The latest JICMAIL data shows mail engagement surged to an all-time high in Q4 2024, with 77% of Direct Mail, Door Drops, and Business Mail read or looked at—the highest level recorded since JICMAIL began tracking consumer mail behaviours eight years ago.
According to “Mail: The Super Touchpoint”, a report unveiled at the JICMAIL Conference at PwC in January, mail continues to prove its ability to:
– Capture consumer attention and drive response, even in a highly competitive Q4 trading period.
– Growth in mail activity across grocery, travel, utilities, finance, and telecoms contributed to this record-breaking engagement.
Key Findings from Q4 2024:
Sustained Engagement:
– The average Direct Mail piece was interacted with for 133 seconds over 28 days.
– Door Drops held attention for 56 seconds, while Business Mail reached a record 191 seconds.
Strong Purchase Influence:
– 6% of mail prompted a purchase, with half of these transactions occurring online.
– Supermarkets, charities, and financial services (e.g., credit cards and pensions) saw above-average response rates across Direct Mail and Door Drops.
Loyalty & Offers Drive Response:
– Loyalty reward statements were among the most effective drivers of response in Direct Mail.
– Vouchers and special offers worked particularly well in Door Drops.
Business Mail Strengthens Customer Retention:
– Business Mail engagement levels rose for the third consecutive quarter, with an increased lifespan in the home.
More Advertisers Using Mail:
– Over 7,763 advertisers used Direct Mail or Door Drops in 2024—15% of all UK advertisers tracked by Nielsen.
– Major advertisers included Tesco, Waitrose, Farmfoods, Hillarys, and Christmas charity appeals from Crisis and The Salvation Army.
– Our Future Health entered the top 10 advertisers, demonstrating the effectiveness of mail in trust-sensitive sectors like healthcare.
Industry Perspectives:
Ian Gibbs, Director of Data Leadership and Learning at JICMAIL, highlighted mail’s strength in an increasingly competitive landscape:
“Everyone knows that the competition for consumer eyeballs is more fierce than ever in Q4. Combined with the ongoing challenges of platform-dominated ad spend, persistent use of last-click attribution models, and rising levels of digital ad fraud, it is more important than ever for marketers to consider their investments in Super Touchpoints in this crucial trading period. Mail has again proven its strengths throughout the purchase cycle in Q4, and the record levels of mail read-rates show just how much appetite consumers have for marketing comms delivered through the mail channel.”
Mark Cross, Engagement Director at JICMAIL, reinforced mail’s impact:
“The power of mail as a Super Touchpoint across the most critical trading season of the year for many was apparent again this season. The question to ask for non-users is what reward did you sacrifice by not using mail when your competitive users converted 133 seconds of attention from direct mail into response rates just not achievable in digital.”
Q4 2024 Key Mail Metrics
Engagement by Mail Type:
– Direct Mail – 4.4 interactions, 1.13 people reached, 7-day lifespan, 133 seconds of attention.
– Door Drops – 3.1 interactions, 1.06 people reached, 5.7-day lifespan, 56 seconds of attention.
– Business Mail – 4.8 interactions, 1.17 people reached, 8.6-day lifespan, 191 seconds of attention.
Impact on Consumer Behaviour
– 77% of mail was read or looked at (Q4 2023: 76%).
– 87% of mail was eventually recycled.
– 6% of mail prompted a purchase.
– 15% of mail prompted a discussion.
– 8% of mail prompted a website visit.
For more insights, read the full “Mail: The Super Touchpoint” report Click Here
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