London, 24 August 2022 – JICMAIL, the joint industry currency for ad mail, has today released the latest results from its panel-based mail planning system, which reveals that there has been a significant increase in the amount of households retaining their mail in Q2 2022, with more consumers choosing to file their mail away for use at a later date or take it out of the home.

JICMAIL’s diary-based data captured from a panel of one thousand households every month reveals that in Q2 2022:

  • The average piece of Business Mail was interacted with 4.8 times over a twenty-eight day period; Direct Mail 4.4 times and Door Drops 3.0 times. Across all mail types, 73% was either read, looked or glanced at – a measure of active mail engagement that has remained stable year on year.
  • 44% of mail is still live in the home after 28 days – a significant increase on Q2 2021 an indication perhaps, that households are placing more importance on mail content in economically challenging times.
  • Overall, 94% of mail is engaged with – i.e. it has at least one meaningful physical interaction over a twenty eight day period.
  • 20% of all mail is filed away in the home (a statistically significant 2% increase year on year), while 3% is taken out of the home for further usage. The sectors driving this increased desire to retain mail are Government, Financial Services and Utilities – a trend pointing towards the increased relevance of these sectors for consumers in recent times.
  • Across the five years of JICMAIL tracking to date, there has been a 60% increase in the proportion of mail prompting advertiser website visits, providing further evidence that mail triggers an increasing blend of digital and physical effects for advertisers.
  • Beyond the timely and serous nature of comms from Government, Financial Services and Utilities, advertisers from other more discretionary purchases have also fuelled growth in engagement with mail. The travel sector has experienced volume growth across Direct Mail, Door Drops and Business Mail in the summer months, and as covered in JICMAIL’s recent travel webinar, remains a high interest category despite the squeeze on household incomes.
  • Key mail metrics for Q2 2022 can be summarised as follows:

Q2 2022 KEY MAIL METRICS

Frequency

Item Reach

Lifespan

Direct Mail

4.4

1.1

7.2 days

Door Drops

3.0

1.1

5.5 days

Business Mail

4.8

1.1

8.6 days

Partially Addressed

3.7

1.1

5.7 days

% of mail…

Read / looked / glanced at

Live in the home after 28 days

Filed Away

Driving online brand discovery

Q2 2022

73%

44%

20%               

6%

Q2 2021

73%

42%

18%

6%

Source: JICMAIL Item Data Q2 2022 n=11,489 Direct Mail, Door Drop, Partially Addressed and Business Mail items

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 240,000 strong mail item database.

Ian Gibbs, Director of Data Leadership and Learning commented, With household incomes being squeezed – particularly by rising energy bills, it is no surprise that consumers are keeping hold of mail from financial services, utilities and central / local government advertisers for longer. In economically uncertain times, it is essential to speak to customers and prospects using highly trustworthy and credible channels. Increased retention rates, digital effectiveness and consistent and reliable engagement metrics all support the case for ad mail in this space.

Mark Cross, Engagement Director added, “With the quality of engagement and interaction a pivotal challenge for all brand owners in a cluttered media ecosystem these latest results show the stand-out levels achievable through mail across a full set of engagement and action KPIs, with the perceived value of mail in the home increasing. The 60% rise in digital journeys driven by mail over the last 5 years of JICMAIL data is a profound indicator of the change in relationships across physical mail and on-line experiences.    

For more information on how you 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

Notes for Editors:

JICMAIL data is gathered from a panel of one thousand households a month. The mail activity of every household member is tracked using a diary based app. Every mail item they receive over the course of a week is captured, and everything they do with that mail item over the course of a month is recorded.

JICMAIL data is used by advertisers, agencies, printers, mailing houses and mail sell side organisations to demonstrate the value of mail, plan more efficient and effective mail campaigns, track mail performance and provide detailed competitor insight.

JICMAIL is a Joint Industry Currency – an independent organisation with a board comprising both the buy-side and sell-side of the mail channel.

Key JICMAIL reporting metrics include:

Frequency of Interaction / Exposure: The number of times a mail piece is interacted with over the course of a month, or how often the average person interacts with their mail.

Item Reach: The number of people in a household who are exposed / interact with a mail item.

Lifespan: The number of days a mail item is in the home before it is thrown or filed away.