JICMAIL reports 53% of mail-driven purchases were online in Q1 2025; mail volumes increase 5% year-over-year as 17% of United Kingdom advertisers use mail channel

June 6, 2025 (press release) –

The Super Touchpoint Channel demonstrates its growing impact on consumer digital behaviours in Q1 2025.

London, 5 June 2025 – The latest quarterly results from JICMAIL reveal that 53% of all purchases attributed to the mail channel were transacted online in Q1 2025. This is a record high reading since JICMAIL began tracking this metric nearly two years ago and comes in a quarter when consumers are displaying higher levels of digital engagement in response to receiving all types of mail.

JICMAIL – The Joint Industry Currency for Mail – has revealed that in the first quarter of the year, brands displayed renewed confidence in the mail channel, with volumes on JICMAIL’s panel of 1,100 household increasing 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 ones 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 (i.e. Direct Mail, Door Drops, Business Mail and Partially Addressed Mail), meaning that advertisers have enjoyed a more efficient delivery of mail ad impressions with their budgets.
• 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. However, it is the ability of mail to convert this consumer engagement into effective outcomes that will appeal to marketing budget holders.
• 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, 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 Super Touchpoint ability to retain existing customers was in evidence through increased account look-ups, while Business Mail recorded year-on-year increases across all four key engagement metrics tracked (reach, frequency, lifespan and attention).
• In terms of sector performance, the travel sector increased its usage of Direct Mail, Door Drops and Business Mail in Q1 as advertisers encouraged consumers to start thinking about their summer holiday plans. In addition, the finance, travel and retail sectors drove growth in DM volumes in Q1; while tradespeople, charity, property and restaurant advertisers upped their usage of the Door Drop channel year on year.
• Each quarter, JICMAIL publishes the household mail journeys that display the higher levels of consumer engagement and/or commercial effectiveness in its Top Creative tool. In Q1 strongly branded Direct Mail with prominent calls-to-action and with creative imagery prevalent on the envelope, lead to impressive cut through for brands like Halifax, Tesco and the RSPB.
• In the Door Drop space easyJet, P&G Always and Co-Op are examples of similarly strong brands whose creative stood out in JICMAIL panellists’ homes. As demonstrated in JICMAIL’s “Mail: The Super TouchpointMail: The Super Touchpoint A J I C M A I L 2 0 2 5 R E P O R T MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT Contents 02 Super Touchpoint Planning 03 Why Mail is a Super Touchpoint 11 How Mail Attracts Consumer Attention 13 How Mail Deepens Customer Relationships 21 How Mail Ignites Household Conversations 26 Bringing it All Together: The Super Touchpoint Planning Loop 32 How do we know mail works? 35 Test and Learn with JICMAIL 38 Mail Effectiveness Case Studies 43 MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT SUPER TOUCHPOINT PL ANNING Foreword from JICMAIL 03 n recent years the media planning With marketing efforts now struggling for cut- Funded by the JICMAIL levy, this invaluable I discipline has increasingly through in a world dominated by an excess of low data is freely available to the supply-side reframed media selection quality messaging and spend funnelled towards and buy-side alike. JICMAIL encourages big tech platforms that lack inter-operability, it is the planning community to: decisions as considerations related to JICMAIL’s contention that now more than ever consumer touchpoints – a move much we are entering a planning era that demands • Evaluate whether the language of Super Touchpoint planning is popularised by the IPA’s launch of its an evaluation of Super Touchpoints. relevant to your business. powerful Touchpoints planning system. Super Touchpoints enable marketers to unlock moments of magic to create • Re-evaluate the role of the mail channel in Touchpoints transcend media channels the context of Super Touchpoint planning. in that they are context, time, location, comms with exceptional cut-through and disproportionately effective results. • On-board JICMAIL data to enable mind-set and need-state specific, and cost-effective data-driven planning consequently are vital for stimulating As the Joint Industry Currency for Mail, JICMAIL in the mail channel. consumer response in an increasingly now curates multiple data sets that enable an evaluation of Direct Mail, Business Mail, Partially fragmented media landscape. Addressed Mail and Door Drops in the era of We hope you enjoy reading this report the Super Touchpoint. From our long-running and welcome feedback from the panel of 1,100 nationally representative UK marketing community. households recording everything that they do with their mail; to our growing Response Rate Tracker database of campaign results; to mail Mark Cross Ian Gibbs circulation and share of voice data published on Engagement Director of Nielsen Ad Intel; to custom campaign effectiveness Director Data Leadership research solutions, the mail channel has never and Learning had such a wealth of independent planning and measurement data available at its fingertips. MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT SUPER TOUCHPOINT PL ANNING The fundamental role of Yet marketers face mounting challenges marketing remains unchanged across all areas 04 1Acquisition of in-market customers 3 Recommendation of products 1. Lack of big platform inter-operability while stimulating future demand and services to friends and family 2. Non-transparent measurement 3. Ad fraud Acq 4. Increased CPAs uisit 5. Persistence of third-party cookie usage ion Rec ommen dati on 6. Increased price-sensitivity 7. Ad saturation 8. Declining creativity Rete 9. Competition for consumer attention ntion 2 Retention of existing customers and deepening customer loyalty Recommendatio n Acquisition MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT SUPER TOUCHPOINT PL ANNING We spoke to a cross-section of industry experts to discuss… 05 01 02 03 What best practice planning Whether the concept of a What media channels could principles should be adopted