Marketers love to label generations—"digital natives," "screen-first consumers," "the mobile generation." This has led to a costly assumption: that every dollar spent on acquiring young audiences must be digital.

We’ve optimized for clicks, served up personalized ads, and chased fleeting attention in crowded feeds, often seeing diminishing returns and rising CAC. But what if the very audience we assume lives exclusively online is actually rejecting the noise and trusting print more?

It’s time to retire the myth and acknowledge a fundamental shift: Gen Z and younger millennials aren't rejecting physical media. They're rediscovering it as a signal of authenticity, attention, and trust precisely because it demands effort to send and cannot be algorithmically filtered. In a world of digital fatigue and algorithmic noise, the physical carries undeniable weight.

BirdseyePost helps brands deliver this necessary credibility at scale through SmartMailers™, SnapCapture™, and Acquisition Targeting, turning your most credible channel into your most measurable performance asset.

TL;DR

• Credibility Triumphs Exposure: Gen Z finds print ads more credible and persuasive than digital ads.

• Trust Gap: 71% of 18–24-year-olds say they trust print more than social media ads.

• Engagement: Gen Z reads 93% of their mail, spending an average of 108 seconds per piece over a month.

• Digital Avoidance: Digital ads are viewed as irritating and intrusive, while print feels authentic and memorable.

• The Bridge: When integrated with digital touchpoints (QRs, personalized URLs), print becomes the bridge between offline trust and online conversion.

Credibility Trumps Exposure in the Youth Market

Younger audiences rate print as more persuasive and credible than digital media because they associate tangible media with greater legitimacy and transparency.

Young consumers may live on digital platforms, but they don't trust them. This trust gap is widening every year as platforms prioritize algorithms over authentic communication. In comparative studies on ad effectiveness, younger audiences consistently rated print as more persuasive and attractive than digital, and more likely to make the brand appear credible. As Vinaya Kumar et al. (2018) found, youth audiences "favored print media advertising for persuasiveness and attractiveness" and believed it increased the credibility of the message. This preference is driven by the perceived effort and cost required to produce physical mail, signaling that the brand genuinely values the customer's attention.

The widening trust gap

The skepticism toward ephemeral, interruptive digital ads has created a significant opportunity for the physical channel. Research from MarketReach and JICMAIL shows that Gen Z reads 93% of their mail, spending an average of 108 seconds per piece over a month. This engagement rate is staggering compared to the milliseconds spent on digital display ads. Despite growing up digital, they associate tangible media with effort, legitimacy, and transparency. This trust makes print an ideal acquisition channel for establishing initial rapport.

How the Brain Favors Print Over Pixels

The preference for print is supported by science. Studies show that the tactile experience of holding a mailer creates a deeper connection. The physical act of handling the paper activates sensory areas of the brain, leading to stronger memory encoding than viewing content on a screen. BirdseyePost brings this credibility into motion. Brands use SmartMailers™ to deliver physical pieces triggered by digital behavior—for instance, when a new subscriber signs up or a high-value prospect engages online. It's not just a message they scroll past; it's one they hold, read, and remember.

Example: Thu Brulé Acquires Gen Z

Thu Brulé, a luxury candle company, used BirdseyePost’s Acquisition Builder to reach Gen Z buyers in Los Angeles and Dallas. The mailers combined premium texture and design with clear QR pathways to shop online. The campaign saw strong conversion among younger, first-time buyers, proving that the credibility conveyed by high-quality print translates directly into customer acquisition, particularly for segments that typically avoid digital ads.

The New Consumer: Print is Read, Digital is Avoided

Digital fatigue is the primary driver of ad avoidance among younger audiences, making print an earned channel that commands focus instead of forcing it.

For younger audiences, the constant barrage of emails, SMS reminders, and banner ads has led to widespread ad avoidance and ad-blocking behaviors. Neuroscientific and behavioral studies have consistently shown that digital ads are often perceived as annoying, distracting, and easy to ignore. According to research, digital ads captured an average fixation time of just 553 milliseconds—less than the blink of an eye—before users’ attention moved on. This near-instant avoidance makes digital retargeting a highly inefficient use of budget, especially when targeting Gen Z and younger segments.

Why digital retargeting fails the Gen Z test

Digital retargeting campaigns rely on the user being in a state of passive reception, which Gen Z rarely is. They have built an immunity to passive digital cues.

• Intrusiveness: Digital ads interrupt content consumption, creating a negative brand association.

• Algorithm Anxiety: Gen Z is acutely aware of being tracked and served algorithmic content, leading to skepticism regarding the authenticity of the message.

