Direct Mail Marketing
Direct Mail is often seen as a traditional form of advertising, but it can be a cornerstone to any marketing campaign for many companies and small businesses. In an ever growing digital world, consumers are being drawn to personal and physical forms of communication. With so much interaction on the web is anonymous and impersonal, a custom letter or postcard can be a great way to make a personal connection with a client.
Creating a Mailing List
Perhaps the most important step to creating a successful mailing is to gather an impressive list of contacts. Direct mail can be targeted by demographics such as household income, location, age, race and more. Using research based on previous sales, you can create a target audience that will lead to higher conversion rates. There are many companies on line that sell mail lists that you can filter by the exact type of customer you are looking from.
Alternatively, there are ways to build a mail list without spending money on a list. You can use your customer database to market to existing customers by offering them upsell products, notices to reorder, or sales and discounts. Another way would be to offer sign-up forms for at events or on your website for people to opt in to receiving newsletters and company info.
No Mailing List?
Not to worry. Sometimes you don’t have access to a detailed customer list or the resources to attain one, but you know the general location of your customer base. You can still execute some successful marketing by using the EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail) Services provided by the USPS. This service allows you to mail to specific mailing routes within a zip code at a low postage rate of 17.6 cents per piece.
Choosing your Postage Class
After getting your mail list together, the next step would be to choose how you will be sending your mail piece. The USPS has 3 main classes of mail – First Class, Standard Mail and Nonprofit.
Standard and Nonprofit mail can take from 3-9 days for the contiguous US while the First class typically takes 2-3 days for most locations. The maps below show estimated shipping times when mailed from our Post office in Long Island, NY.
Standard/Nonprofit Delivery Time
First Class Delivery Times
Mailpiece Sizes and Rates
When the USPS calculates the price of your postage, they take several different factors to determine the final postage rate. The weight of the piece, the size of the piece and the addresses in your mailing list. The more pieces you have going to the same zip code, the less expensive it will be per piece.
When the USPS calculates the price of your postage, they take several different factors to determine the final postage rate. The weight of the piece, the size of the piece and the addresses in your mailing list. The more pieces you have going to the same zip code, the less expensive it will be per piece.
