Member Article

Direct mail, a superhero channel in uncertain times

Direct mail has reached a mobile tipping point with record levels of digital activity driven by Direct Mail, Door Drops and Business Mail according to the latest Jicmail report.

The effectiveness of mail at driving consumers to use their tablets or smartphones has increased by 11 per cent year on year in Q3 2021, while the two year growth trend revealed an increase of 41 per cent. For the first time, the amount of mobile device usage prompted by mail exposure has outstripped the amount used to call advertisers directly.

The “new normal” in mail’s effectiveness at driving digital actions that surfaced a year ago, shows no sign of dissipating a year later. Nine per cent of mail drives consumers to advertiser websites, six per cent to seek out new information about a brand online, while five per cent prompts consumers to look up their account details.

Engagement with the mail has remained at lockdown highs with a piece of direct mail now interacted with 4.4 times a month on average, and staying in the house for just over a week.

It is evident that there is a legitimate role for DM in the multichannel world in which we live. However, there is also a very important element to the mail too, one which brands with vulnerable customers also need to recognise.

A recent report published by the DMA Multichannel Guidance for Customers in Vulnerable Circumstances, reveals that, throughout the pandemic, the mail has played an essential part in supporting vulnerable groups with services that improved their lives and empowered individuals.

The report outlines how individual channels performed with the aim of giving a guide to best practice and creating a well-balanced approach to customer communication.

It cites 2019 figures from the Financial Conduct Authority that showed half of UK consumers – 24.1 million people – displayed one or more characteristics of potential vulnerability. As a result of coronavirus this has now risen to 27.7 million.

The aim of the guide is to explore how to support these customers in the most effective way. It urges organisations to consider how vulnerable customers respond to communications. For example, if a consumer writes to a company, an email or WhatsApp message is unlikely to be the most appropriate form of response.

Included in the report is a checklist of responses into how 11 different forms of communication including SMS, chatbots and email are performed when used by people with varying issues. The only channel that addressed every challenge – from being visually accessible to offering personalised content – was mail.

The report concludes that “vulnerable consumers require protection and that direct marketing is essential in supporting vulnerable groups with services and opportunities to empower them as individuals, improve their lives and bring about social change.”

Many people prefer to receive and send information by post as they either don’t have the skills to respond online or have no access to a computer, printer, scanner or broadband. It’s a relief when they don’t have to call on a family member or friend to help them upload or download attachments, and that a paper document is still available.

The findings of these reports alone, plus the uptick in engagement, digital integration, performance and trust demonstrate that mail certainly still deserves its place in the marketing mix.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by The Thread Team .