JICMAIL: Direct Mail Attention Reaches New High

Direct Mail recorded all-time high engagement figures in the first quarter of 2025 as the mail channel continued to demonstrate its effectiveness and influence on driving digital traffic and sales opportunities.

Overall, results from The Joint Industry Currency for Mail (JICMAIL) painted a healthy picture with mail volumes increasing 5% year-on-year, based on JICMAIL's panel of 1,100 households. 

In addition, circulation data from Nielsen AdIntel revealed that 17% of UK advertisers used mail to acquire new customers or engage with existing ones between January and March 2025.

Direct Mail Captures Consumer Interest

The average Direct Mail item was interacted with for 145 seconds by anyone in the household over a 28-day period in Q1 2025. This record-breaking statistic from JICMAIL represents an 11-second jump on the previous year's figure, increasing to 12-seconds compared to the preceding quarter. 

Frequency of interaction also witnessed a noticeable rise, with each direct mail item read 4.43 times whilst in the home (+2.5 y-o-y). 

Item Reach climbed one percentage point year-on-year to reach 1.14 people, while the Lifespan in the home soared eight percent to 7.6 days, highlighting DM's longevity. 

Other formats, including Partially Addressed Mail, also performed well. PAM Lifespan grew 16.9% y-o-y to 7.3 days, whilst Attention jumped seven seconds to 87 seconds compared to the previous quarter. 

Mail Quarterly Results - Q1 2025

Mail Continues to Drive Digital Interactions

As well as being an engaging format, mail continues to demonstrate its tangible impact as part of a blended marketing mix. 

Website driven visits by mail, voucher usage, and large purchases triggered by mail each saw a year-on-year increase. 

Meanwhile, JICMAIL data revealed that 6% of all mail prompts purchases with over half (53%) made online in the first quarter of 2025 - a record high.

These Super Touchpoint strengths add further weight to arguments that direct mail is enjoying a resurgence in the face of digital fatigue and messy attribution and targetting amongst other channels. 

JICMAIL: "Another quarter of benefits for advertisers"

JICMAIL is a not-for-profit industry organisation that provides the gold standard of information and independent research on consumer activity with mail in the home. Utilising JICMAIL data gives media planners a clear and accurate picture of the efficacy of mail campaigns.

Commenting on the results, Ian Gibbs, JICMAIL, Director of Data Leadership and Learning, said: "Measurement isn’t getting any easier in a world of platform power and digital-centric attribution models. To be able to attribute digital effectiveness to a traditional channel like mail is a really important task for marketers seeking greater accuracy and transparency with their marketing spend. With the mail channel displaying increasing effectiveness at prompting online searches, purchases and customer engagement, now more than ever it is vital to factor these types of metrics into attribution models."

Mark Cross, Engagement Director, JICMAIL added, “Another quarter where mail has demonstrated its potency as a Super Touchpoint across the categories, with more engagement and attention prompting multiple-digital behaviours. Almost 10,000 brands according to Nielsen enjoyed these benefits across Q1.”  

Download the Q1 2025 Direct Mail Factsheet

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