Direct Mail: The Numbers
Mailing 1,000 postcards ($1,250) at a 2% response rate and a 33% close rate signs about 6.6 clients, which is roughly $13,200 gross at $2,000 a client. That is the middle row of the table below. The calculator under it lets you swap in your own numbers.
What are typical direct mail rates?
| Pieces sent (cost) | Response rate | Calls | Clients | Revenue per client | Total gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 ($1,250) | 1% (cold lists) | 10 | 3.3 | $2,000 | $6,600 |
| 1,000 ($1,250) | 2% (our working figure for targeted mail) | 20 | 6.6 | $2,000 | $13,200 |
| 1,000 ($1,250) | 4% (high end for prospect lists) | 40 | 13.2 | $2,000 | $26,400 |
Calls = pieces × response rate. Clients = calls × 33%. Total gross = clients × revenue per client.
- Response rate. Cold consumer lists are commonly reported at roughly 0.5% to 1%, and the Association of National Advertisers' 2024 Response Rate Report, as summarized by PIWorld, puts mail to prospect lists at roughly 4% to 5%. Mail to someone with a newly filed case is warm, so we use 2% as a modest working figure. No published benchmark covers targeted criminal-defense mail, so replace it with your own tracked rate as soon as you have one (how to measure it).
- Close rate. We assume about a third of calls (33%) become signed clients. That is an assumption; intake speed and how the call is handled move it most. See what percentage of criminal defense leads become clients.
- Revenue per client. $2,000 is a round working number, not a quote. See what a criminal defense case is worth by charge type.
- Cost. We print and mail a postcard for $1.25 or a letter for $1.75 (1,000 letters cost $1,750). If you print and mail it yourself, the referral is $0.50. See current pricing.
Try your own numbers
| Pieces sent (cost) | Response rate | Calls | Clients | Revenue per client | Total gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 ($1,250) | 2% | 20 | 6.6 | $2,000 | $13,200 |
After the $1,250 of mail, that leaves about $11,950 before your own time on intake and casework. The mail pays for itself once about 0.63 of a client signs.
An illustration from numbers you choose, not a promise or a typical result.
Want the calculator on its own page, with more tables? See the direct mail calculator. For how mail compares with paying for clicks, see PPC vs. direct mail: what does a new client cost?
Results are not necessarily typical. These are illustrations built on assumed rates, not a case study, a promise, or an average outcome. Your own response rate, close rate, and fees set your own numbers.
Want to see exactly what lands in your inbox? Download a sample spreadsheet — same format you'd actually receive, 250 fictional records so nothing here is a real defendant.