• Low Shelf Life: An email is deleted instantly; a banner ad is dismissed with a quick scroll. The message has no permanence.

Print commands focus and earns engagement

Print, on the other hand, commands focus because its physical nature forces a user to engage without interruption.

 It’s handled, inspected, and remembered. Because it doesn’t interrupt the user experience, it earns engagement rather than forcing it. This creates a positive association with the brand. That’s why BirdseyePost campaigns consistently outperform email or social retargeting in engagement and recall. Every postcard or mailer is optimized to meet the brain halfway—with tactile cues, color contrast, and clean layouts that promote deeper encoding and longer viewing times. And with SnapCapture™, brands can measure those interactions, tracking every scan, visit, and conversion in real time.

Example: Airwallex's B2B Lead Generation

Airwallex used SnapCapture™ postcards to target B2B prospects. While B2B is notoriously difficult for digital outreach, the physical mailers generated measurable offline-to-online engagement, translating physical impressions into qualified leads. This demonstrates the power of using a high-trust, tangible channel to reach digitally saturated professional audiences.

Bridging the Divide with Smart, Interactive Mail

The future of print isn’t static; it's connected, and BirdseyePost’s platform was built around this hybrid model to seamlessly merge the physical credibility of mail with digital action.

The USPS OIG’s neuromarketing studies show that "digital natives" respond best to print when it’s paired with interactivity, such as QR codes or personalized URLs linking directly to brand experiences. This hybrid model turns physical trust into digital action, making mail tactile, trackable, and trustworthy.

Print engineered for the connected generation

BirdseyePost was built to execute this hybrid strategy at scale. Each campaign can include:

• Dynamic QR Pathways: SnapCapture™ links the physical piece to a unique, personalized online experience.

• Event-Triggered Automation: Use Shopify or Klaviyo integrations to trigger mailers based on specific actions (e.g., website visit, loyalty tier upgrade).

• SmartMaps™: Guide digital natives to physical retail locations, driving foot traffic based on online intent.

Driving foot traffic with SmartMaps™

The SmartMaps™ feature allows brands to personalize the mailer with a map component that directs the recipient to the nearest retail location. This is crucial for bridging the gap between online browsing and offline sales. By using the customer’s address data, the mailer becomes a hyper-local, personalized invitation to experience the brand in person, maximizing the ROI of every physical piece.

Example: Ottawa Valley Meats Drives Local Sales

Ottawa Valley Meats used BirdseyePost’s Neighborhood Mail to deliver playful, steak-shaped postcards featuring QR codes that led directly to product pages. The result was a memorable experience that drove both online orders and brand awareness among younger shoppers in their targeted areas. The creative approach used the physical channel's novelty to cut through the noise, while the QR code ensured immediate, measurable action.

BirdseyePost: The Trusted Bridge to the Next Generation

The data is clear: younger audiences aren’t turning away from print—they’re turning toward it, for the same reason they crave vinyl, bookstores, and polaroids. It feels real. BirdseyePost gives marketers the power to meet that expectation with precision, automation, and full attribution. The new generation isn’t choosing between print and digital; they’re choosing brands that use both intelligently.

Core features for Gen Z acquisition

• SmartMailers™: Automate delivery of tactile, event-triggered campaigns, ensuring timely engagement.

• SnapCapture™: See who scanned, visited, and converted, turning physical impressions into trackable digital events.

• Acquisition Builder: Target lookalike Gen Z audiences with credible, creative mailers based on digital behavior models.

• SmartMaps™: Guide digital natives from the mailbox to physical retail locations.

The next generation trusts what they can touch. Turn that trust into measurable performance with BirdseyePost.

Book a demo to see how physical mail can become your most credible digital channel.

FAQ

Do younger audiences really engage with direct mail?

Yes. JICMAIL reports that 93% of 18–24-year-olds read their mail, and 31% take a commercial action within 28 days—making Gen Z one of the most responsive mail audiences today.

Isn’t print too old-school for digital-first consumers?

No. Not when it’s connected. BirdseyePost integrates QR, personalization, and e-commerce tracking, making mail interactive and measurable, blending the trust of print with the efficiency of digital.

How does BirdseyePost track engagement from mail?

SnapCapture™ captures every QR scan, visit, and purchase in real time, tying physical actions directly to digital results against individual customer profiles.

Can I run Gen Z-targeted campaigns easily?

Absolutely. BirdseyePost’s Shopify and Klaviyo integrations let you trigger physical campaigns the same way you automate email or SMS—instantly, at scale.