A raft of new research has found that not only has direct mail increased in effectiveness, but people prefer it too.
As the UK gets used to longer days and warmer temperatures, the marketing industry is showing strong signs of recovery, with many companies increasing their marketing budget. The latest edition of the highly influential IPA Bellwether Report has just revealed that the industry is experiencing a run of growth that goes back to Q2 2021, providing another sign that the UK is emerging from recession and the pressures of inflation.
While this is good news for the marketing sector in general, it’s great news for direct mail as the report details the growth of the medium compared to other communication platforms. While areas such as TV (-0.7%), out of home (-10.8%) and audio (-4.5%) contracted, direct mail increased by 7%. This was only bettered by events (23.1%), with companies showing a strong appetite for face-to-face engagement with customers.
The Decline Of Email
The positive news for direct mail within the IPA Bellwether Report was reflected by the State of Prospecting 2024 report from sales technology firm Sopro, which provided more evidence for consumers’ increasing preference for print marketing over email-only campaigns.
Based on the analysis of data from more than 75.2 million emails and interviews with over 350 sales and marketing professionals, the report found that while there was a 22% drop in success rates for email-only activity in 2023, nearly one in five (18%) consumers want to be contacted by post, which is more than double the number in the previous year.
Going further, three quarters of companies surveyed believe marketing results are better when email is combined with other outbound marketing channels, while 68% agree email prospecting also complements inbound marketing channels.
DM Works!
These findings build on the latest Jicmail report, which found that 8.4% of mail prompted a website visit in Q4 2023, with 4.8% prompting an account look-up and 3.3% an online purchase. This reflects a healthy 40% conversion rate from site visit to purchase.
These figures are going to make any marketing director sit up and take notice. At a time when customers are becoming harder and harder to track online and people are experiencing increasing levels of digital fatigue, the comfort of knowing that a piece of direct mail will go straight into the home and deliver your brand message to the people you want it to go to is something to be valued.
It’s clear that while email campaigns may offer vast scale, their actual results when compared to direct mail are minimal. The Jicmail report also found that mail has a key role in driving sales in bricks-and-mortar retail stores, with 2.3% of mail prompting an in-store purchase in Q4.
“The challenges faced by the British high street in Q4 have been well documented,” said Ian Gibbs, Jicmail director of data leadership and learning. “For those advertisers who invested budget in mail, however, the channel did its bit, driving both in store and online purchases at a time when it’s getting harder and harder to stimulate immediate response from performance marketing activity.”
To download the full Jicmail Q4 2023 report, go to bit.ly/Jicmail-Q4-2023
