platform for dental practices, saw a 9% increase in practice collections and an 18% faster payment cycle after integrating Lob’s automated direct mail for billing and patient outreach. By combining direct mail with digital efforts, they drove better patient engagement, reduced overdue balances, and saved practices thousands.
Pearly's advice for healthcare direct mail leaders
“Iterate, iterate, iterate. Start testing small, and testing everything.
Different formats, different mediums, different tones. What ends up resonating with your target audience might surprise you. Once you find some success, double down and scale what really works.”
Tom Hopkins, Director of Marketing
Pearly
The right mail format leads to better patient engagement.
Not all mail formats are created equal. Letters are the top choice for 80% of healthcare marketers, likely because they’re private, secure, and easy to read, making them ideal for sensitive communications like billing statements and EOBs.
Top direct mail formats for healthcare marketers
Other formats have their own strengths. Here’s how to use them effectively:
Bad data wastes budgets. Smarter targeting fixes it.
54% of healthcare marketers struggle with outdated or incomplete patient data, leading to wasted mail and missed engagement opportunities. However, some leaders excel at targeting—72% refine campaigns using past performance data.
Top data and targeting challenges for healthcare leaders
How To Take Action
Target your direct mail programs with:
- CASS-certified address verification, ensuring mail reaches the right patient.
- Dynamic segmentation, adjusting messaging based on patient history, insurance status, and past engagement.
- Trigger-based automation that sends mail based on digital actions, like missed portal logins or unpaid bills.
Direct mail and digital work better as a team.
While 76% of healthcare executives agree direct mail performs best as part of an omnichannel campaign, many aren’t yet using it to its full potential. Only 36% are triggering digital campaigns based on direct mail responses and 42% are retargeting based on direct mail engagement. Here’s how you can better integrate direct mail:
How do you integrate direct mail with digital channels?
How To Take Action
- Sync mail with digital actions – Use trigger-based automation to send mail after missed online payments or unread patient portal messages.
- Track and measure for continuous improvement – Use QR codes and PURLs to connect direct mail engagement with digital channels more seamlessly.
- Coordinate messaging across channels – Reinforce key messages by mirroring direct mail content in email, social, and SMS campaigns.
Automation is the key to compliance and scale.
Billing statements, EOBs, and compliance notices must be accurate, timely, and secure, but as direct mail volumes grow, healthcare operators face mounting challenges. Seventy percent of operational leaders cite timely delivery as a compliance concern, while 57% struggle with protecting sensitive patient data. Managing these requirements manually is inefficient and risky.
Top compliance challenges for healthcare operators
How To Take Action
Top healthcare brands are adopting automation to streamline compliance and scale operations – with:
- Automated compliance workflows that eliminate risk and ensure required mailings go out on time.
- Real-time tracking and proof of delivery to confirm critical documents arrive when they should.
- Secure destruction of undeliverable mail to reduce compliance risk.
The best healthcare brands aren’t guessing — they’re using automation, data, and measurement to make every mailpiece count.
Ready to make direct mail work harder for your healthcare brand?