Counterintuitive but true — Gen Z and Millennials are responding to physical leaflet campaigns at higher rates than email. Here's the data behind the shift and what it means for your next campaign.
The stat that surprises every marketer
Ask most marketing professionals which channel performs best with 18–34 year olds and they'll say social media or email without hesitation. But the data from 2024 and into 2025 tells a very different story. Research by Royal Mail MarketReach found that 42% of 18–34 year olds took action after receiving a physical leaflet or direct mail piece — compared to just 19% who acted on a marketing email from a brand they'd previously purchased from. That gap is not a rounding error. It represents a fundamental shift in how younger consumers relate to the channels they encounter every day.
Why email has lost the younger generation
For Gen Z and younger Millennials, email inboxes are overwhelmingly associated with obligation — work deadlines, admin, invoices, and spam. A 2024 study by HubSpot found that 67% of 18–29 year olds described their inbox as "overwhelming" or "stressful", and actively avoid it outside of work contexts. Average email open rates for marketing messages in this demographic have fallen to below 14% — and of those who do open, fewer than 2% click through to take action. Email marketing to younger audiences is increasingly a case of shouting into a very crowded, very noisy room.
The novelty effect is real — and it's powerful
Here's something marketers consistently underestimate: for a significant portion of Gen Z, a physical leaflet through the letterbox is a genuinely novel experience. Unlike older demographics who grew up receiving catalogues, flyers, and direct mail as a matter of course, many under-25s have spent their entire consumer lives in a digital environment. A well-designed, tactile piece of print arriving on their doormat doesn't trigger the same dismissal reflex as the 47th marketing email of the week. It triggers curiosity. Neuromarketing research from Canada Post showed that physical mail is processed 21% more easily by the brain than digital media, and generates 70% higher brand recall. For audiences who have been digitally saturated since childhood, print cuts through in a way that screens simply cannot.
Younger consumers value authenticity — and print delivers it
Gen Z in particular is the most marketing-literate generation in history. They've grown up with ad blockers, skip buttons, and an innate suspicion of brands that feel inauthentic or intrusive. Digital advertising — especially retargeted ads that follow them around the internet — is widely perceived as creepy and desperate. Physical mail doesn't feel like that. It feels considered. A brand that invests in a beautifully designed leaflet and delivers it to your door is, in the eyes of younger consumers, making an effort. That effort signals credibility. In a 2023 survey by Accenture, 76% of Gen Z respondents said they were more likely to trust a brand that communicated through multiple channels — including physical mail — than one that was exclusively digital.
QR codes bridge the gap perfectly
The reason leaflet campaigns are performing so strongly with younger demographics right now is partly due to the QR code renaissance. Younger consumers are completely comfortable scanning a QR code with their phone — they do it at restaurants, events, and transport hubs dozens of times a week. A leaflet with a QR code linking to an exclusive offer, a short video, or a personalised landing page delivers exactly what this audience wants: the tactile novelty of physical mail combined with the instant digital gratification of a smartphone experience. Campaigns using QR codes on leaflets targeting 18–34 year olds are recording scan rates of 18–25% — figures that email click-through rates haven't touched in years. The combination of physical and digital is the sweet spot.
The Instagram generation actually keeps leaflets
One of the most striking findings from recent consumer research is how long younger audiences retain physical mail. A study by the Data & Marketing Association found that 45% of 18–34 year olds keep direct mail for future reference — pinning it to notice boards, leaving it on the kitchen counter, or photographing it for later. This extended dwell time is something no digital channel can replicate. An email is either acted on immediately or archived and forgotten. A beautifully designed leaflet can sit on a coffee table for weeks, reinforcing your brand message every time it's glanced at. Some Leaflet-Delivery.co.uk clients have reported customers referencing leaflets received months earlier when finally making a purchase decision.
What this means for your leaflet campaign strategy
If you've been assuming that leaflet distribution is a channel for reaching older homeowners and that younger audiences require a digital-first approach, this data should prompt a serious rethink. Younger urban renters, students, and young professionals are a highly responsive and underserved leaflet audience. They are not being targeted by most physical mail campaigns — which means the channel is still far less saturated for this demographic than it is for 45–65 year olds. Combined with their strong QR code adoption, their distrust of digital advertising, and their genuine novelty response to physical mail, 18–34 year olds may well be the most valuable audience you're currently ignoring in your leaflet strategy. The brands that recognise this first will have a significant first-mover advantage.