Mail volumes at their highest levels for 2 years

Mail volumes at their highest levels for 2 years.
JICMail, the joint industry currency for ad mail, has released its data for Q1 2022 which shows that mail volumes are at the highest level in two years with 4% of mail prompting a purchase in Q1 2022. The data covering the period from January to March 2022 showed that over 12,500 mail items were tracked by panellists across direct mail, door drops, business mail, and Partially Addressed Mail (PAM), taking the entire JICMail database to just under 230,000 items. Royal Mail’s financial results show that the volume of advertising mail grew by 30% in the twelve months to the end of March 2022, indicating post-pandemic advertiser confidence in the mail channel.

The top ten advertisers accounted for 23% of all mail volumes in Q1 2022, which is up 21% from 12 months ago, and signalling “continued confidence in the mail channel from some of the largest marketing budget holders in the UK”, according to JICMail. The mail channel continued to maintain the effectiveness benchmarks it established during the pandemic, with 5% of mail prompting consumers to look up their account details in Q1 2022, and 4% prompting a purchase. 9% of business mail prompted account look-ups, compared to 4% of direct mail. 6% of business mail prompted a purchase – a comparable figure to direct mail.

Ian Gibbs, JICMail director of data leadership and learning, said: “The rising cost of living and an unstable geo-political situation doesn’t exactly make a fertile ground for marketing effectiveness, with consumer response arguably much harder to come by now than it was even during the pandemic. “It’s encouraging to see the mail channel continue to maintain its effectiveness therefore – effectiveness that has been rewarded by continued growth in mail volumes as the largest brands in the UK continue to show confidence in the mail channel’s ability to deliver on their marketing objectives.”

JICMail collates it’s data from a panel of 1,000 households each month. The mail activity of each household member is tracked using a diary-based app. Every mail item received over the course of a week is captured and everything they do with that mail item over the course of a month is recorded.