How a leading fintech rescued its direct mail program and grew it

A leading fintech platform cut per-piece direct mail costs by 30%, reversed plans to scrap the program, and unlocked 80% incremental ROI by rethinking execution from the ground up.

~30%

reduction in direct mail cost

80%

incremental ROI from optimized targeting

20%

increase in monthly registrations

The challenge

A leading fintech platform connects buyers and suppliers through a dynamic discount marketplace that helps companies optimize their working capital. It serves over $1 billion in annualized revenue. Its direct mail program had long been a key sales channel, but by early 2025, the program was in serious trouble.

The cost per direct mail piece climbed to $2.30 on average. In lower-volume weeks, when fewer than 500 pieces went out, fixed printing costs pushed that figure to nearly $3.70 per piece. The problem wasn’t just cost. The program’s targeting hadn’t kept pace with the data available. High-spend segments that weren’t converting were still receiving mail. There was no mechanism to quickly suppress underperformers or adapt marketing assets for different audiences. And the registration experience itself had friction: recipients had to navigate manually to sign up, with no fast path from physical mail to digital action.

With margins under pressure and ROI harder to justify, the company’s leadership was actively considering shutting down the direct mail channel entirely.

“The program was on the verge of being discontinued. What Prowess built gave us a reason to invest in it again.”

– Client stakeholder, Leading Fintech

The solution

From envelope design to printing to postage, Prowess Consulting took on end-to-end ownership of the company’s direct mail execution and then rebuilt the program around four core improvements.

Smarter targeting. Prowess analyzed the client’s historical campaign performance to identify which segments were driving registrations and which were not. Using that data, the team developed improved suppression criteria to remove consistently underperforming audiences from future sends. The result: fewer wasted impressions and a higher-quality list overall.

Lower production costs. By streamlining execution and partnering with a trusted print vendor, Prowess significantly reduced per-piece cost while maintaining the creative quality the client’s brand required. Rigorous validation ensured that cost savings didn’t come at the expense of presentation.

QR code integration. To reduce friction between physical mail and digital registration, Prowess embedded QR codes directly into the creative. Recipients could now go from mail to registration in seconds, which eliminated a step that had previously caused drop-off. This approach also made campaign performance far easier to track.

Automated execution workflows. Prowess automated the repetitive, manual steps in the campaign execution process, which reduced the time between campaign approval and mail delivery by 2x. It also freed the marketing team to focus on strategy rather than operations.

The result

The impacts were immediate and measurable. Within months, a program that had been on the chopping block became one of the client’s most efficiently run marketing channels.

~30% reduction in direct mail cost per piece from as high as $3.70 down to a consistent, scalable rate.
80% incremental ROI from accounts acquired through direct mail after targeting optimization.
20% increase in monthly new registrations following QR code implementation.
2X improvement in time to market from campaign approval to delivered mail.

Perhaps the most telling result: the plans to discontinue the program were abandoned. The company not only preserved its direct mail investment; it grew it. The program that was nearly cut is now expanding.

What’s next

With the core program now performing well, the company and Prowess are now focused on adding direct mail volume for 2026 and evolving toward trigger-based targeting. This approach sends highly personalized mail in response to specific buyer or supplier behaviors, layered on top of the existing always-on program. The goal is to move from batch-and-blast to a model where direct mail functions as a precision instrument that reaches the right person at the right moment, with a message tailored to where they are in the customer lifecycle.

To protect client confidentiality, certain names, details, and identifying information have been modified or omitted. The results and outcomes presented are based on a real client engagement.

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