It’s in your hands
Unless you live in an extremely rural area, I would bet on the fact that many of us has at one point in our lives received the vibrant, colourful, and tempting Domino’s promotional mail through our door.
Plastered with imagery of the latest pizza options and Domino’s blue and red branding, you know exactly what this piece of direct mail is before you’ve even picked it up off the floor. Whether I am in the market for a Domino’s pizza or not, this particular leaflet always ends up on top of the microwave in the kitchen – just in case I feel like making use of the discounts at a later date.
Compare this to the long list of marketing emails that I receive daily of which 90% remain unopened and headed straight for the delete button, and it’s clear to see the way physical mail is able to make a consumer stop, feel, and touch the product, even if it’s just to move it from the hallway to the bin.
It’s not a case of physical mail being superior to digital mail as both mediums complement each other to form part of an overall marketing strategy. However, during a period of digital fatigue exacerbated by the pandemic, the physical and tangible nature of direct mail means it is able to cut through the noise of online marketing and land right into the hands of the desired audience.
One effective way direct mail can be used arm in arm with digital is the use of QR codes and online voucher codes which we saw a rise in during lockdown and the implementation of Covid-19 restrictions in hospitality and other settings. This way direct mail can be used to grab the attention of consumers and direct them to the digital part of the marketing scheme.
Direct mail is a tangible and attention-grabbing way to get consumers’ attention
Recent research completed by Royal Mail Marketreach offered an insight into how businesses can make the most of their customer mail by finding out exactly what it is consumers want.
The study found that despite 42% of respondents being encouraged to go paperless in 2021 and almost half offered incentives to do so, only about 24% actually did. The study also found that 88% read all or most of their physical direct mail, whilst slightly fewer (76%) read their emails. This shows that whilst emails still very much have a place in marketing, direct mail remains a strong and successful medium to reach consumers.
O Factoid: A study by Royal Mail Marketreach found that 88% read all or most of their physical direct mail, whilst 76% read their emails O
Another angle is the retention of information once the marketing has been read and the study found that people are twice as likely to say that they understand complex information when presented in physical mail format compared to digital. With this said, the study confirms the benefit of a combination of both physical and digital mail when wanting to begin or strengthen a customer relationship.
Phil Ricketts, wholesale commercial director at Royal Mail Marketreach, says: “Our research reaffirms Customer Mail’s importance in the customer relationship and demonstrates how it can benefit businesses looking to bolster their customer experience strategy.
“It’s an incredibly powerful brand touch point, which is invested with huge amounts of trust by consumers, but one where there is massive opportunity to further leverage its impact as part of the customer experience. When executed well, Customer Mail can add both personal value to customers and commercial value to organisations.”
Attention-grabbing
This research was supported by the Strategic Mailing Partnership (SMP) which is a professional body for printers and mailing houses in the UK. Supported by Royal Mail, the SMP is made up of three focus areas: operations, sales, and marketing and education. The organisation is free to join and strives to raise standards in the mailing industry and promote better mail for all. Founded in 2008, the SMP has grown to become the largest group in the UK of mail and print suppliers and service providers.
Lucy Swanston is Chair of the Strategic Mailing Partnership
Reflecting on the role direct mail and fulfilment printing can have when aiming to grab the attention of consumers, Lucy Swanston, chair of the SMP, says: “Direct mail constantly proves itself to be the leading attention-grabbing medium. With open and engagement rates for direct mail being over 90% (JICMAIL), people find it impossible to ignore.
Direct mail constantly proves itself to be the leading attention-grabbing medium. With open and engagement rates for direct mail being over 90% (JICMAIL), people find it impossible to ignore”
“As the only medium that is truly of the home, with TV, radio, and digital all heavily used away from home now, it doesn’t just grab attention but stays around for days, weeks, and even months. So, it remains available for when consumers are in the best frame of mind to engage with it.”
Swanston explains that JICMAIL’s latest attention metrics which will be launched early in 2023 show that on a per-second basis, the amount of consumer attention direct mail grabs is significantly greater than any other media channel, making attention one of the greatest USP’s (Unique Selling Points) of direct mail.
Other benefits are the personalisation opportunities with names and personal information based on data making mail a 1-2-1 personal communication. Swanston also says that creativity with paper stock, die-cut, tip-ons, engaging folding structure, eye-catching imagery, and more all help to make mail stand out.
“Underneath all of this, it’s important to remember the basics for great direct mail,” Swanston says, adding: “Be clear in messaging, make it easy for customers to know what you want them to do and how to respond, and speak to them in the right tone of voice.
“All these factors further build trust and relationships between brands and consumers and can ensure brands maximise the amount of time consumers pay to their communications.”
Echoing these thoughts is Connor Sadik, key account director of bakergoodchild. The company provides a complete end-to-end solution for all direct mail and critical mail requirements. Founded in 1995 by its managing director Bruce Thomson, bakergoodchild has grown from a very small hand fulfilment team into a £12m turnover fully automated mailing house.
