DISCOVER OUR NEW GEO PLANNING CAPABILITY 

Perhaps the greatest advantage of direct mail is its ability to place a message directly into the hands of its intended audience. Long before digital marketers started talking about geo-targeting, direct mail was delivering highly relevant messages to specific streets, neighbourhoods and communities across the UK. Now, thanks to a new geo-planning capability available through PSE, that targeting has become even smarter. 

We’ve partnered with geo-data specialists ShoWhere and JICMAIL to access an advanced postcode sector planning and measurement platform that gives us an incredibly detailed view of how people engage with mail across more than 9,000 UK postcode sectors. It helps us identify even more precisely where direct mail is likely to work hardest. 

And, in a world where $27bn of media spend is wasted because messages reach the wrong people (Association of National Advertisers 2025), that’s good news for anyone looking to improve their campaign performance. Clearly, the better you can identify receptive audiences, the stronger your results will be. 

Using detailed demographic modelling and census data, this new tool helps us understand how households in different postcode sectors interact with mail. Not just whether they receive it, but how they engage with it. That means we can help clients make more informed decisions about where to focus their campaigns, whether the objective is customer acquisition, engagement, brand awareness or driving sales. 

YES, BUT WHAT CAN IT DO FOR YOU? 

Using advanced geo planning, it allows us to: 

  • Identify postcode sectors where people are particularly receptive to direct mail 
  • Optimise campaign targeting around specific objectives such as conversions or engagement 
  • Compare the performance of different mail formats, including direct mail, door drops, partially addressed mail and business mail 
  • Assess likely campaign reach, frequency, attention and effectiveness 
  • Visualise target areas around customer locations, branch networks or retail outlets 
  • Analyse opportunities around competitor locations 

In other words, it’s not just about where to send mail, it’s about where to send your mail where it is most likely to make the biggest impact. 

Stylized map of the United Kingdom and Ireland with colorful location pins on a dark landmass against a pastel gradient background.

SOME FASCINATING INSIGHTS 

With hundreds of thousands of data points available, the platform reveals some interesting patterns across the UK. For example, households in the Oxford postcode sector OX1 3 are predicted to spend an average of more than three minutes interacting with a piece of direct mail over a 28-day period. 

Meanwhile, businesses in Birmingham’s B4 7 postcode sector display exceptionally high levels of Business Mail engagement, with virtually every item receiving some form of interaction rather than heading straight for the recycling bin. Residents in parts of Glasgow and Nottingham tend to hold onto Door Drops for nearly a week before discarding them, while some areas of Doncaster show particularly strong purchase rates driven by Direct Mail. 

The point isn’t that everyone should suddenly start mailing Oxford, Birmingham and Doncaster. It’s that engagement varies significantly by location and the media used and now we have a much clearer picture of where those opportunities exist. 

JUST ONE MORE REASON MAIL KEEPS DELIVERING 

Digital advertising often promises pinpoint targeting, yet many businesses still struggle with wasted impressions and accidental clicks. Direct mail, on the other hand, may not be as immediate but it offers something different – it reaches real households and real businesses in real places. 

This new geo-planning capability strengthens that by helping PSE target campaigns with even greater precision and confidence. The result is smarter planning, more efficient budgets and potentially stronger returns from every campaign. 

READY TO EXPLORE A GEO-TARGETED CAMPAIGN? 

If you’d like to see what geo-planning could do for your next campaign, whether you’re looking to acquire new customers, drive footfall or target specific business sectors, we’d love to help. Just get in touch with our knowledgeable team who will be delighted to show you how to put your next campaign on the map. 

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Gemma Hussey
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