JICMAIL: Election Fever Boosts Mail Performance in Q2 2024

Quarterly results released by The Joint Industry Currency for Mail showed a significant rise in mail volumes in Q2 2024, boosted by the UK General Election.

However, while political mail performed well, it was a bumper quarter all-round for the mail channel. Direct Mail, Business Mail, Partially Addressed Mail and Door Drops each held their own while the commercial effectiveness of non-political mail also provided highlights.

Direct Mail trended upwards in two of the three key measurements. Item Reach (+0.6% year-on-year) and Lifespan (+4.3% year-on-year) were up in the second quarter while Frequency only saw a marginal slide of 0.7%.

Direct Mail Q2 2024 headline statistics

Mail Continues to Grab Attention

Mail’s ability to engage remains strong across all types. Direct Mail Attention (seconds interacted with per item) is up 10 seconds year-on-year. Meanwhile, Door Drop Attention rose by five seconds across the quarter and year. For Business Mail and Partially Addressed Mail, Attention remained stable over the quarter and strong throughout the year.

JICMAIL also found that the amount of mail being retained in the home increased across all mail types.

• Direct Mail Lifespan is 7.3 days, up by 4.3% y-o-y.
• Business Mail Lifespan is 8.6 days, up 3.9% y-o-y.
• Partially Addressed Mail Lifespan is 7.2 days, up 8.1% y-o-y.
• Door Drops Lifespan is 5.9 days, up 2.9% y-o-y.

These figures further demonstrate mail recipients’ willingness to store and digest mail items for future reference, enhancing brand awareness and discoverability.

Download the Q2 2024 Direct Mail Factsheet

Non-political Mail Prompts High Purchase Activity

While the Election took centre stage, it was not the key driver of commercial effectiveness. Rather, the retail and utilities sectors proved to be amongst the biggest winners of the quarter. A sizeable 15.2% of supermarket mail prompted an in-store purchase while in the online world, 7.5% of mail senders in the utilities space saw purchases being made.

Overall, 5.3% of mail prompted a purchase in Q2 with 51% of those purchases being conducted online. 

JICMAIL Buoyed by “Strong Mail Engagement Rates and Commercial Effectiveness”

JICMAIL is a not-for-profit industry organisation which provides the gold standard of information and independent research relating to consumer activity with mail in the home. Utilising JICMAIL data gives media planners a clear and accurate picture of the efficacy of mail campaigns.

Ian Gibbs, JICMAIL, Director of Data Leadership and Learning, said “It’s exciting see confidence returning to the mail channel in Q2 2024, buoyed by strong mail engagement rates and commercial effectiveness. While the General Election played a huge part in stimulating volumes, this wasn’t the only driver of growth however and it’s encouraging to see retail and travel advertisers in particular using the omni-channel strengths of the mail channel to full effect.”

Mark Cross, Engagement Director of JICMAIL added, “When it came to persuading potential voters in a particular constituency, to get their message read, engaged with and talked about in the home at a critical moment, the political parties turned to mail in droves. Some powerful cross category lessons and nuggets of insight available here for the wider industry!’” 

Download the Q2 2024 Direct Mail Factsheet

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