“Direct mail complements digital channels very well and helps form part of a successful marketing mix,” says Sadik, adding: “Like most people, I have multiple email addresses and online accounts, but I only have one desk and one letterbox. When I receive physical mail I open it and I read it.
Like most people, I have multiple email addresses and online accounts, but I only have one desk and one letterbox. When I receive physical mail I open it and I read it”
“For direct mail to be successful, it has to deliver the right message, to the right person, at the right time. The message should be relevant to the recipient, with clear calls to action. The latest digital printing technology offers marketeers the same unlimited levels of personalisation available through digital channels, meaning they can communicate with their entire database, at the same time, with a bespoke message to each individual.”
Sadik explains that this targeting is all driven from data and he notes that if a customer’s data is outdated and the message isn’t strong, then direct mail can be an expensive acquisition tool. Instead, he recommends encouraging clients to collect valuable data from their recipients using digital marketing channels. This data can then be used to send a targeted, relevant piece of direct mail to cut through the noise and generate a greater return on investment (ROI).
Targeted marketing
One example of a successful direct mail campaign provided by the SMP for reference is one completed by fast food chain Subway. The company wanted to encourage customers back into stores as well as promote its SUBWAY Rewards App.
Whilst previous campaigns had seen Subway use a generic approach with each store being a franchise, the brand wanted to utilise a localised campaign to increase footfall instead.
To do this, Subway’s marketing agency, Precision, got to work to create a campaign that created an instant impact through a national direct mail campaign centralised on a hyper-local delivery model. Designed to support each franchise, the campaign targeted a typical Subway customer within a ten-minute walk from each store as well as tailoring the price point for each outlet.
Using Precision’s household data and a scientific approach to audience targeting, the agency could also ensure the mail reached the right people for each franchise, rather than every Subway customer. This was to save Subway money by ensuring a better ROI through data and targeting.
Each booklet featured six unique, data driven QR codes that included the household address, the local store details, and the offer featured on the piece of mail. Two QR codes linked the consumer to the Subway Rewards app to gain 250 free points, and four QR codes enabled Precision to track which households redeemed a particular voucher in a specific store and the date and time they did so.
This mix of digital and direct mail meant the mail drove consumers to both the app and in-store.
The campaign was a huge success with the initial trial of 198 stores quickly growing into a nationwide campaign with 1,946 participating stores. As a result of the campaign, voucher sales tripled; the average weekly UK sign-up to Subway’s rewards app increased by almost 200%; and the mailing had a 5.4% in-store voucher redemption rate. Precision was awarded the Platinum Envelope Winner Award at the SMP Awards for this campaign success.
Precision was crowned the overall SMP Awards Platinum Envelope Winner for its Subway direct mail campaign
Another direct mail provider is Huddersfield-based Propack which recently won a five-figure tender to provide four years of outsourced sponsorship activity for Plan International UK. The company successfully pitched to secure the tender for the provision of sponsorship outsourcing for the charity’s UK division.
This project will see Propack support the fulfilment and distribution of five of Plan International UK’s key sponsorship processes, with mail pack production volumes estimated to reach over 100,000. Propack has been providing technology-led print and direct mail solutions for over 25 years and Plan International UK has been described as being “extremely impressed” with the direct mail team’s understanding of its requirements.
Propack recently hit a direct mail milestone by producing its 50 millionth piece of Ethical Mail
As part of the project, Propack will produce and manage a range of materials to engage sponsors including sponsored child introductions, welcome packs, child to sponsor letters, and sponsored child updates.
The green debate
The issue of data security has been a long-debated topic surrounding marketing and direct mail has often come out on top as the most trusted form of mail. Royal Mail Marketreach found that 87% of consumers view mail as believable and it is trusted across all age groups. In fact in a ‘digital world’, direct mail was found to be the second most trusted channel for Gen Z (those born after 1996), after search.
The environmental impact of mail has also been a hot topic for many years. This has been a long debate and something that has been known to cause frustration within the industry due to greenwashing claims and a lack of research into the sustainability of direct mail, printed products, and paper on the whole.
Two Sides has long campaigned and worked to debunk myths and incorrect facts circulating around printed products and strives to educate consumers about why print and paper communications such as direct mail can be attractive and sustainable.
One of the most common misconceptions amongst consumers is that paper is ‘bad’ as it causes forests to be cut down. This couldn’t be further from the truth and paper is in fact one of the most sustainable products in the world. A report from Two Sides highlights the fact that the paper industry uses respected forestry certification schemes to ensure that virgin fibre originates from sustainable sources. These scemes include the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).
What’s more, paper is highly recycled with 2020 seeing a total of 56 million tonnes of paper collected and recycled in Europe which equates to a recycling rate of 74%. Another misconception is that the production of paper produces high greenhouse emissions. This is incorrect and Two Sides explains that the paper, pulp, and print sector is one of the lowest industrial greenhouse emitters of greenhouse gases and accounts for 0.8% of European emissions.