Super Touchpoint is useful reasonably be positioned to help marketers achieve their for helping marketers frame as Super Touchpoints goals while dealing with the their thinking on how to address and what implications does numerous challenges presented these challenges and plan this have for media planning by the modern media landscape. fit-for-purpose campaigns. and measurement. MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT SUPER TOUCHPOINT PL ANNING How did our panel of industry The Super Touchpoints experts define ‘Super Touchpoint’? checklist 06 A Super Touchpoint channel enables you to… 01 A Super Touchpoint enables marketers to merge audience-first Harness a unique audience insight planning with a cut-through behavioural or creative insight, to deliver Harness the power of creativity disproportionately effective outcomes for consumers and brands alike. Create an emotional connection Deliver sensory marketing comms 02 A Super Touchpoint creates deeper emotional connections with consumers; delivers a stimulating sensory experience that attracts Leverage trust attention; provides advertisers with a platform for brand storytelling Deliver carefully synchronised comms and/or inspires consumers to start a conversation. Hyper-target or build scale Explore rich targeting opportunities 03 Any channel can be a Super Touchpoint. If it conforms to best practice measurement; has the tools available to create a genuine Build full-funnel effects and surprising customer insight; and has the potential to drive impact Deploy best practice measurement at all stages of the purchase cycle then it should encourage marketers to think about a disproportionately large investment to drive disproportionately effective outcomes. The more boxes ticked, the greater the chance of delivering disproportionately higher outcomes MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT SUPER TOUCHPOINT PL ANNING Key considerations when Super Touchpoint planning 07 01 AVOID CHANNEL MYOPIA 04 PLAN FOR FULL EFFECTS Avoid a channel-centric approach to planning. Identify and build out your Super Touchpoints shortlist Identify a shortlist of Super Touchpoints and across your entire customer journey: from acquisition evaluate them using a Super Touchpoints to retention to recommendation. evaluation grid. 02 BE TOUCHPOINT SPECIFIC Remember that touchpoints are components 05 SEEK MULTIPLIER EFFECTS Consider how all paid, owned and earned within channels, and that not all touchpoints opportunities can act as Super Touchpoints within channels are the same. and think about how they work in combination. 03 BE AUDIENCE FIRST 06 CONNECT SYNERGIES The Super Touchpoint shortlist should be created Go one step further when thinking about the multi- by using industry planning tools alongside channel mix. Super Touchpoints should not simply stand custom data and analytics to unearth consumer- alongside each other building up either incremental reach centric insight as to how likely they are to come in to and/or frequency – they should seamlessly connect / contact with marketing comms throughout their hand-over to the next touchpoint in the customer daily lives and how receptive they will be. journey as audiences go about their daily lives. MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT SUPER TOUCHPOINT PL ANNING Create a detailed evaluation grid and assign a STEP* score to each Super Touchpoint 08 Evaluate how your Super Touchpoints are working here High-quality immersive Offer-based In-feed Proximity small Premium non- List all your candidate Direct Mail piece Door Drop social size OOH skippable VOD touchpoints in streaming STEP score 1–5 STEP score 1–5 STEP score 1–5 STEP score 1–5 STEP score 1–5 1. Harness a unique audience insight What need state /context /category entry point can you take advantage of? Is there a strong value exchange with your audience? 2. Harness the power of creativity Does it fully harness the creative opportunity? What are the levels of viewability? What is the quality of impressions delivered? 3. Create an emotional connection Does it trigger the right emotional response across the journey? Is the emotion being used to drive brand impact? Can emotion be leveraged to stimulate a direct response? Does it provide a platform for brand storytelling? 4. Deliver sensory marketing comms Does it trigger a strong sensory response? Is it attention rich? Does it drive word of mouth? 5. Leverage trust Does the media touchpoint elicit trust? Does it have strong data ethics? 6. Deliver carefully synchronised comms Does it enable you to tap in to ‘magic’ moments of advantage? Does it seamlessly connect to the next touchpoint on the journey? Does it prompt multiple actions /outcomes? Are there specific media touchpoint combinations that maximise impact? What paid, owned and earned combinations maximise impact? 7. Hyper-target or build scale Does it add incremental reach? Does it build effective frequency levels in your schedule? 8. Explore rich targeting opportunities Is it personal /addressable? GDPR compliant? Can you geo target accurately and in a verifiable way? Does it harness the power of its surrounding context? 9. Build full-funnel effects Does it have a sustained impact / low decay rate? Are its effects immediate and short-lived? Does it drive multi-media effects, including online? Does it contribute to a strong campaign outcome? 10. Deploy best practice measurement Can you test it? Is it captured in your measurement framework? Is it part of your learning agenda? Total: (Add up your STEP scores here) *STEP = Super Touchpoint Evaluation Points MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT SUPER TOUCHPOINT PL ANNING Rank your Touchpoints in STEP score order and action your media plan accordingly 09 Step score = 90%+ Top 25% Touchpoint A How many of your touchpoints are Potential actions • Invest Touchpoint B Super Touchpoints – i.e. have a STEP score • Upweight of 90%+? • Test Touchpoint C Middle 50% Touchpoint D Potential actions • Optimise Touchpoint E • Performance review Touchpoint F • Test Touchpoint G Touchpoint H Touchpoint I Bottom 25% Touchpoint J Potential actions • Divest Touchpoint K • Down-weight • Test Touchpoint L MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT SUPER TOUCHPOINT PL ANNING Break down the silos with Super Touchpoints 10 or Super Touchpoints to deliver For the Super Touchpoint opportunity to be fully F meaningful outcomes for marketers, realised, silos