What does a UK consumer marketing file actually look like?
Buyers new to consumer data often arrive with vague expectations: "a list of UK adults." The reality is more structured and more useful than that. A properly compiled consumer file is a multi-field database built around individual records, each one tied to a consent event. The SortedIQ UK consumer file holds over 10 million adult records, all UK-based, and the breadth of data attached to each contact is what makes targeted selection possible.
At its core, the file is a postal file. Every record includes a full Royal Mail-deliverable address, which means it can be used for direct mail regardless of whether electronic channels are also consented. Email and telephone numbers are present on a significant proportion of records but are not guaranteed on every row. The channel preference flag on each record tells you which marketing channels the individual agreed to at point of opt-in. Sending an email to someone who only consented to postal contact is a PECR violation, so the flag is not advisory; it is a compliance instruction.
Record counts matter less than record quality. A file of 10 million consented, recently refreshed contacts with correctly suppressed channels is worth far more than a file of 30 million records of uncertain provenance.
What fields are available? A full breakdown by category
The table below covers the main field categories available on the UK consumer file. Not every field is populated on every record; coverage varies by source and how recently the individual was surveyed.
| Category | Fields typically available | Typical use in targeting |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | Full name (title, first name, surname), age band (e.g. 35-44), gender | Personalised creative, salutation, demographic filters |
| Postal address | House number/name, street, town, county, full Royal Mail postcode | Direct mail, postcode-district or regional selection |
| Electronic channels | Email address, telephone number (where separately consented) | Email campaigns, outbound telephone, multi-channel sequences |
| Property | Tenure (owner-occupier / renting), property type (detached, semi, flat), estimated value band | Mortgage products, home improvement, insurance targeting |
| Household | Number of adults in household, presence of children (age band), estimated household income band | Family product campaigns, luxury vs. value segmentation |
| Financial profile | Credit behaviour indicators, savings propensity, estimated disposable income band | Financial services acquisition, credit card, loans |
| Hobbies and interests | Declared interests from lifestyle questionnaires (e.g. gardening, travel, sport, cooking, technology) | Affinity targeting, catalogue, subscription products |
| Channel preference | Flag per record indicating consented contact channels (post, email, telephone) | Compliance gating before campaign dispatch |
Financial profile data and property data come from modelled or self-reported sources, not from credit bureau records. They indicate propensity bands, not credit scores. If your campaign requires hard credit data, that requires a separate regulated process with a credit reference agency.
How is the opt-in sourced? Understanding the consent chain
The lawful basis for consumer marketing data is consent under Article 6(1)(a) of UK GDPR, combined with PECR consent for any electronic channel. That phrase appears in a lot of data supplier documentation, but the important question is what it means in practice for an individual record.
Consumer records on the SortedIQ file originate from three main source types:
- Consumer surveys: individuals complete a survey and, at the point of submission, consent to receive marketing from third-party brands.
- Prize-draw entries: competitions where entry requires completing a form with a clearly worded opt-in to third-party contact.
- Lifestyle questionnaires: detailed self-reported preference forms covering interests, household composition, and purchasing intentions, completed with explicit consent to marketing contact.
Each source must meet the standard set by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for valid consent: freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous. A pre-ticked box does not meet that standard. A statement buried in terms and conditions does not meet it either. Every record entering the file requires a clear affirmative action from the individual.
The consent record (which channel, which date, which source) is retained by the data owner and is available to buyers on request. This matters because the ICO can ask a data buyer to demonstrate the lawful basis for any contact. See our article on PECR rules for marketers in the UK for the full picture on electronic channel obligations.
How long does consent remain valid?
The ICO does not set a fixed expiry date for consent, but its guidance suggests that consent should be refreshed if "a significant time has passed" since it was given. In practice, 12-18 months is the industry norm before a re-consent touchpoint is needed. SortedIQ's file excludes records where the consent date falls outside the accepted refresh window, so buyers receive only current, in-window consents. Aged consent is suppressed rather than kept on file and risked.
How does the file decay, and what suppression applies at point of supply?
Consumer data decays faster than B2B data. Roughly 10-15% of records become incorrect in any given year through house moves, deaths, and email address changes. A file that sits unused for two years may have 20-30% unreachable or incorrect contacts before any suppression is applied.
For postal campaigns, all records are cleaned against the MPS (Mail Preference Service) before supply. MPS-registered individuals have formally requested they receive no unsolicited postal marketing; contacting them wastes budget and creates complaint risk. Telephone records are washed against the TPS (Telephone Preference Service) and, for corporate contacts, the Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS). Failing to run a TPS wash before a telemarketing campaign is a direct breach of PECR and has resulted in Information Commissioner's Office enforcement action against UK businesses.
Email address validity is tested using real-time verification at point of extract. Records with addresses that bounce or flag as high-risk are excluded from email-channel counts. In our experience, this verification step typically reduces the raw email count by 8-12%, but it keeps deliverability rates on dispatched campaigns in the 95%+ range rather than the 70-80% range common on unverified lists.
