Mail: The Super Touchpoint

At Callimedia, we excel in Direct Mail. With nearly 30 years of experience as print managers, we use our expertise to provide cost-effective mailing solutions that maximise your marketing budget.

Maximising the Impact of Mail Marketing

As print experts, we constantly explore ways to enhance our clients’ effectiveness in mail marketing. A recent paper from JICMAIL highlights that mail has evolved into a “Super Touchpoint.” Let’s dive deeper into what that means.

What Are Super Touchpoints and Why Do They Matter?

JICMAIL defines a Super Touchpoint as a channel that allows marketers to combine audience-first planning with creative or behavioural insights. This approach leads to highly effective outcomes for both consumers and brands. A Super Touchpoint:

• Creates deeper emotional connections with consumers
• Delivers a stimulating sensory experience that captures attention
• Provides a platform for brand storytelling
• Inspires consumer engagement and conversation

Any channel can become a Super Touchpoint. If it follows best-practice measurement, offers tools for uncovering meaningful customer insights, and drives impact at all stages of the purchase cycle, marketers should consider investing in it to achieve outstanding results.

How Can Marketers Use Mail as a Super Touchpoint?

Mail, as a Super Touchpoint, enables marketers to:

• Gain unique audience insights
• Leverage the power of creativity
• Build emotional connections
• Deliver sensory-driven marketing messages
• Establish trust
• Create synchronised communications
• Target specific audiences or scale up campaigns
• Explore rich targeting opportunities
• Drive full-funnel effects
• Implement best-practice measurement

The Power of Direct Mail in Action

Mail inspires action, captures consumer attention, strengthens relationships and sparks household conversations. The numbers speak for themselves:

• Direct Mail achieves a 96% engagement rate, while Door Drops reach 80%
• On average, a Direct Mail piece is viewed for 108 seconds over a month, while a Door Drop receives 46 seconds of attention. Business Mail averages 150 seconds, and PAM (Partially Addressed Mail) 64 seconds
• Mail generates over five minutes of website usage by prompting digital engagement. Encouraging customers to visit your site through a mail piece is a proven way to boost interaction. We even have a case study showcasing how effective this approach is for targeting new customers. (Link here)

The Growing Impact of Mail on Consumer Behaviour

The latest JICMAIL data reveals a 35% increase in mail-triggered purchases over the past year. This highlights the crucial role mail plays in the customer journey. While vouchers and discounts drive short-term demand, many advertisers are now balancing price promotions with long-term strategies. In retail, mail increasingly influences future demand and helps consumers consider discretionary purchases. As a result, more consumers use mail to plan significant purchases each year.

Why Mail Works: Emotional Connection and Measurable Impact

Mail builds emotional connections. It’s tactile, long-lasting, measurable, and trusted. Big brands see exceptional engagement with:

• 9.4% of mail prompting voucher use (compared to the 3.1% average)
• 7.7% of mail prompting account look-ups (compared to the 5.0% average)

However, mail isn’t just for big brands. Small businesses also benefit from its effectiveness. The impact of Door Drops for local tradespeople has grown significantly, rising from 6.5% in Q4 2022 to 10.7% in Q2 2024. This represents the percentage of mail items driving a commercial action.

Closing the Revenue Gap with Programmatic Mail

The term “programmatic” is often associated with digital display advertising, but it also applies to mail. Programmatic mail uses technology-driven, privacy-first, data-centric strategies to engage customers.

For example, programmatic mail helps recover abandoned online shopping carts. When customers leave a purchase unfinished, an automated mailer can encourage them to complete the transaction. JICMAIL data reveals that, out of an average campaign volume of 77,000 mail items:

• 8,162 items drive website visits
• 31% prompt customers to check their accounts
• Only 13% result in a completed purchase

This 18% gap translates to 1,469 missed purchases. With an average order value of £207 that equates to a potential revenue gap of £304,000 per campaign. Programmatic mail effectively fills this gap, helping businesses recover lost sales and maximise revenue.

Conclusion

Mail remains a powerful marketing tool. It creates emotional connections, enhances engagement, and drives measurable results. Whether you’re a large brand or a small business, investing in Direct Mail as a Super Touchpoint can elevate your marketing strategy and deliver substantial returns.

Source: JICMAIL 2025 Report