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Do leaflets get a better response rate than email?

How print response rates compare with email for local businesses. What industry data says about flyers, leaflets, and inbox campaigns.

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flyerfly team
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Do leaflets get a better response rate than email?

Email is cheap to send. A leaflet drop costs more per household. So owners often ask whether print is worth it, or whether email alone is enough for local marketing.

Industry data suggests print still gets a higher response rate than email in many campaigns. Your own results will depend on your area, offer, and how well you target the drop. Still, the gap is large enough that local businesses should understand it before they cut print from the budget.

What the industry data shows

Gitnux's Print Marketing Statistics report (O'Brien, 2026) compiles figures from marketing bodies, postal services, and research firms. Two numbers stand out for owners comparing channels:

  • The average direct mail response rate is about 4.4%.
  • Direct mail response is cited at about 9%, compared with about 1% for email.

Those are national and cross-industry figures. They are not a promise for your next 500-leaflet run in one estate. They do show that print often gets more action per piece than a typical email blast.

Why print can outperform email locally

You choose the household. A leaflet drop to 2,000 homes near your shop reaches people who never joined your mailing list. Email only reaches addresses you already have.

Print sits in the home longer. People skim email in seconds. A leaflet on a kitchen counter may be seen several times before it is recycled.

Less competition in the letterbox. Inboxes are crowded. A well-designed A5 leaflet with one clear offer can stand out on its own.

Recall is higher. The same Gitnux report notes that print has about 70% higher recall than digital in comparison studies. Someone may not call the day the leaflet arrives, but they may remember your name when they need the service.

Where email still wins

Email is hard to beat on cost per send. It suits:

  • Customers who already bought from you
  • Appointment reminders and follow-ups
  • Seasonal offers to an opted-in list

If your whole marketing plan is "email everyone on the list twice a month," you are mostly talking to people who already know you. Print reaches the streets around your business where those customers live.

How to compare print and email fairly

Run both with numbers you can log:

Channel What to record
Leaflet batch Quantity, area, cost, tagged calls, jobs booked
Email campaign List size, send date, clicks, replies, jobs booked

Divide cost by responses for each. Compare cost per enquiry, not just open rates.

A 4.4% response on 2,000 leaflets is 88 actions. A 1% response on 2,000 emails is 20. Your list quality and subject line will move those numbers, but the maths explains why owners still print locally.

What to do next

Pick one postcode or neighbourhood. Print one offer with your phone number and a unique promo code. Send a separate email to your existing list with a different code. After two weeks, compare which channel brought more booked jobs per euro or pound spent. flyerfly can help you run and log that leaflet batch alongside your email results.

See how to measure the results of print marketing for batch logging detail.

Source

Kevin O'Brien. (2026, February 13). Print Marketing Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/print-marketing-statistics

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FAQ

Industry data compiled by Gitnux (2026) puts the average direct mail response rate at about 4.4%. Your own leaflet run may be higher or lower depending on area, offer, and list quality.

The same Gitnux report cites a 9% response rate for direct mail compared with about 1% for email. Local results still depend on your list, subject line, and offer.

No. Email is cheap to send and works well for people who already know you. Print is better for reaching nearby households who have not signed up to hear from you.

Divide responses (calls, walk-ins, offer code uses) by leaflets delivered or households reached. Log each batch in a spreadsheet so you can compare runs.

Yes. Many businesses use print for local reach and email for existing customers. Use different offer codes or batch names so you can see which channel brought the enquiry.

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