JICMAIL: Business Mail Read Rates Reach All-Time High

Engagement with Business Mail reached new highs in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to data from the Joint Industry Committee for Mail (JICMAIL).

Over Three Quarters of Mail Being Read

Results from the industry body showed that 77% of mail (including Business Mail, Direct Mail and Door Drops) was read or looked at during the crucial golden quarter.

This is an all-time high reading of this engagement metric since JICMAIL began tracking consumer mail behaviours eight years ago.

Fierce competition means it’s notoriously difficult to achieve cut-through during the Christmas trading period. However, mail delivered a record-breaking performance in the battle to gain attention.

Business Mail Q4 2024 Headline Statistics 

Of all mail types, Business Mail continues to enjoy the most interactions, with items read 4.8 times whilst in the home.

Lifespan in the home remained consistently high (8.6 days) in Q4 2024, with Item Reach also maintaining a steady trajectory of 1.17 people.

Here’s how this compares to other mail types:

Business Mail Attention is the Big Climber

Business Mail Attention soared in the final quarter, leaping 16 seconds in three months, and 23 seconds more than the previous year. An all-time high of 191 seconds far exceeds the numbers posted for other mail formats.

• Direct Mail Attention was 133 seconds, +9s compared to the previous year.
• Partially Addressed Mail Attention was 80 seconds, +2s compared to the previous year.
• Door Drops Attention was 56 seconds, -6s compared to the previous year. 

Download the Q4 2024 Business Mail Factsheet

Mail Highlights its Super Touchpoint Credentials

The mail channel’s ability to attract consumer attention and drive conversions has been outlined in Mail: The Super Touchpoint, a landmark report released by JICMAIL.

Building on this framework, the Q4 2024 results highlight that 15% of mail prompted a discussion with 6% of mail prompting purchases. Half of those were made online.

Mail’s omnichannel appeal was capitalised on with supermarkets, retailers, charities, and financial service organisations recording above-average response rates across both Door Drops and Direct Mail.

JICMAIL also reported that loyalty reward statements proved to be one of the most effective drivers of response in the Direct Mail space. Meanwhile, vouchers and special offers were found to be effective for users of Door Drops.

According to JICMAIL-endorsed Nielsen circulation data 7,763 advertisers used Direct Mail or Door Drops in 2024, amounting to 15% of all UK advertisers tracked by Nielsen.

JICMAIL: “Read-rates Show Appetite for Mail Marketing”

JICMAIL is the industry’s leading and trusted source of reporting on the effectiveness of mail. The organisation’s comprehensive and independent research is based upon data that offers clear and actionable insight into how to mail can impact upon buying behaviour.

Ian Gibbs, JICMAIL, Director of Data Leadership and Learning, said “Everyone knows that the competition for consumer eyeballs is more fierce than ever in Q4. Combined with the ongoing challenges of platform dominated ad spend, persistent use of last-click attribution models, and rising levels of digital ad fraud, it is more important than ever for marketers to consider their investments in Super Touchpoints in this crucial trading period. Mail has again proven its strengths throughout the purchase cycle in Q4 and the record levels of mail read-rates show just how much appetite consumers have for marketing comms delivered through the mail channel.”   

Mark Cross, Engagement Director, JICMAIL added, “The power of mail as a Super Touchpoint across the most critical trading season of the year for many was apparent again in this season. The question to ask for non-users is what reward did you sacrifice by not using mail when your competitive users converted 133 seconds of attention from direct mail into response rates just not achievable in digital.” 

Download the Q4 2024 Business Mail Factsheet

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