Don Nichols, National Lead for Political Mail at the United States Postal Service (USPS), spoke to C&E about the state of direct mail and the USPS’s role in facilitating it as we head toward the midterm cycle. One takeaway from Nichols: “There’s no spam filter on a mailbox.”
“Mail has always been one of the highest targeted value channels there is in the political world,” said Nichols. “And so with targeting and data, campaigns will often talk to us about that superior targeting capability that mail provides. And as voter files continue to get stronger, that continues to play an important role in a campaign’s ability to reach every voter.”
Nichols also spoke about the trust factor when it comes to direct mail as opposed to the digital space where misinformation has a higher potential to spread. This trust in direct mail is even more prevalent with voters from diverse communities. USPS’s research points to Black and Hispanic swing voters reacting much more favorably to direct mail compared to digital outreach.
“Our research reveals that campaigns can use mail to create authentic and culturally relevant connections with Americans…our research continues to show the belief and faith that the American public has in mail and information that they receive from the mail.”
