The effectiveness of direct mail in the marketing mix is increasingly being recognised by marketing professionals as the evidence mounts that print is highly effective at driving digital interactions.
This has led to JicMail, the organisation that provides the data to demonstrate this power, to create a test and learn toolkit and to create integrations with research business Kantar, as well as the RAM (Research and Analysis of Media) using JicMail metrics for testing and campaign evaluation research in which they used digital recreations of printed mail packs.
Kantar will plug JicMail into its brand measurement and shopper panel measurement tools. This will allow advertisers to ascertain how mail impacts brand awareness as well its wider impact on retail sales.
The development comes as JicMail release Q3 results to show an 11% increase in the effectiveness of mail in driving consumers to use a tablet or smartphone to go to a brand’s website. When compared to results in Q3 2019, before the first lockdowns, there has been a 41% increase.
JicMail calls this the ‘new normal’, suggesting that there will be no slippage once the pandemic is declared over and done with.
The research shows that 9% of printed mail, whether addressed or door drop, drives consumers to the advertiser’s website, 6% prompts consumers to find out more about the brand online and 5% results in the consumer looking up account details. For the first time, digital activity on phone or tablet has overtaken the phone call to the advertiser.
And the panel of consumers that feeds the JicMail report say that they are receiving increasing volumes of printed communication. In all there were more than 10,000 items to track, with an 18% rise in the number of door drops received compared to the same period last year. This is led by the return of travel and tourism over the summer, followed by telecoms activity.
Personalised and relevant communications showed the greatest inclination to interact, with both reminders about appointments and product notifications being effective at creating a mobile interaction.
This suits brands as it reduces the cost of handling responses compared to a telephone call. Consumers are now more likely to respond through the digital device which scans a QR code, for example, than using the smartphone to call the advertiser directly.
The overall life of direct mail has remained constant, with direct mail remaining live for 7.4 days before being recycled, door drops for 5.7 days and business mail staying around for 9.1 days.
