What response rate does a door drop get?
A door drop measured by Carto reaches a 4.1% response rate. That is the real number from a campaign in Poblenou, Barcelona: 5,000 flyers in mailboxes and 206 responses counted through QR and a short link. Without measurement, the industry can only give you a rule of thumb: 1% to 2%.
The starting point: the industry rule of thumb
Without GPS or a QR code, nobody can count how many people responded to a door drop. That is why the industry usually talks about 1% to 2% for traditional door drops without measurement. It is a rule of thumb, not a real measurement.
Carto does not settle for that rule of thumb. Every campaign is measured with GPS, photo proof of each route, and a QR code or short link on the flyer, so you see the real number, not a guess.
The measured rate: 4.1% on a real door drop
In Poblenou, Barcelona, a fitness centre distributed 5,000 flyers into neighbourhood mailboxes. Carto verified every route with GPS and photo proof, and measured the responses through a QR code and a short link: a 4.1% response rate.
The responses did not arrive all at once. They kept coming in for 9 weeks after the distribution. That matters for reading a door drop correctly: the response does not close on day one, it keeps growing week by week.
You can see this full case, with more detail by zone and hour, at /case-studies.
Hand to hand: a different rate, do not confuse it with a door drop
A door drop lands in an empty mailbox. Hand-to-hand distribution is handed from one person to another, face to face, usually on a busy street or at an event. They are different channels, and their rates do not compare directly.
At the Molan Los 90 festival, in Cadiz, 6,000 flyers were handed out in 4 days: a 4.8% response rate, 289 measured responses, and the client reported 361 tickets sold during those distribution days. At the Big Fun Museum, in Barcelona, 10,000 flyers over 9 days produced a 3.3% response rate, more than 336 responses, and the figure was still rising after the last flyer was handed out.
What the response rate depends on
No response rate is fixed. It goes up or down based on five factors you can control before you distribute a single flyer.
The offer
A clear discount or a specific promotion beats a message that is only about the brand.
Zone density
More mailboxes per block mean more possible responses in the same distribution time.
The flyer design
A clear headline and a visible call to action get read in the first few seconds.
Distribution timing
The day of the week and the hour change how many people are home to receive the flyer.
The fifth factor changes the result the most: if the flyer carries a clear way to respond, such as a QR code or a short link, you can measure the effect of the other four.
How Carto measures the real response
Carto has been live since April 2026 across Spain's 10 largest cities: 3.7 million mailboxes and 9.5 million people. Every route is verified with GPS and photo proof, and every response is measured by zone and hour, with UTM parameters that push into your own analytics.
- GPS and photo proof of every mailbox covered, street by street.
- QR code or short link measured by zone and hour, not just a single total.
- Data pushed to your own analytics with UTM parameters, not locked in Carto's dashboard alone.
The minimum order is 25,000 mailboxes for door drops and 10,000 flyers for hand-to-hand distribution. Those are the volumes at which the response rate by zone and hour is reliable. The calculator at /simulador shows the cost per customer for the rate you expect.
Frequently asked questions about door drop response rates
What response rate does a door drop get?
The industry usually talks about 1% to 2% for door drops without measurement. Carto has measured a 4.1% response rate on a real door drop campaign in Poblenou, Barcelona, using GPS and QR tracking on every flyer.
Why does an unmeasured door drop only give a rough estimate?
Because without a QR code or link on the flyer, nobody counts the actual responses. The 1% to 2% figure is a rule of thumb, not a measurement.
Is the response rate the same for door drops and hand-to-hand distribution?
No, they are different channels. A door drop lands in an empty mailbox. Hand-to-hand distribution is handed from one person to another, face to face. Carto has measured 4.1% on a door drop, in Poblenou, and 4.8% hand-to-hand, in Cadiz. Do not mix the two when comparing campaigns.
What makes the response rate go up or down?
Five factors drive it: the offer on the flyer, the density of the zone, the creative design, the timing of the distribution, and whether the flyer carries a clear way to respond, such as a QR code or a short link.
What is the minimum order to measure the response rate with Carto?
The minimum is 25,000 mailboxes for door drops and 10,000 flyers for hand-to-hand distribution. Those are the volumes with enough data per zone and hour to be reliable. The calculator at /simulador shows the expected cost per customer.
Further reading: case studies measured with GPS and QR · door drop distribution in Barcelona · hand-to-hand flyer distribution in Barcelona
Calculate your response rate and cost per customer
Carto's calculator uses measured data, not an industry rule of thumb, to estimate what each new customer costs you.