State of Direct Mail 2025
Real estate marketing in 2025 is stronger with direct mail
Real estate direct mail thrives on precision and timing, yet many teams still face outdated processes and missed opportunities. While direct mail volumes are increasing across surveyed respondents, success isn't about sending more. The most effective teams are optimizing data, automation, and omnichannel integration to drive better results. Let’s look at how real estate marketers and operators can thrive with direct mail in 2025.
Insights-at-a-glance
Direct mail volume is rising
On average, across industries, surveyed companies plan to increase mail from 34.9M to 67.3M pieces per year on average.
Response rates need work
42% of marketers and operations leaders struggle to drive consistent engagement.
Bad data is a major roadblock
Nearly half of respondents report issues with outdated or incomplete mailing lists.
Omnichannel integration is underutilized
76% say direct mail works best with digital, yet many haven’t fully connected the two.
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.
“We’ll see an uptick in direct mail this year given new rules and regulations around digital outreach.
Mail has allowed us to be innovative—we can do very specific targeting and messaging with AI, helping clients control and maximize their budgets."
Roberto Moreno, VP Product & AI
Brivity.com
The right fomat drives the best engagement.
Selecting the correct mail format is just as important as the message itself. The most successful real estate teams match their format to their campaign goals:
Letters
Ideal for high-trust outreach when a personalized approach is needed
- Direct offers: Target homeowners with tailored cash offers or competitive listing proposals.
- Market reports: Provide hyper-local insights on home values, interest rates, and neighborhood trends to nurture leads.
- In-depth property updates: Send detailed letters to potential buyers about upcoming listings or exclusive off-market properties.
Postcards
Best for high-visibility campaigns that grab attention quickly
- Just-listed announcements: Showcase new properties with compelling visuals and a QR code linking to a virtual tour.
- Just-sold proof points: Highlight recent successful sales in the recipient’s neighborhood to build credibility and drive inquiries.
- Farming campaigns: Keep your brand top of mind with seasonal updates, home maintenance tips, and local market insights.
Brochure
A premium format for luxury listings, new developments, or property investment opportunities
- Luxury property showcases: Use high-quality images and detailed descriptions to highlight unique features and amenities.
- New developments: Educate buyers on floor plans, community features, and pre-sale opportunities in an engaging format.
- Investor outreach: Provide data-driven insights on ROI potential, rental yields, and market appreciation trends.
What formats of direct mail does your company send?
"We have seen a good response from our “check style” letter campaign.
This mailer is custom to the specific property we are mailing to with an estimated cash offer for the house printed on a “check” image in the letter. This mail piece is sent to our top prioritized prospects, customized specifically to the property information we have.”
Andrew Burless, Marketing Specialist
Kendall Partners
Smarter targeting is mission-critical for real estate.
Accurate data is the foundation of successful direct mail. Poorly maintained mailing lists waste marketing spend, reduce deliverability, and miss key prospects. 72% of high-ROI marketers refine campaigns using past performance data, yet many real estate teams still rely on outdated targeting methods.
What is the quality of audience data in your database?
Marketers with automation partners face fewer challenges with audience data.
Which direct mail targeting strategies do you use in your campaigns?
How to take action
- Automate address verification – CASS-certified tools prevent undelivered mail and postage waste.
- Segment by buyer/seller behavior – Ensure messaging resonates with the right audience at the right time.
- Use predictive analytics – Identify in-market buyers and sellers based on trends and past engagement.
Omnichannel is an ROI leader.
Despite 76% of marketers agreeing that direct mail performs best when integrated with digital, many still miss key opportunities to align channels. Real estate buyers and sellers jump between online searches, ads, and agent research before making a move. The best marketing ensures direct mail doesn’t just follow along – it amplifies digital efforts, keeping you top of mind and driving more conversions.
How does your organization integrate direct mail with digital channels?
How to take action
- Trigger mail based on digital actions – Send personalized mailers after online property inquiries or home searches.
- Use direct mail for retargeting – Follow up with high-intent prospects who didn’t convert online.
- Sync messaging across channels – Align mail with email, paid ads, and SMS for a seamless experience.
"Data is important to us.
A campaign might start with a Facebook ad, then lead to the website, and then we re-target with a postcard. Omnichannel is super important.”
Roberto Moreno, VP Product & AI
Brivity
Automation can move real estate operational mail out of manual mode.
With mail volumes rising, real estate teams need scalable solutions to avoid bottlenecks. High-ROI teams are 32% more likely to use automation for execution and tracking. Currently only 50% of operations leaders say they partner with automation providers.
How challenging is it to manage high-volume mail with your current process?
What is the one area of improvement you’d like to see most in operations?
Operators see greater visibility as key to optimizing spend, which in turn helps reduce printing costs and improve ROI.
How to take action
- Automate workflows – Ensure mail reaches the right audience at the right time, based on behavior.
- Use real-time tracking – Gain visibility into delivery, engagement, and response rates.
- Adopt batch-free printing – Send on-demand mail for individual properties or full farming campaigns.
- Choose the right automation partner – The right technology and support can help you execute smarter direct mail strategies and drive better results.
The best real estate 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 company?