Thanks to tremendous leaps in innovation, today’s direct mail is as attractive, quick and interactive as any computer. These mail marketing developments should continue to make mail even more relevant to marketers in 2012.

Digi-mail: Texting and QR codes have made direct mail a physical adjunct to digital, allowing consumers to instantly access offers via their smartphones. “There was one online banking campaign where recipients were able to either scan the QR code or text a word to a number for an offer,” says Mintel Comperemedia senior vice president Andrew Davidson. “That’s a good example of integrating channels.”

Odd-sized mailings: From dimensional and die-cut shaped mail to gleaming laminated coupon cards and DiscMail DVD packages, mail today offers a variety of impactful consumer experiences.

Cross purposing: Using transpromotional marketing techniques, businesses and utilities can transform must-read statements like bills, invoices and publications into promotional tools for other products and services. Or, you can even sell that ad space to third-party businesses. According to a FiServ report, a simple 5% increase in current member business can possibly equate to a 50% increase in profits when utilizing “transpromo” techniques.

Analytic converters: Today’s direct mailers can feature encoded analytic technology. When the recipient redeems the offer, businesses get an invaluable demographic breakdown of consumer behaviors.

DIY mail shops: A growing number of self-service, cloud-based products like DirectMail.com™ and Marketfish take niche marketing to new heights, offering mailing lists that target every conceivable market (nonprofit charitable, back-to-school shoppers, parents of twins and triplets, etc). Other online DIY mail shops allow users to design, print and ship personalized mailers to prospects. “You now have the ability to drop in photos and entire blocks of text based on consumer data points,” says Duct Tape Marketing president John Jantsch. “We’ve gone way beyond just putting somebody’s name on an envelope.”

Cloud systems: Companies including Harte-Hanks have devised software and cloud-based systems that allow direct mail marketers to track their own communications, from their induction into the mail stream to in-home delivery.

Want to know more about direct mail marketing trends in 2012? Read our feature article.