must be broken down within and they must first be built on the principles between all areas of the marketing supply chain. of best practice planning: from creating SMART objectives; to building an idea around unique The perfect confluence of client marketer, creative, audience insights; and from a sound strategic media, data and measurement practitioner acting approach; to fully joined up thinking between in a true partnership will deliver effective marketing media and creative. comms for advertiser and consumer alike. These are tried and tested planning principles that are as relevant in the era of the Super Touchpoint as they have ever been. 11 W H Y M A I L …. is a Super Touchpoint MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT WHY MAIL IS A SUPER TOUCHPOINT JICMAIL’s view on Mail’s As a Super Touchpoint mail inspires action among power as a Super Touchpoint Consumers, Customers 12 and Households irect Mail, Door Drops, Partially As a print medium, mail is a channel Mail… D Addressed Mail and Business that generates tactile, undivided attention Mail provide a vital moment of which appeals to the senses and has connection between advertisers and the potential to deploy rich creative Attracts consumers/customers/households – ideas that create lasting emotional CONSUMER either at scale or on a highly targeted basis. connections with consumers. Attention. These moments don’t just last for Mail is a highly measurable and trusted seconds: they last for minutes, days channel. Mail is a Super Touchpoint. and weeks, and drive outcomes Deepens throughout the purchase journey. CUSTOMER Relationships. Ignites HOUSEHOLD Conversations. 13 H O W M A I L …. Attracts Consumer Attention MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW MAIL AT TR ACTS CONSUMER AT TENTION The JICMAIL study is a masterful piece of research, which is valuable considering 14 the often overlooked role of direct mail among traditional media planners, despite it being bigger than Channel 4 in terms of revenue (UK). In terms of attention, direct mail commands 108 seconds of attention on average, which dwarfs the <2 second attention thresholds for most social display advertising.” Faris Yakob – Author of Paid Attention Source: Marketreach Article – One Thing Leads to Another: The Marketing Attention Rub – published May 2024 MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW MAIL AT TR ACTS CONSUMER AT TENTION How mail… Mail is as attention efficient as any other channel attracts consumer attention 15 sing an ongoing panel of These outcomes can be generated at scale Cost per Minute of Attention as of Q1 2024 U 1,100 UK households JICMAIL using broad reach acquisition campaigns, (ABC1 Adults) provides an unrivalled view on or they can be delivered to highly targetable how consumers engage with their mail segments defined by geography or across the month using a diary-based app. customer-data-centric audience cohorts. £0.31 Each mail interaction recorded equates Mail targeting is highly privacy compliant, to an opportunity to be exposed to the and is one of the reasons that mail is key marketing messaging, while also one of the most trusted media channels £0.20 creating a moment of positive friction among consumers overall, and number £0.15 that generates attention. one for 18–34 year olds.* £0.12 £0.11 £0.10 JICMAIL’s The Time We Spend With Mail Mail’s Super Touchpoint strengths £0.07 study demonstrates that high attention mail enable it to cut-through, capture consumer £0.05 items are more likely to result in positive attention and act as a vital tool in acquiring commercial outcomes for advertisers. new customers. Press Social Desktop Business Direct Out of Door TV 30 Display Display Mail Mail Home Drops Seconds Highest attention efficiency *I PA Touchpoints 2024 Source: JICMAIL Item Data Q1 2024.; Lumen; TVision; 7Stars 2023 CPM data MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW MAIL AT TR ACTS CONSUMER AT TENTION How mail… attracts consumer attention 16 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Mail’s Super A Tactile/ Provides Undivided Privacy Mass …or Geo Touchpoint Strength: Physical Medium Attention Compliant Reach Targeted The proof point: Engagement Rate 99% solus reading: GDPR compliant Nearly 29 million Targetable at the for Direct Mail: 96%; only 1% of mail is read legitimate interest-based households targetable individual, household, Door Drops: 80% while watching TV or customer prospecting with ad mail postcode, or postcode listening to the radio sector level What’s the benefit? High Ad Attention: Attention Effectiveness Mail is the most trusted In-Home Visibility: Effective Targeted 134 seconds for DM; Multiplier: x2–x3 for DM; media amongst 18–34 1 million DM items Comms: £3.90 ROI for Door Drops: 55 seconds x3–x5 for Door Drops year olds* generate 4.3 million Cold DM, £2.60 for impressions. For Door Door Drops Drops: 3.1 million Source: JICMAIL Item Data 2024; JICMAIL Response Rate Tracker 2024; *IPA Touchpoints 2024 Engagement Rate = % of mail items that have any physical action taken with them other being than being immediately discarded only Attention = seconds mail item is physically interacted with across 28 days MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW MAIL AT TR ACTS CONSUMER AT TENTION Mail’s role in the purchase Direct Mail and Door Drop Purchase Impact (% of items) 2022 2023 journey is evolving 17 +35% -8% +31% s the DMA’s Value of While vouchers and discounts tend to be A 8.4% Measurement paper a highly effective method of drumming 8.0% reports, performance up short-term demand in challenging 7.4% marketing effectiveness has been times, advertisers who have noticed declining over the last four years, the knock-on effects of increased price 6.2% plagued by a challenging economic sensitivity and declining customer loyalty, climate, poor creativity and sub- have begun to be more measured in their standard measurement. usage of price promotions vs a year prior. At the same time, the opposite trend In the retail space, there is evidence has been noted in the mail channel: that mail is increasingly playing a role in The last full calendar year of JICMAIL data marketers’ longer-term plans – stimulating tells us that the proportion of mail items future demand and becoming part of the triggering a purchase increased by 35%, consideration process for discretionary 1.7% demonstrating the crucial role that the purchase. The proportion of mail being 1.3% channel