Direct Mail Enters Mainstream Media Planning via New Adwanted Connected Tool
A new tool from Royal Mail Marketreach, JICMAIL and Adwanted lets planners buy direct mail and door-drops alongside regional OOH, radio and cinema for the first time — reframing mail as a measurable, geo-targeted channel.
What's changed
Adwanted Connected — built with Royal Mail Marketreach, JICMAIL and Adwanted UK — now lets mail and door-drops be planned alongside regional out-of-home, radio and cinema, down to postcode-sector level. It is billed as the UK's largest single-source media data tool, covering household numbers, average attention, engagement, CPMs and cost per commercial action.
JICMAIL's Ian Gibbs called mail "the original geo-targeted marketing channel… in a privacy-compliant way." Recent JICMAIL data shows mail driving record digital engagement, with year-on-year rises in website visits, account look-ups, searches and app downloads.
Why this is more than a tooling update
For years, direct mail sat in its own silo, planned and measured apart from the rest of the media mix — which made it easy to overlook. Folding it into a single-source planning tool changes its status: it becomes a like-for-like line item that can be compared with regional OOH or audio on attention and cost.
Our read: the timing is no accident. As signal loss and privacy rules erode digital targeting, a channel that is inherently geo-targeted, addressable and privacy-compliant looks a lot more attractive than it did five years ago. Mail's "boring" reliability is suddenly a feature.
What planners should do
First, actually put mail in the comparison. If your planning tool can now weigh door-drops against regional radio on attention and cost per action, run that test rather than defaulting to digital. Second, exploit the geo precision: postcode-sector targeting pairs well with local retail, catchment-based and re-engagement campaigns.
Third, use mail as a bridge to digital outcomes. The JICMAIL engagement data — searches, visits and app downloads triggered by physical mail — suggests its real value is often as an offline prompt for online action. Measure it that way, not just as a standalone response channel.
Quick FAQ
What is Adwanted Connected?
A single-source planning tool from Royal Mail Marketreach, JICMAIL and Adwanted UK that lets direct mail and door-drops be planned alongside regional OOH, radio and cinema.
Why is direct mail getting attention now?
As privacy rules and signal loss erode digital targeting, mail's inherently geo-targeted, addressable and privacy-compliant nature has become more valuable.
How should brands use it?
Compare mail like-for-like on attention and cost per action, exploit postcode-sector targeting for local campaigns, and measure the digital actions it prompts.
Direct mail spent years stuck in its own silo, which is exactly why planners undervalued it. Put it in the same tool as OOH and radio and it stops being an afterthought and starts being a genuine, privacy-compliant, geo-targeted option. In a signal-loss world, that's better timing than it looks. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Mail is no longer a silo — with single-source planning it becomes a comparable, privacy-safe, geo-targeted line item worth testing against digital.
When did you last pressure-test direct mail against your digital channels on attention and cost per action?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: DecisionMarketing, The Media Leader, RoastBrief.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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