Direct Mail experienced something of a renaissance during the Covid years – lockdown prompted a wide scale love affair with the letterbox. People enjoyed receiving mail, it provided a welcome break from the mundanity of being at home ALL THE TIME!
This week, as we mark three years since the first lockdown back in 2020, it seems fitting that the latest figures from JICMAIL reveal that mail’s engagement is still on the rise. Mail open and retention rates both soared by four percent year on year. Over Christmas (Q4 2022) open rates hit 77 per cent and retention grew to 66 percent demonstrating the importance of mail within the marketing mix. At a time of year when consumers are more likely than ever to be bombarded by advertising messages across multiple channels, these healthy figures give advertisers reassurance of consumers’ willingness to engage with the mail channel.
The uptick in engagement is also positively impacting the channel’s effectiveness. Fourteen percent of mail was found to provoke discussions, highlighting mail’s ability to drive word of mouth for brands. Furthermore, five percent of mail was found to prompt an action including a purchase or a charitable donation. This reinforces the role that mail plays in the whole customer journey from brand/organisation discovery through to action.
The figures show that the average piece of direct mail was interacted with 4.4 times whilst door drops were interacted with 3.1 times over a twenty-eight day period. Mail was kept in the house for an average of 7.2 days, partially address mail was retained for 6.4 days and door drops were kept for 5.4 days.
Commenting on the findings Ian Gibbs, Director of Data Leadership and Learning at JICMAIL said:
“Although Q4 presented some challenging market conditions, it is clear that there is as much appetite as ever from consumers to open, read and discuss their mail.”
Of course, data hygiene and mail effectiveness go hand in hand. It is proven that poor data results in a significantly lower ROI, whilst the more targeted and relevant a campaign, the more effective it becomes. To find out how we can make your data more efficient please get in touch!
