The figures showed sales of direct mail grew 12.9% in the year to Q3 2024 – a return to growth for the channel for the first time in just over two years.

Direct mail’s strong performance put it on course for overall growth of 0.8% in 2024, an upgrade of 3.7 percentage points on October’s AA/WARC report.

Bruce Thomson, founder and managing director of mailing firm Bakergoodchild, told Printweek the direct mail market’s buoyancy seems to have continued into the new year.

“Direct mail just seems to be very strong at the moment,” he said.

While putting part of the rise in spend down to increased mailing costs, Thomson also pointed to businesses’ need to grow their sales following the increase in National Insurance contributions.

“Especially among SMEs and start-ups, it’s become a bit of a ‘secret advantage’, because not so many of their competitors use [direct mail]. We’re seeing more businesses enquiring about it and seeing how they could apply mail through integrated automation.

“Direct mail does well in tough times, when it’s a challenging economy. Enquiries went up after the Budget, because people feel like they have to either grow their sales or reduce their staff – and a lot of people have decided to grow their sales.”

Overall UK ad spend growth is forecast to reach 11.2% for the 2024 financial year, a sign of advertising rightly being viewed as a “revenue generator”, according to Strategic Mailing Partnership (SMP) board member and Royal Mail wholesale director Phil Ricketts.

Lucy Swanston, chair of the SMP, said the data was a clear indication of mail’s continued relevance for marketers.

“As brands increasingly focus on consumer trust and engagement, the tangible, personal nature of mail offers a unique advantage. The industry is evolving, with innovations in data-driven targeting and AI-enhanced personalisation ensuring that direct mail continues to complement digital channels effectively,” she said.

Ricketts added: “The report credits some of the growth of online platforms to new AI technologies and the increased capability to deliver hyper-personalised messages, but these capabilities do not exist online alone. 

“As a tangible medium, trusted by 71% of consumers – it’s good to see advertisers recognising direct mail’s ability to not only balance and reinforce brand messages, but act as a channel to drive consumer attention from the physical mail piece back to digital platforms.”