How to plan a door drop campaign that works

Most door drops that disappoint fail for the same handful of reasons. The good news is that each one is easy to fix at the planning stage. This guide walks through the decisions that matter, in the order we make them with clients.

1. Start with one goal

Decide what a good result looks like before anything else: enquiries, store visits, bookings or online sales. The goal sets the offer, the call to action and how you will measure it.

2. Choose the right homes

Targeting is the biggest lever on cost and response. Start with where your existing customers live, then look for postcode sectors with the same kinds of households. We rank every sector against your customers using Mosaic, Acorn and Census data, so you can start with the strongest areas. See data profiling.

3. Pick the delivery method

Royal Mail Door to Door reaches every address in the sectors you choose, including flats, with the daily post. Our GPS tracked teams deliver in all major towns and cities and suit streets of houses around a store or site. You do not have to use both, though some campaigns do. Compare them in Royal Mail vs teams.

4. Get the timing right

Land the leaflet in the days before you want people to act: an opening, a sale, a booking deadline. Allow around three weeks for Royal Mail bookings, and plan around school holidays and Christmas, when slots fill up early.

5. Design for a quick glance

People decide in seconds whether to keep a leaflet. Use one strong headline, a clear image and the offer where the eye lands first. Our eye tracking guide shows where people actually look.

6. Make responding easy

A QR code, a short web address and a phone number close to the offer. A unique offer code tells you exactly how many responses came from the drop.

7. Decide how you will measure it

The most reliable method is a control group: matched areas that do not get the leaflet. Comparing sales between the two shows the real uplift. See measuring door drop results.

8. Plan the next drop

Many campaigns build response over several drops. Use what you learn from the first one to refine areas, offer and timing for the next.

Want help planning yours? Talk to our team or read more about door drop marketing.