plays in the path to purchase. used to plan a large purchase has subsequently grown year on year. Bought something/ Used a voucher/ Planned a large made a payment or discount code purchase donation (NET) The equivalent of 10,000 Years Mail is an increasingly Has an over-reliance Instead, mail’s role as a effective channel on discounts and stimulator of purchase with the purchase promotions seen consideration and long- rate up year on year. a shift away from term plans has become short-termism? more embedded. ...are spent by consumers engaging with Direct Mail and Door Drops each year *Nielsen Ad Intel Q3 2023 to Q2 2024 mail volumes x Q2 2024 JICMAIL average attention per item n = 19,373 supermarket, retail and mail order items: Direct Mail and Door Drops MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW MAIL AT TR ACTS CONSUMER AT TENTION How mail works for advertisers large and small 18 ail is a democratised media Byron Sharp’s law of double jeopardy M channel with few barriers suggests that larger brands have an to entry. That said, there is advantage through their larger customer evidence that big brand spenders enjoy penetration and higher levels of loyalty disproportionately more effective mail which in turn translates in to higher ad campaigns than the average brand. effectiveness. For big brand advertisers not using the mail channel, there is clear A cohort of ten top brand advertising opportunity to be gained by experimenting spenders identified on the DMA’s with its usage. Effectiveness Databank and within the JICMAIL database, have recorded higher Mail effectiveness isn’t just the preserve of levels of purchase effectiveness, voucher the largest players in the market however. redemption, mail engagement and It’s rich geo-targeting capabilities make lifespan than the average mail item. it the ideal solution of local advertisers – a fact that many have increasingly cottoned on to over the last two years. The effectiveness of Door Drops driving business for local tradespeople has been on an upward trajectory over most of the last couple of years. MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW MAIL AT TR ACTS CONSUMER AT TENTION Double Jeopardy: Big brand spenders enjoy But mail works for smaller higher mail engagement and effectiveness companies too. The effectiveness of Door Drops for local tradespeople 19 is on an upward trajectory 9.4% Door Drop Commercial Effectiveness for Local Tradespeople of mail prompts voucher (% of mail items with any commercial action taken) usage (vs 3.1% average) 7.7% 4.34 10.7% 9.9% 9.2% 8.8% of mail prompts account frequency of mail interaction 8.2% look-ups (vs 5.0% average) (vs 4.12 average) 7.1% 6.5% Top Brand Advertisers 1.4% 8.01 of mail prompts planning days mail lifespan Q4 2022 Q1 2023 Q2 2023 Q3 2023 Q4 2023 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 of a future purchase (vs 7.77 average) (vs 0.9% average) Source: Top Brand Advertisers from DMA Effectiveness Databank: P&G, Unilever, Samsung, EE, Eon, BT, Virgin Media, Tesco, Barclays, John Lewis. JICMAIL Advertiser Attribution Data 2019–2023 n=8,429 Direct Mail, Business Mail and Door Drops n = 4,192 Local Tradespeople Door Drops MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW MAIL AT TR ACTS CONSUMER AT TENTION Now, there’s another interesting fact about adding the extraordinary potency of adding 20 the locality. Which it’s not just more relevant social proof. I’ve always had a strong belief with direct mail that localisation actually is a very strong form of personalisation. Not everything has to be about you as an individual, but anything that has kind of ‘Kent’ on it is automatically of interest to me.” Rory Sutherland Source: Marketreach Mail Unleashed Interview 2024 21 H O W M A I L …. Deepens Customer Relationships MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW MAIL DEEPENS CUSTOMER REL ATIONSHIPS How mail… deepens customer relationships 22 longside JICMAIL’s core panel- Customer retention and loyalty efforts A based mail measurement, the are vital in an era in which marketers face Response Rate Tracker provides numerous challenges related to heightened campaign-centric data on which key price competition according to the latest performance benchmarks can be DMA Customer Engagement research. observed across Direct Mail and Door Mail is a channel that arguably has the Drop campaigns. With ROI, AOV (average longest history in harnessing the power order value), CPA (cost per acquisition) of owned customer data and as such is and response rate data spanning thirteen adept in deepening customer relationships. organisations and 2,300 campaigns, The Response Rate Tracker definitively From the higher interaction rates and shows that it is typically five times more lifespan of warm Direct Mail and Business expensive to generate a response from Mail, to its power at driving both digital a new customer than an existing one. traffic and physical store footfall, through to its programmatic capabilities: as a Super Touchpoint channel, mail has the ability to combine the power of data, creativity and technology to drive results from existing customers. MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW MAIL DEEPENS CUSTOMER REL ATIONSHIPS How mail… deepens customer relationships 23 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Mail’s Super Highly Programmatic Traffic Footfall Highly Touchpoint Strength: Personalised Capabilities Driving Generating Creative The proof point: Addressed Mail has There is a £304k 12% of Warm DM Warm DM is more than Print media is more 45% more interactions abandoned shopping drives a website visit twice as likely to drive likely to be awarded a than partially or cart potential upside store footfall vs Cold DM high creativity score unaddressed mail for the average warm by DMA Award judges DM mailing What’s the benefit? Cut-through and longevity: Maximise cross-sell and Owned Media working Response and ROI: Highly creative campaigns Addressed mail stays in up-sell opportunities: harder: 7% of addressed Warm Retail DM has a generated x4 business the home for 8 days on AOV for warm DM doubled mail prompts account response rate of 3.5% effects vs low creativity average in 2023 log-ins and ROI of £7.20 campaigns Source: JICMAIL Item Data 2024; JICMAIL Response Rate Tracker 2024, DMA Value of Creativity Report AOV = Average Order Value MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW MAIL DEEPENS CUSTOMER REL