What If You Could Send Mail to Website Visitors? Now You Can.
It is possible to match anonymous website visitors to physical mailing addresses and it's being done by a growing number of offline retargeting or direct mail automation services. Here's how it works—and what makes it both technically viable and legally sensitive
🔍 How Matching Anonymous Website Visitors to Physical Addresses Works
1. IP Address Capture
When someone visits your website, your site (via JavaScript snippet or tracking pixel) captures their IP address.
- The IP address can often be correlated to a household or business-level location.
- ISPs assign IPs in geographic blocks, and consumer-level IPs can often be narrowed down to within a neighborhood or single home.
2. Data Partner Matching
The real magic happens via third-party data providers who maintain massive databases linking:
- IP addresses
- To household addresses
- Using past behavior, subscription data, public records, cookies, and more
These partners have permission-based databases built from people who’ve opted into offers, rewards programs, online orders, etc., linking digital footprints to physical identity.
3. Match Confidence Scoring
The data provider returns a “match confidence score”. If it’s above a certain threshold (say 95%), the service will:
- Send a triggered direct mail piece (like a postcard or catalog)
- To the matched physical address
- Often within 24–48 hours of the website visit
4. Privacy-Compliant Direct Mail
The mail is sent without the visitor ever filling out a form or explicitly opting in—though companies justify this under the umbrella of "legitimate interest" or pre-existing data relationships, depending on the legal jurisdiction.
✅ Is It Legal?
In the U.S., yes—but with caveats:
- There's no federal privacy law as strict as the EU’s GDPR or California's CCPA.
- However, CCPA requires consumers to be notified and given the chance to opt out if personal data is being sold or shared.
These services often rely on pre-permissioned data sources and use fuzzy match logic. For example, they may say:
“This household was interested in X and visited our site—send them a mailer.”
They don’t always identify exact names — just the address.
⚖️ Pros and Cons
✅ Pros:
- No email or phone number required
- Fast delivery (same week as visit)
- Higher open rates than email (postcards are hard to ignore)
- Great for high-ticket or local offers (e.g., real estate, home services, luxury products)
❌ Cons:
- May feel creepy to consumers
- Can be expensive (often \$0.50–\$1.50 per piece)
- Accuracy isn't perfect (some false positives)
🔒 What You Need to Implement It
- Add a script to your website (like a pixel or JS tag)
- Work with a provider who has a large IP-to-household database
- Define your target audience and creative assets
- Ensure you're following privacy regulations and offer opt-outs
🚀 Use Cases
- Car dealerships: Send brochures to visitors who viewed a vehicle page
- Home improvement: Mail coupons to households that browsed your service page
- E-commerce brands: Retarget cart abandoners with physical offers
- Real estate: Send listings to visitors of property pages