Direct mail demonstrates its growing impact on consumer digital behaviours

Print Solutions

The latest quarterly results from JICMAIL reveal that 53% of all purchases attributed to the mail channel were transacted online in Q1 2025. This is a record high reading since the organisation began tracking this metric nearly two years ago and comes in a quarter when consumers are displaying higher levels of digital engagement in response to receiving all types of mail.

JICMAIL – The Joint Industry Currency for Mail – has revealed that in the first quarter of the year, brands displayed renewed confidence in the mail channel, with volumes on its panel of 1100 household increasing 5% year on year. According to the latest circulation data published on Nielsen AdIntel, this equates to 17% of UK advertisers using mail to acquire new customers or engage with existing ones in Q1 2025.

Confidence in the mail channel was rewarded with both increased mail engagement and mail effectiveness. Frequency of interaction, mail item reach, lifespan and attention all increased year on year for at least three of the four mail types measured (ie direct mail, door drops, business mail and partially addressed mail), meaning that advertisers have enjoyed a more efficient delivery of mail ad impressions with their budgets.

Encouraging consumers to repeatedly look at their mail, share it, retain it in the home and look at it for large periods of time all speak to the improved targeting and creative development on display in the mail channel. However, it is the ability of mail to convert this consumer engagement into effective outcomes that will appeal to marketing budget holders.

In Q1 2025, the proportion of mail prompting an online purchase increased to 3.1% while voucher redemption rates also increased year on year to 1.8%. Online transactions account for the majority of purchases prompted by mail: 53% in total, vs 33% for in-store purchases and 19% for purchases transacted by other means such as by post or phone.

Before the final purchase is made however, mail played an increasingly important role in brand discovery in Q1, with year on year increases noted in online searches, website visits, store visits and large purchase decisions.

Furthermore, mail’s Super Touchpoint ability to retain existing customers was in evidence through increased account look ups, while business mail recorded year on year increases across all four key engagement metrics tracked (reach, frequency, lifespan and attention).

In terms of sector performance, the travel sector increased its usage of direct mail, door drops and business mail in Q1 as advertisers encouraged consumers to start thinking about their summer holiday plans. In addition, the finance, travel and retail sectors drove growth in direct mail volumes in Q1; while

tradespeople, charity, property and restaurant advertisers upped their use of the door drop channel year on year.

Each quarter, JICMAIL publishes the household mail journeys that display the higher levels of consumer engagement and/or commercial effectiveness in its Top Creative tool. In Q1 strongly branded direct mail with prominent calls to action and with creative imagery prevalent on the envelope, lead to impressive cut through for brands like Halifax, Tesco and the RSPB.

In the door drop space easyJet, P&G Always and Co-Op are examples of similarly strong brands whose creative stood out in the panellists’ homes.

As demonstrated in JICMAIL’s ‘Mail: The Super Touchpoint’ report released at PwC in Q1, big brand advertisers tend to enjoy disproportionately high mail engagement and effectiveness, an assertion further supported by the growing levels of effectiveness and standout creatives measured in the first quarter of 2025.

Mail interactions captured by the panellists take many forms and range from opening and reading mail, to passing it on to someone else, putting it in the usual place, putting aside to look at later or taking it out of home (amongst a list of many other actions). In addition, the organisation captures the industry category and advertiser details of almost every mail item in its more than 355,000 strong mail item database.

Ian Gibbs, director of data leadership and learning, said: ‘Measurement isn’t getting any easier in a world of platform power and digital centric attribution models. To be able to attribute digital effectiveness to a traditional channel like mail is a really important task for marketers seeking greater accuracy and transparency with their marketing spend. With the mail channel displaying increasing effectiveness at prompting online searches, purchases and customer engagement, now more than ever it is vital to factor these types of metrics into attribution models.’

Mark Cross, engagement director, JICMAIL added: ‘Another quarter where mail has demonstrated its potency as a Super Touchpoint across the categories, with more engagement and attention prompting multiple digital behaviours. Almost 10,000 brands according to Nielsen enjoyed these benefits across Q1.’