Spending more time at home during lockdown has resulted in a huge upswing in the amount of engagement customers are giving to physical mail, according to new Royal Mail research. What many of us used to consider junk mail is now a welcome diversion and what’s more we’re taking advertisers up on their offer.
Whilst many marketplace sellers stay purely online with perhaps some email marketing, social media and paid search campaigns, now might be the time to consider sending some good old fashioned snail mail to your registered users or even a more widespread mail drop, the chances are higher than normal that they’ll welcome a bit of additional junk mail.
Royal Mail say that consumers engaged with 96% of all mail during lockdown. In fact, 88% of people said they paid as much or more attention to mail during lockdown. And they interacted with each item of mail an average of 4.5 times.
There was also a 70% year on year increase in the number of people going online as a result of something they read in a mailing2. The growing appeal impacted all age groups, with growing levels of engagement among the young. Just under one in four (24%) of those that did engage with mail more in lockdown were in the 18-34-year-old bracket.
The move comes as local businesses place growing importance on keeping in touch with customers during lockdown. With a large percentage of the population currently spending a lot of time at home, and with this trend set to continue, the impact of mail is predicted to be greater than ever.
The authority and trustworthiness of mail has also been recognised by Government – sending key communications via letter during the pandemic. Royal Mail was entrusted with delivering the letter from the Prime Minister to every household in the UK at the start of the coronavirus lockdown.
“It has never been a more important time for brands to strengthen their relationships and build connections with their customers. The pandemic has meant that home has become and will remain an important and safe place for people creating the ideal environment for them to engage with direct mail more deeply than ever. Now is the perfect time for brands to deepen their customer relationships and drive revenue through mail.”
– Amanda Griffiths, Head of Communications Planning, MarketReach, Royal Mail
