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Unaddressed drops or addressed mail
One costs pennies per household and gets a fraction of a per cent. The other costs pounds per name and gets several per cent. The right answer depends entirely on order value.
Key points
- Addressed mail costs ten times more and returns twenty times the response rate.
- The break-even is decided by order value, not by budget.
- Both are subject to data protection rules that are frequently ignored.
Two formats that look similar and behave completely differently.
The economics side by side
| Unaddressed | Addressed | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per thousand | £40 to £90 | £400 to £900 |
| Typical response | 0.1 to 0.5 % | 1 to 5 % |
| Cost per response | £20 to £60 | £20 to £70 |
| Targeting | by district | by individual |
| Personalisation | none | full |
| Wastage | high | low |
The cost per response is often similar. The difference is in what you can say and to whom.
Unaddressed mail buys coverage of an area. Addressed mail buys a conversation with a person. Which you need depends on whether you know who your customer is.
When unaddressed makes sense
A defined catchment, a consumer offer that applies broadly, a low order value, and no data about who the buyer is.
Typical fits: a new restaurant opening, a seasonal trade offer, a retail opening, a service anyone in the street might need.
When addressed makes sense
A high order value, an identifiable segment, and something specific to say to them.
Typical fits: a heating firm writing to owners of houses of a particular age and type, a supplier writing to named buyers at 200 companies, a professional service writing to a defined group.
The threshold is roughly this: if the order value is above £1,500 and you can identify the households or companies, addressed mail is almost always the better instrument.
Data protection applies to both
Addressed mail requires a lawful basis for processing the names and addresses. In most European jurisdictions legitimate interest can support postal advertising, subject to conditions: the recipient must be informed, there must be an easy route to object, and objections must be honoured permanently.
Buying a list transfers none of that responsibility. You must be able to show where the data came from and that its collection permitted this use.
Unaddressed distribution is subject to different rules: households displaying a refusal notice must be respected, and some jurisdictions restrict distribution further.
The suppression list is not optional
Every objection must be recorded and applied to every future mailing, including those run by an agency on your behalf. A repeated mailing to someone who objected is the most common complaint in this channel and is straightforward to prove.
Physical mail's current advantage
Postal volumes have fallen sharply, which means a well-produced letter now arrives in a nearly empty letterbox rather than competing with twenty others.
That is a real and temporary advantage. Response rates for good addressed mail have held up better than most predictions, largely for this reason.
Frequently asked questions
Which should a local trade business use?
Unaddressed for general awareness in a district, addressed for a specific high-value offer to a known segment.
Is addressed mail lawful without consent?
Postal advertising to businesses is generally permissible; to individuals it depends on jurisdiction and requires a lawful basis with a right to object.
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