Get the facts: Annual door-drop report 2018

In their words:

“Traditional print media provides consumers with a personal experience – something tangible they can interact with, take with them and go back to at their leisure. Its unique nature makes it a robust advertising medium and the figures over the past few years reflect this,” says Rachel Aldighieri, door-drop evangelist and MD of the DMA. “Unlike many other marketing channels, door-drops are GDPR compliant from the off because they do not require any personally identifiable information. We’re already noticing a new wave of interest in the channel from client organisations and we are confident that this will continue.”

Key findings:

– Annual net spend on door-drops by UK businesses is stable at £263m as of 2017, up from £260m in 2013.

– For every 100 unaddressed door-drops, 10 are passed on and shared. Each item is revisited three times.

– On average, 51% of all mail is read immediately – whether addressed or door-drop – and 19% is followed up on later.

– 21% of all addressed mail and door-drop items create commercial actions, for example a purchase, or a visit to a website or physical store.

– In the past 12 months, total weight of door-drop material was reduced by 3,650 tonnes, which speaks to a more environmentally aware industry.

– When compared with last year's findings, there have been reductions in annual volume (-0.5%) and spend (-1.3%). However, this was due partly to the snap UK General Election, which disrupted planning and spend halfway through the year.

Mark Davies, MD at Whistl:

“We’ve waited a long time to see something like this. Door-drop is a channel that has been relatively side-lined – maybe even sent to the gulag of media for the last 10 years.

“But advertisers are waking up after the post-digital hangover and seeing that some of their money has gone to the wrong places – all while the channels they’ve neglected have gotten better at driving response.

“In terms of reach, door-drops are unbeatable. We’re in more homes than any other marketing channel, including the internet. And, in fact, I think what we’re realising is that the ‘sweet spot’ for us is the intersection between ROI and reach.

“We can deliver good performance – if not the best performance – at a compelling cost per acquisition across the country.

“Digital display advertising, by contrast, is usually at the bottom of the pile, both in terms of scale and effectiveness. And yet today, £3bn is spent on digital display and only £2bn on mail and door-drops.

“Watch this space. Door-drops will become the go-to channel for brands that are struggling with their data.”