Podcast Summary: MarTech Podcast – AI Personalization in Direct Mail Campaigns

Episode Date: January 19, 2026
Host: Benjamin Shapiro
Guest: Ryan Ferrier, CEO of Lob

Overview

This episode explores how AI is revolutionizing direct mail, making it as targeted, timely, and measurable as digital channels. Benjamin Shapiro sits down with Ryan Ferrier, CEO of Lob, to discuss the digital transformation of direct mail, the resurgence of physical marketing due to digital fatigue, and how AI-driven personalization and logistics are helping brands achieve strong ROI—even as postal costs rise.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Resurgence of Direct Mail Amid Digital Fatigue

• Digital Fatigue: Email inboxes are overloaded, and consumers are increasingly numb to digital ads. Direct mail offers a "surprise and delight" factor, especially for Gen Z and Millennials, contrary to common belief.
• Physical Mail as a Differentiator: Physical mailboxes are now less crowded than digital channels, making direct mail stand out and feel more special.
  • Quote: "The actual mailbox is not as crowded as those digital channels... There's a wow, surprise and delight factor that comes with receiving something tactile and physical you can touch." — Ryan Ferrier [03:19]

2. Shifting Direct Mail from Legacy Tactics to Data-Driven Omnichannel

• Direct mail is being repositioned from a slow, untargeted medium ("batch and blast postcards") to a responsive, integrated channel with API-driven triggers—similar to email and digital retargeting.
• Marketers are adding direct mail as a "third leg" to their stool alongside email and digital ads.
• Measurement & ROI: Modern direct mail offers measurable outcomes, higher conversion rates, and complements digital channels.
  • Quote: "Direct mail, if you have just a list, is 4%, and if you have a curated house list, it's 9% [conversion rate]... We're just literally looking at the numbers." — Ryan Ferrier [07:18]

3. Lob’s API-Powered Approach to Personalized Direct Mail

• API Integration: Lob enables integration with CRM, CDP, and marketing automation tools for seamless direct mail orchestration.
• Personalization: Uses HTML and merge variables (like direct mail version of CRM tokens) for highly customized mail pieces.
• Trigger-Based: Mail is sent in response to actions (cart abandonment, lapsed customers, etc.), similar to automated email workflows.
  • Quote: "Everything we generate is via HTML, so you can infinitely personalize what you're doing... And the actual sending of the mail piece can be triggered based on an event." — Ryan Ferrier [10:34]

4. Speed, Cost Optimization & Logistics Innovation

• Lob leverages a nationwide print network and digital routing to minimize print and delivery times (down to 3-5 days).
• Cost Control: By batching mail and intelligent routing (including upcoming zone-based USPS pricing), Lob reduces postage costs for clients.
• Postal IQ: Lob’s product for batching and routing, maximizing economies of scale on postage.
  • Quote: "If you say like, hey, it's important for this campaign to get out by the end of month and we have a few weeks, that allows us to collate a bunch of volume and use our own logistics network..." — Ryan Ferrier [15:15]

5. Attribution: Proving ROI for Direct Mail

• Personalized QR Codes & URLs: Enable direct tracking of physical mail’s impact on digital behavior and conversion.
• Holdout Testing: Best practice is to benchmark campaigns with and without mail to measure lift.
• Branch Example: Integrated Lob with Iterable; saw 25-30% conversion rates on compliance-ready, personalized mailers.
  • Quote: "25% of folks actually convert... as a result of the compliance-ready audit with a personalized URL." — Ryan Ferrier [22:22]

6. Demographics: Why Gen Z & Millennials Respond to Direct Mail

• Survey (Lob & Mintel):
  • 85% of Gen Z read or respond to mail
  • 67% take action after receiving mail
  • 53% say that direct mail feels more special/valuable vs digital messages
  • Quote: "53% of Gen Z and Millennials, let's call that the younger generations, are feeling like getting direct mail is special. Like, that's the headline." — Benjamin Shapiro [27:05]

7. AI’s Transformative Impact on Direct Mail (Content & Operations)

• AI for Copy & Creative: Partnerships (e.g., Customer.io) for AI-generated copy and images; multivariate creative testing.
• AI for Logistics: Real-time analysis identifies when standard class mail delivers as fast as first class, saving money with no sacrifice in speed.
• AI for Deliverability: Historical data and algorithms flag undeliverable addresses, eliminating waste.
• AI for Routing: Uses atomic-level mailpiece data to optimize speed, routing, and cost for each campaign.
  • Quote: "AI...analyzes all of [a retailer’s] past mail and delivery patterns for USPS in the different regions... gives a recommendation that says, hey, you could send this standard class and still get it there at the same time as if you had sent it first class." — Ryan Ferrier [29:16]
  • Host Summary: "My takeaway is that there’s two levers...speed and cost. And AI helps you dial in where the levers should be based on what you’re optimizing for." — Benjamin Shapiro [32:03]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the changing nature of direct mail:

  • "We're not talking about your grandfather's batch and blast postcards... Direct mail acts a lot like email, with AI-powered, data-driven triggers." — Benjamin Shapiro [01:15]

• On the specialness of mail for younger consumers:

  • "53% say that direct mail feels more special or valuable. And so... we're seeing a resurgence even to that demographic." — Ryan Ferrier [27:20]

• On AI’s operational impact:

  • “From start to finish, we’re using AI in the platform.” — Ryan Ferrier [31:55]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:15 – Setting up the episode: Direct mail’s resurgence and introduction of Ryan Ferrier
• 03:19 – Why direct mail investment is rising
• 07:18 – Conversion rates: Direct mail vs. email
• 10:34 – How Lob’s APIs enable personalized, event-triggered mail
• 13:23 – Real-time, almost instant mail fulfillment & customer stories
• 15:15 – How Lob optimizes for speed and cost with logistics innovations
• 19:27 – Attribution challenges and solutions—QR codes, personalized URLs, and holdout testing
• 22:22 – Branch insurance case study: AI, automation, and ROI
• 24:19 – Host anecdotes: Mail as part of omnichannel communication
• 26:24 – Survey stats on Gen Z/Millennial mail engagement
• 28:16 – How AI impacts copy, image generation, logistics, and address hygiene
• 32:03 – Host summary on speed and cost optimization via AI

Conclusion

Ryan Ferrier and Benjamin Shapiro paint a comprehensive picture of how direct mail is being reborn as a high-performance, AI-powered channel that integrates seamlessly with digital marketing. As younger generations crave tactile and personal experiences, and as AI makes direct mail as measurable and flexible as digital, physical mail is poised for a new era of marketing relevance.

Host Wrap-Up:
"My advice is to just focus on keeping your customers happy." — Benjamin Shapiro

Guest: Ryan Ferrier, CEO, Lob — lob.com