If you’re a business/organization considering, for the first time, a direct mail campaign to heighten awareness of your services/products, one of the fist issues you’ll encounter or grapple with is how to go about having your piece mailed after it’s been printed. You can go the route of acquiring an indicia from the post office before creating your promotional piece. Then, have your piece designed and printed (including the indicia), compile a mailing list (or lists), affix addresses to the piece, and deliver the items to the post office to deliver. Or, you can work with a commercial printer that offers mailing services to and handle all of those tasks for you.
Why Use a Direct Mail Printer?
Commercial printers that offer mailing services in conjunction with direct mail marketing campaigns know all of the myriad and ever-changing USPS rules governing deliverability and postage rates. For instance, the USPS has rules about maximum and minimum sizes for deliverable mail, the weight and thickness of paper stocks, where indicia and mailing addresses should appear, where and how many sealing tabs must be used on folded pieces, how business reply cards must be set-up, etc. A well-seasoned printer with experience in direct mail can offer a pathway through the thicket of regulations and save hours of frustration or irritation as well as unnecessary expenses.
Additional Benefits of Working with a Printer
Before a direct mail campaign is undertaken, an experienced printer can offer input as to how to design a direct mail piece to best take advantage of new technologies such as Variable Data Printing (VDP). With VDP, direct mail pieces can be individually personalized to each recipient. Addresses can be printed on each piece during the press run saving the time and cost of addressing each piece individually. Addresses can be pre-checked — via CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System) software — to insure the address is valid and mail will not be sent back as being undeliverable. Hence, making sure every printed piece is not wasted. Plus, the USPS offers discount rates for mail that is pre-sorted and imprinted with USPS supplied barcodes. In other words, working directly with an experienced direct mail printer saves time and money.
If you have any questions about direct mail, give us a call at 330-597-8560. We’re happy to help you get the most out of your printing project.
