By Erwin Busselot, Business Innovation & Solutions Director, Commercial and Industrial Printing Group, Ricoh Europe

With our attentions a little easier to capture during lockdown it is no surprise that data for 2020 from Great Britain’s Joint Industry Committee for Mail (JICMail) show that mail ‘is driving effectiveness with even greater efficiency than before’.

In the last three months of 2020, JICMail reported 8.4% of all ad mail, which includes direct mail, door drops and business mail, encouraged traffic to advertiser websites. This was an incredible near 50% year on year increase. 5.7% of all ad mail and business mail prompted a purchase in Q4, representing 19% growth year on year.
The average piece of direct mail spends 8.1 days in the home before being filed or recycled -4% longer than a year ago. Door drops enjoyed the biggest mail longevity with a 17% lift year on year and an average lifespan of 6.3 days. This was particularly so for those with vouchers and coupons and information about local services.
Austrian Post 2020 Q1 to Q3 results also recorded an improvement in the Letter Mail and Direct Mail business in Q3 compared to Q2, although some volatility remained. While Deutsche Post’s CMC Dialogpost 2020 Study found printed mailings for existing customers achieved an average conversion rate of 4.9% and advertising mailings achieved an average return on advertising spend of 990%.
Royal Mail figures show that in the last 12 months 25% of British adults bought something or made a payment or donation as a result of receiving mail.
Now that attention has been captured can it be held?
Here are some ways to ensure your clients’ communications continue to deliver as the world begins to open back up:
Choosing the right medium
94% of addressed mail is opened, read or set aside for later, it is ideal for reaching new customers. Using a mail address is more reliable than an email. People can have multiple email addresses but generally have only one home address. An alternative requiring less personal data is partially addressed mail (mail that bears a household address but no personal details). It can be more cost-effective and more targeted than leaflet drops.
Personalisation and individualisation
A key attraction of mail is the ability to tailor the message. Personalised mail is 35% more likely to drive an actual purchase than unaddressed mail. It can help messages land as customised mail is re-read 4.5 times on average. There are many ways to create a meaningful piece including bespoke offers, vouchers and catalogues. You can even go down the route of individualisation, with varying product images and copy based on the customer’s purchase history.
Multi-channel communication
Combining direct mail and digital channels can enhance the effectiveness of the message. Digital capabilities can be built into direct mail via QR codes and image recognition for greater engagement opportunities. Alternative formats such as 3D mailing packs, inks that can be smelled or tasted, recorded messages and video screens, can also support creativity.
Impact can be enhanced with cross-promotion across channels, too.
Effective data
To ensure the greatest return on investment it is essential that data are accurate. This maximises budget, cuts waste and meets GDPR compliance. Make sure that data quality is of a high level; you can’t imagine the effect of wrong salutations and typos on customers (and sales). Solutions like /data.mill enable the cleansing of data and the checking of the correctness of the records, to a certain extent even on a global level.
These are just some of the ways of delivering attention retention with direct mail that can be explored with clients. By incorporating some, or all of these elements, printed communications can encourage engagement, action, sales and long term relationships.
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