Opening an opportunity

With digital advertising we can reach everyone’s social feed and bulging inbox. This immense reach has swamped customers with advertising, many are simply scrolling past or swiping to instantly delete. Mail pieces remain a powerful way to cut through the digital noise.

Audiences still engage more with the ‘hands-on’ tactile and immediate ritual of opening a mail piece. It’s a medium with huge cut through and can effectively support digital marketing.

70% of people felt valued receiving a mail piece versus 30% receiving email*

*Royal Mail, Measuring Mail’s Effectiveness with Neuroscience.

More memorable

Have you ever opened a direct mail piece and kept it aside to action? A witty headline, timely offer or personalised mail piece is remembered. Mail is the master of ‘long-term’ memory, which is anything that’s stored for longer than a couple of minutes. Unlike generic social advertising, a targeted personal mail piece cuts through. Relevant to you = more likely to act.

How does it perform versus email?

Mail activates long-term memory 49% more than email and 35% more than social media advertising.

Boosting other channels

And the winner is… just like opening a gold envelope and announcing an award, mail sets up social media to win.

Direct mail makes social media work harder. People who see social media advertising cold, are likely to scroll past with low memory recall. Those who’ve opened a mail piece first relating to the social media promotion, spend longer engaging. This extra moment spent is more likely to trigger a response. Opening mail first prompts people to spend 30% longer looking at social advertising.

Social media advertising is 44% stronger when people have first seen mail.*

*Royal Mail MarketReach, Neuro-Insight, 2013 in The Private Life of Mail.

Driving a commercial action

All of this stacks up. Smart, targeted direct mail campaigns are remembered. It also sets up social to work harder. Driving an action could be a website visit, a voucher code redeemed, a donation made or a trigger to purchase. If you want to cut through, mail is more memorable.

37% of people bought or ordered something in the past 12 months, as a result of receiving mail.*

* IPA Touchpoints, 2017.

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