ATIONSHIPS Plugging the abandoned The ROI of retail Direct Mail targeting existing customers is growing shopper cart revenue gap 24 with programmatic mail he word ‘programmatic’ An analysis of JICMAIL’s panel Retail /Online Retail Mail ROI T has become a term almost tracking and campaign response synonymous with digital data gives a sense of potential 2022 2023 display advertising in recent years, revenue gap that could be plugged yet its application in the world of mail using programmatic Direct Mail. speaks to technology driven delivery solutions that are privacy-first, Based on an average warm campaign £7.80 customer data-centric and powerful mail volume of 77,000 items observed drivers of customer engagement. in the Response Rate Tracker, 8,162 items are likely to drive website visits. In the context of abandoned shopper carts, where existing customers Of these items, 31% prompt customers to £5.90 are only part-way through an online look up their account details online yet only purchase journey before dropping 13% result in an online purchase. This 18% out, programmatic mail can trigger the gap equates to 1,469 mail items, which delivery of a mailer designed to encourage when multiplied by an Average Order +32% the final transaction to take place (see Value benchmark of £207 for warm retail this explainer from JICMAIL Platinum DM, results in a revenue gap of £304,000. Growth in warm retail mail ROI in 2023 Partner Paperplanes for more detail). This £304k revenue gap represents the maximum potential opportunity cost per campaign of not plugging the abandoned shopper cart gap: a gap that programmatic mail is adept at filling. Warm DM Source: JICMAIL Response Rate Tracker 2024 MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW MAIL DEEPENS CUSTOMER REL ATIONSHIPS Plugging the abandoned shopper cart revenue gap 25 with programmatic mail Assuming… 77,000 £207 Average warm mail campaign volume: 77,000 items AOV for warm retail mail = £207 1 ,469 £304,000 Abandoned Cart Gap: 1,469 items Abandoned shopper cart revenue gap = £304,000 Source: JICMAIL Item Data + Response Rate Tracker 2024 26 H O W M A I L …. Ignites Household Conversations MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW MAIL IGNITES HOUSEHOLD CONVERSATIONS I think there’s a perception that it has taken time or money to send a piece of direct mail. In the 27 way there isn’t that perception for an email. And one of the big ideas in behavioural science is this idea of costly signalling. The greater effort a communicator has gone to. The more believable their message.” Richard Shotton – Author of The Choice Factory Source: Marketreach Mail Unleashed Interview 2024 MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW MAIL IGNITES HOUSEHOLD CONVERSATIONS How mail… ignites household conversations 28 ut of the twelve commercial Mail is shared in the home, with the location Creative content drives differing levels of O actions tracked by JICMAIL, of the mail item in the household having a discussion according to target audience there is one that consistently big influence on attention levels depending and campaign objective with special ranks as number one across Direct Mail, on the product category. offers, information about local services Door Drops, Business Mail and Partially and entertainment related content all Addressed Mail: that is, mail’s ability to As covered in last year’s The Time likely to stimulate conversations and prompt discussions. We Spend With Mail report, in-home conversions. contextual planning involves harnessing Brand conversations are not simply the key behavioural insights about where High brand advocacy can be a huge preserve of social media and influencer your mail is most likely to be engaged efficiency driver for those marketers looking marketing. Most conversations take place with in order to maximise attention – to harness the power of earned media and in the real world between real people, and and as a result key commercial actions pick up some of the slack from future paid the mail channel has a huge role to play in such as brand conversations. media spend. Mail’s Super Touchpoint influencing what they say. strength at driving discussions provides the ideal platform for advocacy to flourish. MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW MAIL IGNITES HOUSEHOLD CONVERSATIONS How mail… ignites household conversations 29 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Mail’s Super Highly Driving Household In-Home Offer Content that Touchpoint Strength: Shareable Discussions Contextual Planning Relevancy Captures the Imagination The proof point: The average piece of 19% of Business Mail The kitchen and living Business Mail containing Mail content related Warm DM is engaged prompts a discussion room are the highest special offers is 37% more to local services, with by 1.13 people about the contents; mail attention zones in likely to be discussed entertainment or events per household 17% for Warm DM the home prompts conversation What’s the benefit? Efficiencies derived from The power of earned Planning to have mail From conversation to Conversation likelihood mail’s reach multiplier: media: mail that is read in contextually conversion: discussions 40–60% higher for local, 1 million items reaches discussed is 71% more relevant locations stimulated while the entertainment or event- 1.13 million people likely to prompt purchase maximises attention purchase decision is live based mail content Source: JICMAIL Item Data Q2 2024 MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW MAIL IGNITES HOUSEHOLD CONVERSATIONS Mail discussion is on a % Direct and Business Mail Prompting Discussion long-term upward trend 30 n 2024, the proportion of Furthermore, an analysis of JICMAIL’s 17.5% I addressed mail driving a panel data reveals a key relationship conversation hit a six year high. between conversions and conversations: typically 2.5 times as many mail items 17.2% As a tactile medium that can delight and drive a discussion vs a purchase. Planners surprise and sends a clear signal to the must ask themselves what creative and recipient that the sender values your audience targeting levers they can pull to custom enough to commit a message further leverage brand discussions. Mail to printed comms, the mail channel’s that contains information about local talkability factor is on the rise. services and mail that contains information about entertainment activities and events has much bigger talkability conversion to conversation multiplier for example: typically of a factor of x6 to x7. 