Partially Addressed Mail
Partially addressed mail reaches the households most like your customers, without buying names. More targeted than a door drop, lower cost than direct mail.
Plan a PAM campaign
Plan a PAM campaign
What partially addressed mail is
Partially addressed mail, often shortened to PAM, is a Royal Mail service that sits between a door drop and direct mail. Each item carries a full postal address but no name, so it reads “To the occupier” or a line you choose, such as “To the garden lover”. It arrives with the daily post like any other addressed letter.
The difference is how the addresses are chosen. Instead of every home in an area, PAM goes only to postcodes that look like your existing customers. A postcode is a small group of around 15 neighbouring homes, so the targeting is far tighter than a whole postcode sector, and you never need to buy or hold anyone’s personal data to do it.
How PAM targeting works
- Top upWe find the postcodes where your customers already cluster and mail the neighbours who are not yet customers. People on the same street tend to live similar lives and buy similar things.
- Look alikeWe profile your customers with tools such as Mosaic, then find postcodes across the UK with the same make up, even in places you have never traded.
- Customer suppressionYour existing customers are removed before anything is printed, so you only pay to reach people you have not already won.
- No personal dataTargeting works at postcode level and items are not addressed to a named person, so there is no prospect list to buy or store.
Why PAM performs
Because it is addressed, PAM is treated more like a letter than a leaflet. JICMAIL’s Q1 2026 results show partially addressed mail is picked up an average of 4.8 times while it is in the home, more than any other mail type, and gets 94 seconds of attention per item against 57 seconds for a door drop. It stays in the home for 6.7 days on average.
JICMAIL’s Response Rate Tracker puts the average response at 0.7% and the average return at £2.30 for every £1 spent (2023 to 2025 averages). Results vary a lot with the offer and the targeting, which is why we build a measurement plan in from the start.
Is PAM right for you?
| Good fit | Think again | |
|---|---|---|
| Customer data | You have customer postcodes we can profile | You have no customer data at all, so a door drop may suit better |
| Volume | 10,000 items or more per mailing | A few thousand homes around one shop |
| Area | Customers spread across a region or the whole UK | Everyone lives within a mile of you |
| Message | An offer that works best feeling personal | A simple announcement for every household |
Royal Mail sets a minimum of 10,000 items per PAM posting. For smaller or very local campaigns, a door drop is usually the better value, and for your own customers, direct mail.
Partially addressed mail FAQs
What is partially addressed mail?
It is addressed advertising mail sent to selected households without a name, for example “To the occupier”. Addresses are chosen at postcode level to match the profile of your existing customers.
How is PAM different from a door drop?
A door drop goes to every home in the areas you choose. PAM only goes to postcodes that look like your customers, carries a printed address and arrives with the addressed post, which tends to earn more attention.
Do I need a mailing list for PAM?
No. You need customer postcodes so we can profile them and remove existing customers, but you do not need to buy names or addresses of prospects.
What is the minimum order for partially addressed mail?
Royal Mail requires at least 10,000 items per posting, so PAM suits campaigns with regional or national reach.
Is partially addressed mail GDPR friendly?
PAM is designed so that no personal data about the people receiving it is used for addressing. Your own customer file is only used to profile and suppress, and we handle it securely.
What formats can I send as PAM?
Letters, large letters and postcards are all possible. Format and weight affect the postage price, so we will help you choose one that keeps costs down.
Plan a partially addressed campaign
Send us a sample of your customer postcodes and we will show you how many look alike households there are and what a PAM campaign would cost.
Get in touch
Looking for more information? Simply get in touch with one of our friendly office staff who are always on hand to help.
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