How Direct Mail Delivers in the Age of Digital Marketing

Marketers have spent billions on targeted digital ads. But are digital marketing channels delivering enough impact to justify their rising costs in an era saturated with online ads and perpetually scrolling feeds? As consumer ad fatigue accelerates and privacy changes erode many of digital tracking’s advantages, returns on ad spend for such channels are dipping to historic lows. Direct mail, once seen as an old-fashioned medium, is reemerging as a powerful complement to digital.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
MIT Sloan Management Review
Published
2025-08-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.63383/diyr4624
Primary Topic
Digital Marketing and Social Media
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

How Direct Mail Delivers in the Age of Digital Marketing

Jonathan Z. Zhang
MIT Sloan Management Review
Digital Marketing and Social Media
article

How Direct Mail Delivers in the Age of Digital Marketing

Jonathan Z. Zhang
article en

Abstract

Marketers have spent billions on targeted digital ads. But are digital marketing channels delivering enough impact to justify their rising costs in an era saturated with online ads and perpetually scrolling feeds? As consumer ad fatigue accelerates and privacy changes erode many of digital tracking’s advantages, returns on ad spend for such channels are dipping to historic lows. Direct mail, once seen as an old-fashioned medium, is reemerging as a powerful complement to digital.

MIT Sloan Management ReviewVol. 67(1)
Openalex Percentile: Top 74%
Digital Marketing and Social Media
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.

How Direct Mail Delivers in the Age of Digital Marketing — Jonathan Z. Zhang · MIT Sloan Management Review (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS