Herdify
Herdify is a UK SaaS platform that applies behavioral science models adapted from epidemiology research to detect geographic word-of-mouth clusters from transaction data. It serves charities, agencies, retailers, and consumer brands running offline campaigns such as direct mail and door drops.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersBristol, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Herdify does
Herdify is a UK-based software company that operates a SaaS audience targeting platform designed to identify geographic clusters where word-of-mouth about a brand is actively spreading. The platform ingests customer transaction and CRM data, applies proprietary behavioral science models originally developed to track the spread of viruses, and produces postcode-level targeting lists, hotspot maps, and a proprietary 'Herd Score' used to rank locations by predicted response. Outputs feed offline and addressable-TV channels including direct mail, door drops, out-of-home, radio, TV, face-to-face events, and pop-ups. Herdify serves charities and nonprofits as its primary vertical, alongside marketing agencies, consumer brands, and retailers; named customers include RSPCA, Salvation Army, Kent Surrey Sussex Air Ambulance, Abel & Cole, Who Gives A Crap, Transport for Wales, and other organizations the company states number above 100 in total.
The product surface comprises the Herdify Platform and Herdify Portal, with vertical-specific modules for charities and agencies. The most advanced portal release incorporated Experian Mosaic 8 demographic classification, revenue-focused metrics, and instant refresh capabilities. The platform integrates with door-drop distributor Whistl, Royal Mail, addressable-TV partner Sky Adsmart, and agencies including Join the Dots; stated model capability spans predictive analytics, anomaly detection, and continuous post-campaign optimization on structured transaction data, with the methodology tied to 25 referenced scientific publications. The firm processes only postcode-level records without personal identifiers and operates in line with UK GDPR.
Herdify operates a subscription SaaS model with quote-based pricing on annual billing, supplemented by a freemium account tier, and runs a sales-led go-to-market complemented by channel and agency partners and content-driven demand generation (whitepapers, an email newsletter, and events such as MAD//Fest). The team is small (1–10 employees) and founder-led by Tom Ridges (CEO), with Dr. Ed Barter as co-founder and Chief Product Officer / lead data scientist and Dr. Tim Drye on the board; Ogilvy Vice Chairman Rory Sutherland serves as advisor. The company is registered as Herdify Ltd in England and Wales (Companies House number 13288855), with operational offices in Bristol and London and a registered office in Bracknell, and shows no disclosed institutional funding, indicating bootstrapped operations to date.
Herdify firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Herdify
- Legal name
- Herdify Ltd
- Website
- https://herdify.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Herdify is a UK SaaS platform that applies behavioral science models adapted from epidemiology research to detect geographic word-of-mouth clusters from transaction data. It serves charities, agencies, retailers, and consumer brands running offline campaigns such as direct mail and door drops.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Herdify industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Marketing Technology — Audience Targeting Software
- NAICS
- Direct Mail Advertising (54186), Media Buying Agencies (541830)
- SIC
- Services-Direct Mail Advertising Services (7331), Services-Advertising (7310)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Media Inventory & Yield Management / Ad Operations (Trafficking, Tagging, QA) (BPAFABAO)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Customer Data Platform (CDP) & First-Party Data Enablement Services (MPAAAIAE)
Keywords
Where Herdify is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Bristol
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Herdify business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Subscription Services (SaaS): Herdify operates as a SaaS platform with subscription-based pricing. Customers pay recurring fees for access to the platform and its targeting insights. The Terms of Service reference both Free Services and paid Subscription Services, with pricing described on service pages or in customer orders.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Annual | Free Services available for account creation and basic access |
| Subscription | Annual | Subscription Services with term-based billing |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Herdify product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Herdify is a SaaS audience targeting platform that ingests basic customer transaction data (postcode and date) from a client's CRM or commerce system and applies proprietary behavioral science models — originally developed to track the spread of viruses — to identify geographic "word-of-mouth clusters" where brand advocacy and influence are already spreading. The platform outputs postcode targeting lists, hotspot maps, and predictive Herd Scores that enable marketing teams, agencies, charities, and consumer brands to plan and execute campaigns across direct mail, door drops, out-of-home, radio, TV, events, and pop-ups. A post-campaign analysis loop continuously refines the model, and the GDPR-compliant pipeline requires only non-personal transaction inputs.
Product overview
Herdify offers a single unified SaaS platform — the Herdify Platform — built around a core behavioral science methodology that identifies geographic word-of-mouth clusters where brand advocacy is already spreading. The platform is accessed via the Herdify Portal (portal.herdify.com) and supports two vertical-specific modules: one for charities and one for agencies. The portal received its most advanced update to date incorporating Experian Mosaic 8 classification, revenue-focused metrics, and instant refresh. The platform ingests customer transaction and CRM data to produce postcode targeting outputs and hotspot maps for planning across offline and digital channels (direct mail, door drops, OOH, radio, TV, events, pop-ups). Herdify also publishes a set of whitepapers and guides (including the 'Individualism Is Bullshit' book and industry-specific field guides for fashion and travel) that serve as complementary educational content explaining the behavioral science methodology and its application across verticals.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Herdify Platform A SaaS audience targeting platform that ingests CRM or commerce transaction data and applies behavioral science models to identify geographic 'word-of-mouth clusters' — postcodes where brand advocacy and influence are already spreading. The platform outputs postcode targeting lists, hotspot maps, and behavioral momentum scores to help marketers focus campaigns on communities primed to convert, covering offline channels including direct mail, door drops, out-of-home (OOH), radio, TV, face-to-face, events, and pop-ups. The customer-facing interface is the Herdify Portal at portal.herdify.com.