16.3% 15.8% 15.8% 15.4% 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 to date* Source: JICMAIL Item Data 2024. *2024 = Q1, Q2 and Q3 only MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW MAIL IGNITES HOUSEHOLD CONVERSATIONS From conversion to conversation: x2.5 Golden Rule 31 x6–7 x2.5 Purchase to conversation multiplier For mail including information on across DM and Business Mail entertainment /activities; information about an event; or local service information Source: JICMAIL Item Data Q2 2024 32 B R I N G I N G I T A L L T O G E T H E R The Super Touchpoint Planning Loop MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT PL ANNING LOOP The Super Touchpoint Planning Loop 33 ail has a role to play at all stages Warm DM, Business Mail (and to M of the typical planning cycle. an extent Door Drops) stimulate discussions, helping brands harness the power of earned media and Door Drops, Cold Direct Mail and complementing future customer Partially Addressed Mail are vital tools acquisition efforts through advocacy for attracting consumer attention and and recommendation. acquiring new customers, whether that be when used in isolation or as part Planners should consider the Super of a broader multi-channel campaign. Touchpoints strength of all media channels throughout this planning Warm DM, Business Mail and loop when looking to make data-driven Programmatic Mail speak directly to and informed media choices. customers, improving average order values by cross-selling and up-selling and shifting the dial on customer retention efforts while being used as part of an integrated campaign across one-to-one channels. MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT PL ANNING LOOP Mail’s power as a Super Touchpoint 34 Door Drops Mail Super Warm DM Mail Super PAM Touchpoint Powers: Business Mail Touchpoint Powers: tract Cold DM • Tactile Undivided Attention • In-Home Sharing and Discussion • Mass Reach • In-Home Context 1 At Customer • Geo Targeted • Relevant Offers • Privacy Compliant • Key Content Attention d rne Ea dia Paid A Me Media cq 1 Attract Consumer uisi Attention 1 tion 2 Deepen Customer tio n 3 da en 2 Deepen Customer Relationships omm Ret Relationships Rec enti 2 on O M w ed e 3 Ignite n Household ia d Conversations3 Ignite Household Ch Conversations Warm DM Mail Super urn Business Mail Touchpoint Powers: Programmatic • Personalised • Programmatic • Traffic Driving • Footfall Generating • Highly Creative Recommendatio n Acquisition 35 B R I N G I N G I T A L L T O G E T H E R How do we know mail works? MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW DO WE KNOW MAIL WORKS? How do we know mail works? 9% increase in the number of advertisers using the mail channel 36 ndependent proof points help meaningful business effects (i.e. the I paint a picture of advertising types of effects that senior stakeholders mail effectiveness that adds really care about – such as profit growth weight to the contention that the and market share gains) than average. channel is a Super Touchpoint. When it comes to unpicking why the Q1 2024 3,656 Re-booted mail circulation data from mail channel can lay claim to such Nielsen AdIntel now provides both vital effectiveness, the DMA’s Value of the sell-side and buy-side of the mail Measurement report shines a further channel with a highly accurate view of light on the channel. Campaigns that advertiser activity. Against a back-drop include mail in the mix tend to index of marketing budget pressure, the first highest for conforming to best-practice half of 2024 has seen a 9% quarter- measurement – in other words they are on-quarter increase in the number most likely to avoid using less meaningful of advertisers using the mail channel campaign delivery and vanity metrics across Direct Mail and Door Drops. when reporting on outcomes. The Data and Marketing Association’s Best practice measurement recently released Value of Creativity that is both transparent and Q2 2024 3,986 report reveals part of the reason why. trusted is a key components of a Campaigns that employ tactile media Super Touchpoint channel. channels (i.e, mail and print) tend to generate both more immediate response effects (i.e. the types of effects that short- term response campaigns are tasked with such as acquisitions, sales, bookings …mail advertisers tracked in Nielsen Ad Intel and footfall), and a greater number of Source: Nielsen Ad Intel Q1 to Q2 2024, Door Drop plus Direct Mail MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW DO WE KNOW MAIL WORKS? Tactile campaigns are number Mail tops the rankings for one for driving response effects best-practice measurement and business effects 37 Effectiveness by Sensory Experience (no. of effects) Best Practice Measurement Index Audio and Video Outdoor and Experiential Tactile/Physical 1.8 163 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.2 108 88 77 0.8 74 74 68 68 67 66 0.5 0.4 0.4 No. of No. of No. of Ad Mail TV Radio and OOH Press and Search All Digital Experiential Email Social Response Effects Brand Effects Business Effects Audio Mags Source: DMA Effectiveness Databank 2024, DMA Value of Measurement 2024 Index 100 = Likelihood of average campaign to avoid using campaign delivery metrics when reporting on results Source: DMA Effectiveness Databank 2024, Value of Creativity Report 2024 Note: the chart does not display solus use of the channel in question 38 B R I N G I N G I T A L L T O G E T H E R Test and Learn with JICMAIL MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT TEST AND LE ARN WITH J ICMAIL Media measurement is vital for making sound decisions about how to spend your media 39 budget. Putting your pounds in the right place is more important than ever. Attention metrics may be useful for understanding how consumers engage with your media, but what your business really needs to know is the media’s impact on sales. If you’re considering adding mailings to your media plan, to take advantage of what looks like cost-efficient advertising, then also consider what you need to put in place to know how well it’s working and get the most out of it. It’ll bring your CFO on board and help marketing add value to your business.” Grace Kite – Founder, Magic Numbers Source: Marketreach article – Feeling the squeeze from your CFO? Adding mail to the mix can boost ROI – March 2024 MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT TEST AND LE ARN WITH J ICMAIL Test and Learn with JICMAIL 40 JICMAIL campaign measurement should be considered additive to your existing mail measurement efforts. It helps you plug the measurement gap by reporting on outcomes and metrics not measurable elsewhere. Crucially it becomes another lens by which you can contextualise the results of your existing measurement, providing a platform for test and learn by experimenting with new hypotheses on which to optimise campaign performance. MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT TEST AND LE ARN WITH J ICMAIL Introducing JICMAIL+ 41 hrough a pool of third-party How does JICMAIL+ work? T measurement vendors, JICMAIL has access to a suite of campaign measurement solutions to help mail users: Identify Campaign JICMAIL & Kantar Distribute to different Audience on distribute campaign audience or creative 1. T est audience receptivity to JICMAIL Panel to selected panellists cohorts mail creative. 2. Identify new acquisition audiences using previously untapped data signals. 3. M easure mail’s contribution to overall marketing effectiveness. 1. 2. 3. At the heart of these campaign measurement solutions sits JICMAIL+. JICMAIL panel records Core JICMAIL metrics – Results split out by interactions with test reach, frequency, lifespan, creative/audience and JICMAIL+ is a mail measurement solution campaign across a attention and commercial contextualised against completely unique to JICMAIL that 28 day period actions available at industry benchmarks enables marketers to seed our 1,100 campaign level strong panel of UK households with live campaign or test creatives to report on outcomes that are directly comparable with JICMAIL benchmarks, including: Item Reach, Frequency of Interaction, 4. 5. 6. Lifespan, Attention and Commercial Actions taken. MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT TEST AND LE ARN WITH J ICMAIL JICMAIL+ can be combined with additional creative, audience and attribution insights to further optimise results 42 Each solution can also be used independently without seeding the panel Selecting the test and learn measurement solution for you 1. + CREATIVE Which mail creative What /How are you measuring? JICMAIL+ (JICMAIL+) (JICMAIL+) (JICMAIL+) executions resonate Creative Audience Attribution with your audience Optimising Creative? and why? Optimising Targeting? Pre-testing Campaign? Testing Live Campaign? 2. + AUDIENCE What new acquisition audiences can you uncover and how Existing Customers? receptive will they New Customers? be to mail? Addressed Mail /Business Mail Door Drops/Partially Addressed 3. + ATTRIBUTION What does the mail Potential Measurement Partners channel contribute to a multi-channel campaign in terms of effective outcomes? 43 B R I N G I N G I T A L L T O G E T H E R Mail Effectiveness Case Studies MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT MAIL EFFECTIVENESS CASE STUDIES Abel & Cole 44 Abel & Cole is an established subscription A strong offer was used, giving £30 brand with a loyal and engaged savings across the first three shops. following. However, due to diminishing This meant new customers would benefit ROAS (return on advertising spend) from at least three boxes, thus more acquisition costs were skyrocketing. likely to become a long-term customer. It wanted to use the power of its existing communities to find new customers. The envelope was purposely bold using the yellow brand colour, and included Strategy the offer in a roundel, as well as the Working with Whistl and Herdify and hero fruit and vegetable box image. using community detection insights, A TASTE2023 QR offer code and the the team was able to identify where customer postcode aided measurement. consumers were talking about the brand in the real world. In behavioural Results science terms, these community Abel & Cole benefitted from conversations are 92% more likely to response up to 10 weeks after the result in a sale compared to any other Door Drop hit targeted homes. type of advertising, because people trust 198 new customers were recruited from recommendations from people they know. the Door Drop, exceeding the target. Abel & Cole used its control envelope There were 538 QR code scans, an creative, the best-performing format exceptional scan rate of 0.17% and across the brand’s print media channels. well aligned with the QR code scan benchmark measured by JICMAIL. This campaign won silver in the Unaddressed Mail /Door Drop category at the 2023 DMA Awards. Source: https://dma.org.uk/awards/winner/2023-silver-unaddressed-print-and-door-drops MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT MAIL EFFECTIVENESS CASE STUDIES Jaguar Landrover 45 Campaign Overview The tangibility of Direct Mail helped the With two body designs, six trim levels, car manufacturer stand out from the seven exterior colours and 119 individual many digital communications customers accessories, New Defender was the were receiving during lockdown. most customisable Land Rover ever. Appealing to families would also give Working with Edit and Spark44, the the communication more interest and challenge was to cut complexity and longevity, with Direct Mail typically being help customers understand how consumed by 1.2 people in each in each to tailor the car to their lifestyle. household according to JICMAIL. Strategy Results New Defender could be customised This absorbing Direct Mail pack to meet any need. But the pandemic generated significant renewed caused huge disruption to prospects’ interest and led to 2,455 New lives, driving them constantly online Defender prospect enquiries – and making them unable or unwilling a response rate of around 25%. to visit retailers. How could they easily In total, 431 sales were prompted, explore their perfect vehicle? generating an ROI of 514:1. The answer was a Direct Mail ‘offline The pack also generated social configurator’, to stimulate interest, buzz with customers hugely enjoying educate people about the different models its interactivity, and some customers and options available, and help them requesting additional packs. overcome choice paralysis when they came to configure their car. Building their This campaign won gold for best use own New Defender would also leverage of mail at the 2021 DMA Awards. the ‘IKEA effect’, making them more invested in the purchasing process. Source: https://dma.org.uk/awards/winner/2021-gold-best-use-of-mail MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT MAIL EFFECTIVENESS CASE STUDIES Mr and Mrs Smith 46 Campaign Overview With Client and Agency collaborating The luxury end of the travel industry at every stage and using the client’s is awash with aspirational imagery in-house studio, they developed a but little that creates an emotional content plan based on insights. connection to the brand. Mr & Mrs Smith carved a niche against the Goliath The content included a mix of shorter industry players, so the team needed breaks and longer stays, a blend of UK to create a mailing that appealed to and overseas, all with an immersive active and lapsed customers alike. approach so that the customer could see themselves in that place. To create The creative brief asked for an an immediate differentiation from other aspirational piece that fed the emotional luxury operators, the outer envelope travel feelings without being a traditional used the line ‘HOTEL LOVERS ONLY January peak “sale and hard sell”. ASK ONE QUESTION… ... BUT IS Strategy IT A SMITH HOTEL?’ Inside was an Working with PSE and using the eight page newspaper called ‘Room JICMAIL insight that a travel mailing Service’ that stood out from all the will be interacted with 4.6 times, the brochures being sent by competitors. goal was to create something that This campaign won gold for best use built on that and ‘lived’ on the coffee of mail at the 2023 DMA Awards. table for a longer time period. Source: https://dma.org.uk/awards/winner/2023-gold-mail 47 B R I N G I N G I T A L L T O G E T H E R How to use JICMAIL when planning with the Super Touchpoints loop MAIL: THE SUPER TOUCHPOINT HOW TO USE J ICMAIL WHEN PL ANNING WITH THE SUPER TOUCHPOINTS LOOP How to plan a Super Touchpoint campaign using JICMAIL 48 Objective Mail Super Touchpoint Mail Channels Key Metrics JICMAIL Discovery Planning Tools Test and Learn Solutions Strength Time-spent Mail Categories; Competitor Insights Engagement Rate Action Benchmarks Attract Door Drops Reach and Frequency Campaign Calculator; IPA Touchpoints JICMAIL+ Creative Acquisition Consumer PAM JICMAIL+ Audience Attention Response Rate Response Rate Tracker, Action Benchmarks Cold DM JICMAIL+ Attribution ROI Response Rate Tracker Share of Voice Circulation data via Nielsen AdIntel Open Rates Action Benchmarks; Competitor Insights Deepen Warm DM AOV Response Rate Tracker JICMAIL+ Creative Retention Customer Business Mail JICMAIL+ Audience Relationships % Driving Traffic/Footfall Action Benchmarks; Action Drivers Programmatic Mail JICMAIL+ Attribution % Offer Redemption Action Benchmarks; Action Drivers Item Reach Campaign Calculator; Mail Categories Ignite Warm DM % Discussions prompted Action Benchmarks; Competitor Insights JICMAIL+ Creative Recommendation Household Conversations Programmatic Mail Offer Redemption Action Benchmarks; Action Drivers JICMAIL+ Audience Response Rate Response Rate Tracker, Action Benchmarks MAIL AS A SUPER TOUCHPOINT GET IN TOUCH Contact us 49 For more information please contact: Ian Gibbs JICMAIL Director of Data Leadership and Learning ian@jicmail.org.uk Mark Cross JICMAIL Engagement Director mark@jicmail.org.uk Copyright and Disclaimer ‘Mail: The Super Touchpoint’ is published by JICMAIL Limited © JICMAIL Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of JICMAIL Limited except as permitted by the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and related legislation. Application for permission to reproduce all or part of the Copyright material shall be made to JICMAIL Limited, admin@jicmail.org.uk. Although the greatest care has been taken in the preparation and compilation of this report, no liability or responsibility of any kind (to extent permitted by law), including responsibility for negligence is accepted by JICMAIL Limited, its servants or agents. All information gathered is believed correct January 2025. All corrections should be sent to JICMAIL Limited for future editions. MAIL AS A SUPER TOUCHPOINT About JICMAIL For more information on how you can Anonymised campaign benchmarks are also access JICMAIL data and use it to plan published through the Response Rate Tracker, more efficient and effective mail campaigns, and JICMAIL-endorsed mail circulation please visit www.jicmail.org.uk data is available via Nielsen Ad Intel. or email admin@jicmail.org.uk JICMAIL data is used by advertisers, agencies, JICMAIL data is gathered from a panel of printers, mailing houses and mail sell-side 1,100 households a month. The mail activity organisations to demonstrate the value of of every household member is tracked using mail, plan more efficient and effective mail a diary based app. Every mail item they campaigns, track mail performance and receive over the course of a week is captured, provide detailed competitor insight. and everything they do with that mail item over the course of a month is recorded. JICMAIL is a Joint Industry Currency – an independent organisation with a board comprising both the buy-side and sell-side of the mail channel. JICMAIL admin@jicmail.org.uk c/o DMA Offices www.jicmail.org.uk Rapier House /JICMAILUK 40 Lamb’s Conduit Street London WC1N 3LB” report released at PwC in Q1, big brand advertisers tend to enjoy disproportionately high mail engagement and effectiveness, an assertion further supported by the growing levels of effectiveness and stand-out creatives measured in the first quarter of 2025.
• Key mail metrics for Q1 2025 can be summarised as follows:

Mail interactions captured by JICMAIL panellists take many forms and range from opening and reading mail, to passing it on to someone else, putting it in the usual place, putting aside to look at later or taking it out of home (amongst a list of many other actions). In addition, JICMAIL captures the industry category and advertiser details of almost every mail item in its 355,000+ strong mail item database.

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.   

Mark Cross, Engagement Director, JICMAIL added, “Another quarter where mail has demonstrated its potency as a Super Touchpoint across the categories, with more engagement and attention prompting multiple-digital behaviours. Almost 10,000 brands according to Nielsen enjoyed these benefits across Q1.”

For more information on how you can access JICMAIL data and use it to plan more efficient and effective mail campaigns, please visit www.jicmail.org.uk or email tara@jicmail.org.uk

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