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2024: The Year of Do or Die

By |2024-01-08T11:54:55+00:00January 8th, 2024|

As we rang in the New Year the collapse of Communisis marked a less than auspicious start for the industry. Tom Preston-Werner’s famous quote: "You’re either the one that creates the automation or you’re getting automated” has never been more pertinent. In an era where digital transformation is reshaping industries, the direct mail sector, traditionally reticent to change, is now standing at the crossroads of innovation and tradition. The crux of this transformation is automation, a concept that is essential for the future of the industry. Automation in direct mail streamlines processes including sorting, addressing, and packaging. This mechanisation significantly reduces the time and labour involved, translating to lower operational costs and higher efficiency. By minimising manual interventions, automation also [...]

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In the mood for giving: How well-being sparks generosity through direct mail

By |2023-10-31T17:06:16+00:00October 31st, 2023|

A new academic study from the University of Massachusetts and Georgia Institute of Technology has found a connection between donor well-being and their generosity, suggesting that designing direct mail campaigns that makes people feel happy will be an effective way to encourage donations. The concept explores the concept of “preheating,” by replicating the warm glow often associated with post-donation moods. While psychologists are familiar with this idea, the study is the first to identify the impact of this on charitable giving. Using natural language processing tools the sentiment of communications donors sent before and after they made a donation were analysed. The researchers detected a reliable and statistically significant mood boost in communications sent up to about an hour before [...]

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Direct mail effectiveness soars!

By |2023-10-03T09:17:46+00:00October 3rd, 2023|

In the ever-evolving landscape of marketing channels, email and social media often hog the spotlight. However, the continued resurgence of mail is also hitting the headlines.  In Q2 2023, the effectiveness of the mail channel reached its highest point in a year and a half, with an impressive 31 percent of mail driving positive commercial outcomes for brands. Mail's Remarkable Resurgence One of the most striking findings of Q2 2023 is that mail's effectiveness as a commercial marketing channel saw a year-on-year growth of nine percent. This growth propelled the proportion of mail items prompting actions among consumers to its highest level. This surge in effectiveness reaffirms that mail is far from obsolete in the digital age. A Comprehensive Customer [...]

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Unleashing the Magic of Mail

By |2023-09-25T12:24:44+00:00September 25th, 2023|

We are all now coming round to the fact that there's something timeless and magical about direct mail. You just have to scan the recent news headlines to see that mail’s resurgence is not a flash in the pan. According to JICMAIL its effectiveness recently reached its highest point in a year and a half, with an impressive 31 per cent of mail driving positive commercial outcomes for brands. It is also now the most trusted form of marketing by consumers and commands attention for c.2 minutes across a lifespan of 28 days in the home. Its therefore unsurprising that Marketreach has breathed new life into their "Magic of Mail" campaign, aiming to showcase the incredible attributes of physical mail [...]

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Attention please! DM proven to be a high attention channel

By |2023-08-29T15:09:56+00:00August 29th, 2023|

A year-long, in-depth study conducted by JICMAIL has revealed that on average, a direct mail piece holds consumer attention for 108 seconds. Similarly, partially addressed mail commands attention for 64 seconds, while door drops maintain engagement for 46 seconds. This definitively positions mail as a high-attention channel. This is particularly true when amalgamating these new metrics with existing research that underscores mail as the most trusted form of communication, a compelling case emerges for integrating mail into the marketing mix. In addition, JICMAIL has collaborated with PwC to convert these attention-based metrics into an average cost per minute, specifically targeting various audience segments. This enables marketers to make direct, comparative evaluations between mail and alternative media formats. The study reveals [...]

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Direct marketing spend at highest level since 2006

By |2023-08-02T10:08:51+00:00August 2nd, 2023|

The ongoing cost-of-living crisis has had a big impact on media spend, the latest IPA Bellwether report reveals. Main media budgets encompassing TV, online, radio and press have tanked, whilst direct marketing, events and sales promotions have soared, reflecting reactive change by UK businesses in response to the economic climate. Sales promotions achieved the highest growth rate (13.4 percent), its biggest uplift in more than two decades of survey data. This indicates that marketers are keen to support their customers by providing them value for money, through offers and deals. Events also performed well, experiencing an increase of 9.3 percent. The growth is attributed to a desire from brands to have closer, more personal relationships with their customers. Underpinning this [...]

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Those most likely to donate as a result of Direct Mail

By |2023-07-21T09:18:23+00:00July 21st, 2023|

A new study, The Future of Direct Mail 2023, reinforces the effectiveness of direct mail, with the overwhelming finding that 81% of people engaging with direct mail in some way. Almost two thirds were found to have purchased a physical product as a result of receiving a piece of DM, 43% took advantage of a discount or special offer that was promoted through the mail, 35% applied for a financial product whilst 25% donated to charity as a direct result of a call to action within a mail pack. With charity fundraising suffering as a result of the cost-of-living crisis, understanding the impact of direct mail and who is most likely to respond is incredibly valuable. The report finds that, [...]

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Direct mail effectiveness soars

By |2023-03-23T10:05:54+00:00March 23rd, 2023|

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 [...]

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Is now the time for innovation in the direct mailing industry? 

By |2023-01-23T13:36:44+00:00January 23rd, 2023|

As many of our network will know, in December we carried out a research study investigating the automation opportunity for the sector. The overwhelming finding was that there is significant appetite to innovate particularly in terms of the use of AI. For the sector, it is therefore good news that the UK currently ranks first in Europe, and third in the World, behind the US and China in developing AI technologies. Moreover, the Government is keen for the UK to maintain this position. Investment continues to be high. As part of this in July last year The National Robotarium at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh opened its doors. It is the UK’s hub for robotics and artificial intelligence and has [...]

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Decision Marketing: Direct Mail revival beats rivals

By |2023-01-04T09:28:09+00:00January 4th, 2023|

Martin Rides writes for Decision Marketing about the role of mail moving forward into the new year. You can read the article here or below Brexit, Covid, supply chain chaos, cost of living crisis, economic freefall, postal strikes, train strikes, nurses strikes, economic freefall, worst and longest predicted recession… yep, the country is royally screwed and teetering on a knife edge. There’s no dressing it up, this year has been a shocker and next year is going to be even tougher for the marketing industry. Everyone is battening down the hatches and putting survival plans into place. Yet, there is one small glimmer of light… The resurgence of direct mail as a legitimate and effective marketing channel. If nothing else, [...]

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