Last week the U.S. Postal Service requested a 2-cent increase of first-class postage as part of a plan to cover some of their staggering deficit. Many business groups that rely heavily on using direct mail for advertising reacted in outrage. However, in response to the news, Newsweek.com author, Daniel Gross, wrote a smart article arguing that this move could urge businesses to think of more efficient and cost-effective ways of reaching prospects and consumers—an activity that could benefit the economy, environment, businesses and consumers alike.

“So rather than complain about the rising cost, power mail users should do what others do when the price of any resource rises—figure out how to use it more efficiently. Businesses have to get smarter. And many uses of today’s mail simply aren’t smart.”

Both as a marketer and a consumer, I couldn’t agree more.

Marketers need to take advantage of new tools, technologies and methodologies to deliver smarter, faster, and measurable direct mail. By doing so marketers can save money, get the data and ROI they want while consumers get what they want—relevant mail that addresses their needs and interests.

Here are some technologies marketers can integrate with direct mail in order to bring efficiency and improved ROI to marketing campaigns.

Extreme Personalization:

Nothing captures attention and motivates response like relevant, timely and personalized direct marketing communications. Advances in database integration, variable data printing and event triggers allow marketers to deliver a truly unique experience for each consumer. And when done properly, it’s more than likely they’ll experience a much improved response rate and boost in ROI.

Read my reaction to a personalized direct mail postcard that I received after a shopping experience. I can still remember it like yesterday…

QR Codes:

Eliminate the gap between customer response and delivery of coupons, product information, special offers, or other marketing follow-up communications. QR (quick response) codes are two-dimensional, square barcodes that can store large amounts of unique data and, when scanned, can launch specific actions. They not only allow consumers to immediately access coupons, landing pages, product information or other data directly from their mobile device; QR codes enable marketers to collect data on consumer activity and track the effectiveness of marketing elements in real time.

Mobile SMS Text Marketing:

Motivate immediate response, collect real-time consumer data, and facilitate two-way communication by incorporating SMS marketing elements on direct mail pieces. Consumers may use mobile text marketing to initiate a survey, provide feedback, access customer service and support, receive promotional offers or redeem customer loyalty rewards. Marketers benefit through real-time response metrics in addition to capturing mobile phone numbers and other information to enhance consumer data sets.

Personalized Landing Pages (PURLs) and Unique Access Codes:

Personalized URLs allow consumers to access landing pages which contain information unique to them; a tactic that’s proven to drive response. Unique codes printed on direct mail pieces may be used to deliver more information, rewards, coupons and special offers to consumers via the PURL. Visits to PURLs and use of unique codes are highly trackable and can provide marketers with real-time metrics as well as a way to enrich consumer data sets.

An Integrated, Multi-Channel Marketing Approach:

By blending sophisticated marketing technologies with traditional and emerging channels, marketers have the opportunity to track campaign elements, collect valuable lead data and generate ROI metrics—all of which empower them to make strategic decisions toward achieving campaign goals. This also provides the consumer with information they want via their preferred channel and allows them to engage in more meaningful ways.

These are just a few technologies that are helping marketers use direct mail in more efficient and effective ways. Incorporating them into direct mail campaigns help to motivate consumer response and provide real-time metrics at the individual level. This, in turn, allows marketers to A/B test creative, cleanse lists and get smarter with direct mail.