Every campaign eventually weighs a mail drop against a texting program, usually on cost. The comparison is worth doing, as long as you compare the right things. Price per piece tells you almost nothing; cost per voter actually reached, and what you can do once you reach them, tells you a lot.
The raw numbers
A direct-mail piece runs, all-in with design, print, and postage, somewhere in the range of a dollar or more per household, and that's before you account for the pieces that never get opened. A text costs a small fraction of that per message, even after carrier fees, and it's read at rates mail can't touch. On pure cost-per-voter-reached, texting wins by a wide margin.
But they're not the same job
Mail and text do different work. Mail can carry a full argument, a mail piece has room for a bio, a record, a photo, an endorsement, and it lands with a physical weight a text doesn't have. It also reaches people who never opted in to your texts, which matters for persuasion of voters you don't yet have a relationship with. Texting reaches your consented list, cheaply and instantly, and it's two-way, so it does turnout, fundraising, and conversation that mail can't.
How to actually decide
Don't ask "which is cheaper." Ask "what's the job." For reaching a broad persuasion universe with a full argument, mail earns its cost. For turning out and raising money from a list that's already yours, and for anything time-sensitive, texting wins on both cost and speed. Most serious programs run both, and use each for what it's good at, rather than treating them as substitutes. Budget by job and return, not by unit price.
Frequently asked questions
Is texting cheaper than direct mail?
Per voter reached, yes, by a wide margin. A text costs a small fraction of a mail piece and is read at far higher rates. But cost isn't the only axis; the channels do different jobs.
When is direct mail worth the higher cost?
When you need to reach a broad persuasion universe, including people who never opted in to your texts, with a full argument, a bio, record, photo, or endorsement, that a short text can't carry.
Should I choose one or the other?
Usually neither. Most serious programs run both and use each for its strength, mail for broad persuasion, texting for turnout, fundraising, and anything time-sensitive to a list that's already yours.
Compare by job and return, not unit price. See measuring texting ROI.
Keep reading: Carrier fees and the cost of A2P messaging and building a texting budget.