B2C consumer data vs. B2B data: what actually differs
The distinction matters for compliance and for campaign planning. The table below compares the two file types across the dimensions that affect how you use them.
| Dimension | B2C consumer file | B2B file |
|---|---|---|
| Lawful basis | Consent, Article 6(1)(a) UK GDPR + PECR consent | Legitimate interests, Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR |
| Source | Surveys, prize draws, lifestyle questionnaires with explicit opt-in | Companies House, corporate websites, public directories, public job listings |
| Buyer obligation at opt-in level | Must honour channel preferences; consent is already in place | Must complete a Legitimate Interests Assessment (LIA) before use |
| Suppression required | MPS (postal), TPS (telephone), channel preference flag | TPS (telephone), CTPS (corporate telephone), opt-out requests |
| Typical fields | Name, address, age, household, property, interests, financial band | Name, job title, company, business email, direct-dial, LinkedIn URL |
| Typical campaign channels | Direct mail, email (where consented), outbound telephone (where consented) | Cold email, direct-dial telemarketing, direct mail, LinkedIn outreach |
| Record count (SortedIQ file) | 10 million-plus UK adult records | Millions of UK business contacts across all sectors and sizes |
The lawful basis difference is not administrative: it shapes every downstream compliance decision. A buyer using consumer data does not need to run a Legitimate Interests Assessment because consent is already the documented basis. A buyer using B2B data does need to run one. Mixing these up, or assuming the same process applies to both, is a compliance error. For a detailed look at how the LIA works for B2B campaigns, see our article on consent vs. legitimate interests for B2B data.
What are the typical use cases for UK consumer data?
Consumer data is used across a wide range of acquisition and retention campaigns. The fields available make it possible to go beyond simple volume targeting and identify genuinely relevant audiences.
Acquisition via direct mail
Direct mail remains one of the highest-performing channels for consumer acquisition in regulated sectors, particularly financial services, insurance, utilities, and subscription goods. A campaign mailing 50,000 owner-occupiers aged 45-64 in the South East, filtered by financial propensity band, will outperform a broadcast mailing to 500,000 unfiltered addresses on almost every measure: response rate, cost per acquisition, and lifetime value of acquired customers.
Lifestyle and interest-based targeting
The declared interest fields on the consumer file open up affinity targeting that is not possible with purely demographic data. A garden furniture retailer targeting declared gardening enthusiasts will see conversion rates several times higher than the same mailer sent to age-matched adults with no interest filter applied. The same logic applies to travel brands (targeting declared travel enthusiasts), health supplement companies (targeting fitness and wellbeing interest codes), and technology retailers.
Household and family product campaigns
Household composition data (number of adults, presence and age of children) is particularly useful for brands whose product fit changes with family structure. A children's clothing brand wants households with children aged 0-10. A premium savings product wants households with two adults and no children under 16, combined with a higher estimated income band. Both selections are possible from the consumer file without buying the full dataset.
Financial services acquisition
Financial profile bands on the consumer file are among the most-used selection criteria in the file. Mortgage brokers, credit card issuers, and savings providers all use combinations of tenure (owner-occupier vs. renting), estimated income band, and credit behaviour indicators to build prospect pools before applying their own affordability modelling. The data does not replace regulated affordability checks, but it improves the quality of the prospect pool entering those checks.
One important boundary: if you are marketing regulated financial products, your marketing must comply with Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules as well as UK GDPR. Holding GDPR-compliant data does not remove your FCA obligations.
Multi-channel acquisition sequences
Where records carry both postal address and consented email or telephone, it is possible to build a sequenced multi-channel campaign. A common pattern is: postal mailer as the cold introduction, email follow-up 10-14 days later to non-responders, telephone for those who opened but did not convert. The channel preference flag on each record governs which steps apply per individual. Do not add someone to an email sequence if their flag shows postal-only consent.
What buyers should check before purchasing consumer data
Not all consumer data suppliers operate to the same standard. Before committing to a purchase, ask your supplier for answers to four specific questions:
- What is the consent source for each record? The supplier should be able to name the source type (survey, competition, questionnaire) and confirm that records are tagged with their origin.
- What is the most recent consent date on the file? Opt-in dates older than 18-24 months warrant scrutiny; the ICO expects consent to be current.
- Has MPS and TPS suppression been applied? Both should be applied at point of extract, not left to the buyer to run post-delivery.
- What is the email verification status? If you are buying an email-channel count, ask whether addresses have been verified and what the estimated deliverability rate is on the supplied file.
A supplier who cannot answer these questions clearly is not operating to ICO standards. The accountability principle under UK GDPR (Article 5(2)) means data buyers share responsibility for ensuring they are using lawfully compiled data. Buying cheap, unverified consumer lists does not transfer compliance risk to the seller; the Information Commissioner's Office has issued enforcement notices to the end-user businesses running the campaigns, not just the list suppliers.