A 2017 study conducted by MediaPost Publicité explored the unique and valuable relationship of interactions with physical mail. While the study was conducted in France, we can still learn and understand a lot about our own habits with direct mail. Here’s what the study revealed.

Daily interactions with mail

In France, direct mail has a high and stable reach to households. 84 percent of survey respondents check their mailbox every day. On average, respondents read 11 pieces of mail a week and among those items, door drops and addressed mail ranked as the highest-read types of mail. Door-drop type flyers and mail were most commonly read immediately after delivery while more complex, longer-form content such as magazines were saved to be read during the weekend.

Effectiveness of direct mail as a mode of communication

Recipients can choose when to open or read through their mail which makes it a non-intrusive method of communicating a message. This is in contrast to items such as website banner ads or public billboards. 77 percent of direct mail readers reported that they appreciated receiving mail. The percentage of French people that placed a “No Advertisements or Flyers” sticker on their post box increased nominally from the year prior, by just 0.3%. But the percentage of ad blocker downloads increased from 16 percent to 36 percent.

Relationship between direct mail and purchasing behaviour

Just because consumers are heavy internet users, it doesn’t mean that print advertising can’t still have an impact on their purchases. In fact, direct mail ends up driving recipients to research items further on the internet and purchase. Apparel-related direct mail and catalogue deliveries resulted in 33 percent of recipients visiting the company’s website. The rate was even higher for supermarkets, in which 39 percent visited a grocer’s site after a direct mail or door drop.