Direct Mail Q1 2021 Effectiveness

Does Direct Mail Work?

Research from JICMAIL’s monthly diary-based panel data reveals that:

• With the average piece of advertising mail reaching 1.12 people
• A strong lifespan advertising mail staying within the household for nearly 8 days
• The frequency of the message is highly impactful with direct mail items being read 4.42 times in the time it is within the home

The impact of mail has strong commercial effectiveness, with the year-on-year growth rates outstripping the growth in frequency of interaction with mail. Direct mail is now working harder than ever at driving a commercial response than ever before. 

• 9% of all mail (DM, Door Drops, and Business Mail combined) prompted a visit to an advertiser website in Q1 2021, representing a 32% growth in effectiveness versus Q1 2020
• 7.5% of mail prompted a brand discussion (+15% on Q1 2020)
• 5.3% prompted consumers to look up their account details (+10% r)

The frequency of interaction with mail (JICMAIL’s measure of mail exposure) and item reach (an indicator of the extent to which mail is shared in the home) declined marginally during Q1 2021, although with two-year growth rates still strong, evidence of long term consumer behaviour changes, from receiving mailing items remain.

Two Year Positive Growth Rates

Download the 2021 Direct Mail Factsheet