Direct Mail Saw Record Response Rates During Lockdown

Brits in lockdown were more responsive to direct mail, according to new research by JICMAIL.

According to the research, consumers interacted with direct mail campaigns more frequently in 2020’s second quarter than at any point in the past three years since JICMAIL began tracking activity.

The average piece of direct mail was interacted with 4.58 times in Q2 2020, while door drops were interacted with 3.19 times – equating to a 15% year-on-year growth.

Meanwhile government door drops saw an interaction increase of 45%, while lifespan increased by 67% to 9.5 days, topping the government’s average of 8.5 days.

While direct mail pieces in the government category saw the highest rates of interaction, interaction rates rose in almost all categories. Entertainment, travel and tourism direct mail saw interaction rates increase by 23%, while utility providers saw a 14% rise.

Health-related direct mail also saw high increases in interaction from consumers, rising by 11% – while consumers were also more likely to pass health-related pieces on to other members of the household, with item reach increasing by 9%.

“[The results] effectively mean[s] that the one million pieces of direct mail sent by the NHS to vulnerable people at the height of the pandemic, will in fact have reached 1.23 million people and generated over five million impacts,” said a JICMAIL spokesperson.”

“It will also have triggered very high levels of discussion in the household, demonstrating the often undervalued reach and interactions delivered by the mail channel.”