Print distribution vs direct mail: which should you use?
Print distribution and direct mail both put printed material in front of buyers, but differently. Print distribution, as run by iDO across 150,000 print points, is unaddressed, priced per thousand and needs no customer data. Direct mail posts a named item to a person, costs far more per thousand, and requires a lawful mailing list.
Sugandan Balaji
What is the difference between print distribution and direct mail?
Print distribution is an unaddressed media service that places leaflets, brochures and posters into homes, shops, venues and brochure racks inside a chosen area. Direct mail is an addressed postal service that delivers a named item to a specific person or household. Print distribution buys geography. Direct mail buys a name.
iDO, the trading name of Info Display OOH Ltd, distributes more than 5 million brochures every month across 150,000 print points, which makes it the biggest print distribution network in the UK. A print distribution campaign is therefore planned by postcode sector, street, venue type or catchment. A direct mail campaign is planned from a list, either your own customer records or a rented one. Neither service replaces the other, because they answer different questions: reach and relevance.
Which costs less per thousand, print distribution or direct mail?
Print distribution costs less per thousand than direct mail, normally by a wide margin. Print distribution carries the cost of the print plus the walk, the hand to hand shift or the racking cycle. Direct mail carries the print, plus the data, plus enclosing, plus postage on every single item, and postage is charged per item however small the mailing is.
Within print distribution the price moves with method and exclusivity. Solus delivery, where your leaflet travels alone, costs more than shared delivery with two or three others. Weight matters to both services, so a DL or A5 leaflet on 130gsm to 170gsm keeps costs sensible, while a heavy folded brochure pushes them up. The real difference is what a wasted item costs you: in print distribution a wrong household costs pennies, in direct mail you have paid full postage for it.
How precisely can print distribution and direct mail target?
Direct mail targets individuals, print distribution targets places. Direct mail can select one named customer who booked last season. Print distribution can select every letterbox in W8 6, or every cafe, shop and community noticeboard in one town, which is often the more useful cut for a local attraction, museum, theatre or event.
| Factor | Print distribution | Direct mail |
|---|---|---|
| Unit of targeting | Postcode sector, street, venue, rack | Named person or household |
| Cost per thousand | Low, no postage | High, postage on every item |
| Data needed | None | A lawful, current mailing list |
| Speed to launch | Days, teams are local | Longer, data and enclosing first |
| Best at | Coverage, footfall, awareness | Renewals, lapsed customers, high value offers |
What data and GDPR rules apply to each one?
Unaddressed print distribution uses no personal data, so UK GDPR obligations to recipients do not arise: there is no list to hold, no suppression file to run and no privacy notice to serve. That is the main practical reason print distribution can launch in days.
Direct mail does process personal data. Under UK GDPR you need a lawful basis, usually legitimate interests for postal marketing, a privacy notice, and a clear way for people to object. Addresses must be accurate and kept no longer than needed, and consumer lists should be screened against the Mailing Preference Service. Rented lists need a contract that proves where the data came from. None of this makes direct mail wrong, it simply means direct mail carries a compliance job that print distribution does not.
When does each one win, and can you run both?
Print distribution wins when you need coverage of an area fast, when you have no customer data, or when the decision is local and discretionary. Direct mail wins when you already know the person, the value per response is high, and personalisation changes the answer, as with renewals and lapsed bookers.
Running both is often the strongest option. For Royal Albert Hall Christmas bookers, iDO delivered 6,600 addresses of solus door to door distribution across SW7 1 to SW7 5 alongside 300 first class direct mail pieces, starting within two days of the tier two announcement. For Design Museum membership, solus door to door in W8 6 was combined with an ultra local blanket of Kensington High Street, Earls Court Road and Notting Hill Gate, and membership applications spiked.
- No customer data yet: start with print distribution
- Known past customers, high ticket value: use direct mail
- Tight deadline across a whole town: print distribution
- Both: mail the known names, cover the catchment around them
Frequently asked
- Is print distribution the same as unaddressed mail?
- They overlap. Unaddressed mail usually means an item posted without a name through a postal operator. Print distribution as iDO runs it is broader, covering door to door leaflets, hand to hand distribution, poster display and brochure racking across 150,000 print points.
- Can you prove print distribution was delivered?
- Yes. iDO has invested over 250,000 pounds in a reporting system that GPS tracks distribution, photographs proof of display, and publishes both to a live dashboard with geo located maps. Direct mail proves posting rather than display.
- Which is faster to get live, print distribution or direct mail?
- Print distribution, normally. iDO runs 60+ distribution centres with teams local to their own areas, so a campaign can start in days. Direct mail needs the data selected, cleaned, suppressed and enclosed before anything is posted.