What's happening to direct mail?

Until recently, substantial growth in direct mail volumes has continued to drive year-on-year growth in total mail volumes in the UK, but most recently letter growth seems to have faltered and the future of mail volumes was one of the main issues raised in Postcomm's recent Strategy Review. In the last few days, Royal Mail has issued three media releases on direct mail, each of which appears to present an encouraging picture but the big picture looks somewhat different.

Building societies’ use of direct mail has increased by 18.8 per cent; the charity sector’s use of direct mail has increased by 9.1 per cent: and the government sector’s use of direct mail has increased by six per cent. Good news? Well, yes - but each of the three media releases reveals in the final paragraph that: "Overall direct mail volumes during October to December 2006 experienced a slight fall with 958.69 million items sent compared with one billion mail pieces during the same period in 2005."

Royal Mail tries to present this as some kind of achievement: "This is a result of companies across all sectors improving their targeting to create even more relevant and personal offers for their customers and prospects."

The hard truth then is that direct mail - so long the powerful engine of growth of overall mail volumes - is no longer rising, but actually falling.