When deciding to go paperless and use digital marketing streams instead of physical ones, consumers and brands are often seen sharing messages such as “don’t print this email, go paperless instead and save the environment”. Campaigning from Two Sides has addressed this as well because it is difficult to make statements such as this without considering the full lifetime of both mediums.
When sharing this message, the impact of digital is all too often glossed over with research by Two Sides finding that 60% of European consumers believe electronic communications to be better for the environment than paper-based communications. In fact, the European Commission found in 2020 that the ICT industry accounts for 5-9% of electricity use, which is more than 2% global greenhouse gas emissions (the same amount as air traffic). The study also found that if left unattended, this figure could increase to 14% of global emissions by 2040.
Sadik comments: “All of the materials used at bakergoodchild are from sustainable sources and are FSC accredited, a few clients have also opted to use materials that are 100% recycled. We have also seen clients transition from conventional plastic polywrapping to potato starch wrapping or paper wrapping.
“Finishes such as laminate also declined, as Royal Mail made this in-eligible for its Sustainable Mail discount.
Clients are always conscious of their brand and reputation so it is important to give them the options and keep them informed on the environmental impact of their mail. As a company it is important to us to ensure we’re committed to keeping mail sustainable and so we’re audited annually to maintain our FSC and ISO14001 accreditations.”
Despite being one of the most environmentally sustainable channels, Swanston adds that like any industry, there is more to be done to improve mail’s sustainability position.
“Recent industry innovations have enhanced direct mail’s sustainability with environmentally friendly inks, efficient paper use to reduce wastage, and more sustainable delivery – for example, Royal Mail now has the largest electric delivery fleet in the UK,” Swanston says.
Reflecting on the issue of greenwashing, Swanston highlights the strong intervention by the Code of Advertising Practice (CAP), part of the Advertising Standards authority to launch its greenwashing code to the marketing industry. “This has set clear standards regarding how brands can communicate or make statements around sustainability, which is a positive step both for our channel and the marketing industry as a whole.”
Disruption and delays
A topic that has been making headlines in recent months that directly impacts direct mail and the wider print industry, is the Royal Mail strikes and wider upset at the company. Back in September Print Monthly reported that the Communication Workers Union (CWU) had announced further plans to halt work in order to help reach an agreement over pay for Royal Mail employees.
Taking place over key events in retail and seasonal calendars such as Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday, and the run up to Christmas, previous strikes have caused disruption and uncertainty for users of Royal Mail services.
Royal Mail has also announced plans to cut as many as 10,000 jobs by August 2023, citing ongoing strike
action and increasing losses across the business. The job losses will include up to 6,000 redundancies with the business set to notify workers of its long-term plans soon.
Royal Mail strikes and price hikes have caused disruption for direct mail and the wider print industry
Describing the situation as “disruptive”, Swanston says the SMP remains positive that a solution will be found. “Strike action creates uncertainty but at the SMP we remain optimistic that a positive solution will be found that will provide long-term benefits to our industry.
“Whilst price increases are never welcome news, they are also contextual. We are unfortunately living in unprecedented macro-economic times and organisations like Royal Mail are clearly not immune to this. The rising cost pressures driven by the macro environment are affecting all media owners and channels, and what we have seen across the board are significant increases in the cost of nearly all media channels over the last 18 months.”
Therefore, Swanston says that the industry’s strategic focus needs to be demonstrating the value and outcomes that brands receive from their investment in mail. This includes showcasing to brands the many benefits direct mail brings that other media channels don’t. The SMP has also worked with Royal Mail over the past 18 months to introduce a range of price initiatives to help the growth of the channel and offset price increases.
Also navigating these uncertain times is bakergoodchild and Sadik says the company has tried to mitigate this by planning campaigns closely with clients and advising them on the best times to post to avoid disruptions.
The main challenge for the industry according to Sadik is the increase in postage rates across the board from Royal Mail. “Not only have the increases come early in 2022, they’re also higher than previous years, particularly around business mail,” he says. “Couple this with increasing material costs and energy costs and it presents a real challenge to the marketplace.
“With an almost 20% increase in the cost of business mail postage, it wouldn’t be surprising to see these volumes gradually declining and more businesses opting for paperless communications where possible.”
Sadik goes on to say he anticipates advertising mail volumes to maintain the recent steady growth as it is such an effective marketing tool. He adds: “Although future strikes and postal increases are unclear at this point, proper planning and communication around schedules and budgets are key to overcoming these challenges.
“I would also advise businesses to talk to their mailing house about a number of Royal Mail postal incentives available. These can be accessed for those looking to test and innovate their current activity, increase volumes, or first-time users of the channel.”
With that in mind, the general consensus within the direct mail industry is that it is still very much a favoured form of marketing and better yet when used successfully alongside other marketing channels for the widest reach. Despite current industry disruptions such as Royal Mail strikes and paper price hikes, those operating within the industry remain positive and hopeful that the situation will level out and are doing what they can to mitigate these effects on the wider industry.
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