Many direct-to-consumer brands that once relied on digital advertising to drive brand awareness and sales are adding direct mail to their media mix, relying on the old-school marketing tactic to overcome data privacy crackdowns.

The trend picked up steam last year: A survey commissioned by marketing agency SeQuel Response found that of the nearly 160 DTC marketers surveyed, 44% had increased their direct mail budget in 2022. What’s more, over half did so to “escape the rising [customer acquisition] costs of digital channels.” That direct mail spending has continued into this year, according to multiple brands interviewed by Ad Age.

The changing strategy was sparked by Apple’s consumer privacy crackdown, which began in 2021 and involved updates to iOS software that curtailed access to consumer data with anti-tracking protections. Although the DTC brands (and the platforms themselves) are now learning more about how to adjust to those changes and reverting to digital channels, the diversification into direct mail has continued. So has their adoption of other traditional channels, including outdoor advertising.

Read more: DTC brands are increasing out-of-home marketing

DTC brands such as ThirdLove, Chomps, Apothékary and more recently told Ad Age that they have increased their direct mail efforts over the past few months. And some of them suggested they would continue the investments in 2024. 

Many of these marketers noted that direct mail is a way to stand out among the sea of DTC brands launching across multiple sectors—from home goods and fashion to beauty and sports—while advertising on digital channels, including Meta and TikTok. Others noted that while the price of advertising on digital channels such as Meta has become increasingly expensive, direct mail offers a cheaper and more consistent alternative.

DTC herbal wellness brand Apothékary, for example, has increased its direct mail budget by about 234% since November 2022, according to Theresa Bischof, director of brand marketing. She declined to provide exact figures for the budget before and after that increase, but said the direct marketing budget has grown each quarter from when the brand began increasing it. Apothékary plans to continue upping the investment in 2024, assuming the strategy continues to prove effective through the end of the year, she said.

“Customers often perceive tangible mail as more valuable and thoughtful than generic digital communications,” Bischof said, adding that “the DTC space is highly saturated with digital marketing and there have been challenges to capture and retain customer attention.”

Apothékary sends out multiple different types of direct mail to its customers, including discount codes featured on tri-fold mailers and postcards. The brand uses the agency PostPilot for its direct mail efforts, according to an Apothékary spokesperson. 

Based on the numbers Bischof provided, the strategy has proved fruitful: In September, Apothékary saw a 13.2 times return on ad spend from direct mail. Revenue jumped 115% from November 2022 through October 2023, she said.

“Adding direct mail to a company’s DTC multi-channel marketing strategy allows brands to diversify their online and offline presence while building a deeper connection with their customers,” Bischof said in an email.

DTC bra and underwear company ThirdLove has always “dabbled” in direct mail “here and there,” Amy Carr, ThirdLove’s chief marketing and digital officer, said in a recent interview. But in the past six months, it increased its investment, partnering with marketing technology platform PebblePost to reach more mailboxes with campaigns using the agency’s mailing address data. Carr said that PebblePost, using its data technology, is able to find the addresses of those who have visited ThirdLove’s website, so ThirdLove knows it is targeting people who have shown some sort of curiosity about the brand, even if they didn’t buy anything.

After seeing some success with a direct mail campaign in the first quarter of 2023 around the opening of new retail stores, ThirdLove did another pre-holiday direct mail campaign in October. While Carr said ThirdLove does not disclose any information about the results of its marketing efforts, she did note that DTC brands such as ThirdLove are increasing their investment in the channel because “it works.” 

“Competition’s heating up in every digital channel right now out there, and it’s gotten very expensive,” Carr said. 

Marketing a DTC brand digitally has become more competitive—and, therefore, expensive—over the past few years, between the reduced barrier to entry for starting a DTC brand and Apple implementing its iOS 14.5 digital privacy update, which disrupted the relatively inexpensive way DTC brands used to market themselves online.

“I think it’ll be even more expensive next year when you layer on things like the Olympics and the election year. We’re going to be fighting for airtime against people with very deep pockets, so I think people are just looking to reach customers in any way they can, and this is still a very cost-efficient way to do it,” she said of direct mail.