As the internet grew through the early 2000s through to the next decade, it was a game changer for the advertising and marketing world. When a campaign is launched online, it’s easy to measure audience engagement accurately, something that was previously not possible with print, television and outdoor mediums. There were predictions that print advertising would eventually die out, but that’s far from outcome we have witnessed over the years.
The growth of direct mail
Today advertising mail has grown to become the third largest consumer communication avenue in the UK. The total annual advertising spend is estimated to be close to £1.7bn. However, the industry has struggled with the fact that there has been no standardised currency of measurement/metrics to support important initiatives like media planning.
The arrival of JICMail
As we know, necessity is the mother of invention. Enter JICMail, a new currency that enables the industry to measure direct mail engagement. The move finally brings direct mail on par with other electronic mediums like TV, radio, internet, press, etc. Of course, this is slated to boost the confidence of clients in direct mail as a capable, effective and measurable medium, as well as increase the revenues of direct mail companies across the UK.
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How JICMail works
JICMail is the brainchild of the Joint Industry Committee (JIC) for mail. The committee is an industry think tank, comprising of senior members from big-ticket players like Royal Mail, Whistl, DMA, etc.
Basically, the initiative will capture data pertaining to the readership, audience reach and exposure frequency for each and every direct mailer that makes it to UK households through the letterbox. The measurement tool plans to track each piece of mail that reaches consumers across the UK. A thousand households across the country will be tracked every quarter. The consumer research will be carried out in partnership with Kantar TNS. Of course, all of this will need to comply with GDPR – the new European regulations for the protection of consumer’s personal data. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into effect from 25th May 2018.
JICMail was road tested for six months before its official launch in 2017. The research conducted during this period offered some interesting insights to marketers across the country. The research found that 65% of all direct mail that has been properly addressed is opened.
Data captured and measured from surveyed households revealed that each item is passed around 1.2 times and read by the members of the household 4.2 times. However, unaddressed door drops do not share the same statistics. The hit rate is only 10% with each piece reread up to 3 times, depending upon the quality of the communication and its engagement potential.
Talk to the experts at bakergoodchild for effective direct mail solutions
If your business wants to undertake direct mail campaigns, call 0800 612 1972 or email us to get in touch with our highly experienced team of print, mail and customer engagement experts. Our direct mail and print services are second to none. We print across a number of mediums like lithographic, web, B1, B2, etc.
Our team is always focused on delivering excellence for clients like yourself and can create engaging, high-quality print solutions that will engage your audiences. We are able to deliver 500,000 personalised items each day across envelopes, postcards, printed polythene, etc.
Similarly, we are able to do 500,000 enclosures per day and can deliver 100% accuracy through the use of 2D barcode matching technology. Call us now and talk to our advisors before you plan your next direct mail campaign.
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