Quantifiable outcome
- 168% boost in response rates for door drop campaigns
- +7 more outcomes
Companies that use Herdify
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Herdify technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
AI capability4 records
Feature5 records
Herdify partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, strategic and supporting.
- WhistlcoreWhistl is a market leader in audience targeting and door drop services. The partnership combines Herdify's behavioral targeting models with Whistl's door drop distribution capabilities. Case studies show 90% higher response rates when both models are combined. Particularly effective for Abel & Cole campaigns.
- Join the DotscoreJoin the Dots is an award-winning independent media agency that uses Herdify's behavioral science targeting alongside their existing segmentation models. The partnership has delivered strong results for clients including Abel & Cole (164% response rate improvement), RSPCA (23% donation increase), and KSS (£82,000 from 2,211 new donors).
- NextTECHnow (Publicis Groupe)strategicNextTECHnow helps clients innovate by executing partnerships that create value for their business and the start-up marketplace. As part of Publicis Groupe, they connect Herdify with larger enterprise clients seeking behavioral targeting capabilities.
- The Letterbox ConsultancysupportingThe Letterbox Consultancy partners with Herdify to bring word-of-mouth data into door drop planning. Helps clients optimize door drop campaigns using Herdify's behavioral insights.
- Sky AdsmartsupportingHerdify works with smart TV advertising platforms like Sky Adsmart to target behavioral clusters identified through word-of-mouth analysis. Enables targeted TV advertising in areas where brand advocacy is strongest.
- Royal MailsupportingRoyal Mail is referenced as a distribution channel for door-to-door mail campaigns. Herdify targeting helps clients optimize Royal Mail door drop campaigns, especially in light of Royal Mail's 2026 price increases of 20-21% per thousand items.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves1 record
Expansion highlights6 records
Herdify competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Whistl: UK-based door drop and mail distribution company with its own audience targeting capabilities. Directly comparable because it serves the same charity and retail customers with direct mail targeting and is simultaneously Herdify's largest distribution partner and a near-direct competitor in targeting.
- CACI: UK-based data analytics and consultancy firm (Acorn/Cleardemographic systems) providing location-based consumer segmentation for media planners and brands. Comparable because it sells geographic audience targeting tools used by UK marketers for the same campaign planning decisions Herdify addresses.
- GroundTruth: Location-based advertising and analytics platform using real-world visit patterns to build audiences and measure campaign performance. Comparable as a direct peer in geographic behavioral targeting for offline and omnichannel media planning.
Regional players
- Royal Mail Marketreach: Royal Mail's marketing division promoting direct mail effectiveness with research, targeting tools (e.g., door drop segmentation), and case studies. Comparable because it operates in the same UK direct mail targeting ecosystem and competes for share-of-wallet in mail planning.
Broad incumbents
- Experian (Marketing Services): Global data and analytics company whose Mosaic consumer classification system Herdify integrates with. Comparable as a broader incumbent offering demographic and lifestyle segmentation for marketing targeting — overlapping with Herdify's geographic audience insights.
- LiveRamp: Enterprise data collaboration platform (formerly Acxiom) providing first-party data activation and CDP capabilities. Comparable as a broader incumbent in the customer data platform / first-party data enablement space that Herdify's transaction-data-driven approach overlaps with.
- Foursquare: Location intelligence platform offering footfall and visitation data used for audience targeting and campaign planning. Comparable because it provides geographic behavioral insights from real-world movement data that marketers use for the same offline campaign optimization Herdify serves.
- Sky AdSmart: Sky's addressable TV advertising platform enabling household-level targeting for linear TV campaigns. Comparable as both a Herdify integration partner and a broader incumbent in audience-targeted offline media buying, overlapping in the OOH/TV media planning workflow.
- Valassis (Vericast): US-based marketing solutions provider with significant direct mail, print, and digital targeting capabilities for retail and brand advertisers. Comparable as a broader incumbent offering audience-targeted direct mail planning and execution at scale.
Emerging players
- Near: Location intelligence and audience data platform using first-party movement data for marketing targeting. Comparable as an emerging player with significant overlap in geographic behavioral data for campaign planning, though operating at a different stage and scale.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Herdify social profiles
Digital presenceHerdify compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Herdify financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Herdify leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Herdify funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Herdify M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Herdify
What does Herdify do?
Herdify is a SaaS audience targeting platform that ingests basic customer transaction data (postcode and date) from a client's CRM or commerce system and applies proprietary behavioral science models — originally developed to track the spread of viruses — to identify geographic "word-of-mouth clusters" where brand advocacy and influence are already spreading. The platform outputs postcode targeting lists, hotspot maps, and predictive Herd Scores that enable marketing teams, agencies, charities, and consumer brands to plan and execute campaigns across direct mail, door drops, out-of-home, radio, TV, events, and pop-ups. A post-campaign analysis loop continuously refines the model, and the GDPR-compliant pipeline requires only non-personal transaction inputs.
Is Herdify a public or private company?
Herdify is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Herdify founded?
Herdify was founded in 2011. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Herdify based?
Herdify is headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Herdify make money?
One revenue line is on record: subscription Services (SaaS).
Who are Herdify's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Whistl, CACI and GroundTruth. Royal Mail Marketreach is listed as a regional player. Broad incumbents are Experian (Marketing Services), LiveRamp, Foursquare, Sky AdSmart and Valassis (Vericast). Near is listed as an emerging player.
Does Herdify have an API?
No public API is recorded for Herdify.
What industry is Herdify in?
Herdify's product category is Marketing Technology — Audience Targeting Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFABAO, Media Inventory & Yield Management / Ad Operations (Trafficking, Tagging, QA), with a secondary code of MPAAAIAE, Customer Data Platform (CDP) & First-Party Data Enablement Services. Its NAICS code is 54186 and its SIC code is 7331.