Volumes on JICMail’s panel of 1,100 households increased by 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 customers 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.
The average piece of business mail was interacted with 4.8 times over a 28-day period in Q1, direct mail 4.4 times, partially addressed mail 3.8 times, and door drops 3.1 times.
The average lifespan in the home was 8.9 days for business mail, 7.6 days for direct mail, 7.3 days for PAM, and 5.5 days for door drops.
The average piece of direct mail was looked at for 145 seconds across 28 days, door drops 58 seconds, business mail 191 seconds, and partially addressed mail for 87 seconds.
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, JICMail said.
However, it is the ability of mail to convert this consumer engagement into effective outcomes that will appeal to marketing budget holders, the organisation added.
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, JICMail said 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 ability as a ‘super touchpoint’ to retain existing customers was in evidence through increased account look-ups.
Ian Gibbs, JICMail 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.”
