Direct Marketing News

A client recently called with an urgent question about the estimate for mailing the invitations for her company’s gala annual dinner. She had the numbers in front of her and was worried because it was too low.

She said, “It’s only 36 cents each. A stamp is 41 cents! This isn’t bulk mail is it? This mailing is urgent, I don’t want it to take a long time to get to people!” I assured her that it was OK and explained why the cost was less.

She said, “The post office gives discounts??!!!”

Yes, they do. And, if you follow some basic rules, you can pay 25 cents each or even less (as little as 9 cents a piece if you’re a nonprofit and mail millions of pieces).

Paying 41 cents is like paying retail. With a bit of effort, you can get it cheaper. And, the best part is, you don’t have to wait for a sale!

The Untied States postal service has a lot of mail to deliver (over 213 billion pieces per year, according to their Web site). So, they reward you for doing some of the work for them. The more work you do, and the more mail you send at once, the less you pay.

For example, if you hand your assistant a two-foot-tall stack of papers with bills, letters and memos from three or four projects mixed together it will take him or her hours to sort through it all and file it. But, if you separate everything by project and then by date, content, etc. it will only take a few minutes to manage. The same concept works for the post office. If you “pre-sort” your work, they will charge you less.

There are two basic kinds of mail, which you probably know about: first class and standard (or bulk mail). Both have discounts based on volume (how many pieces you send), density (how the addresses are concentrated together) and whether you are a nonprofit or a commercial business.

Here’s what you need to do:

*Put the addresses in zip code order, lowest to highest (this is called pre-sorting).

* Send at least 200 pieces for bulk mail, 500 for first class pre-sorted mail.

* Use a return address.

* Weigh it; it should be under an ounce for first class, under 3.3 ounces for bulk.

* Leave 1/2 ” margin on the right and left of the envelope, and leave the bottom right clear of any printing. The post office adds bar codes at the bottom and any printing you put there will be covered by a white strip of paper and then the bar code.

* Check the dimensions (for instance, a letter size envelope is OK, but a square or a 9 x 12 flat size will cost you more money).

* If you use a self-mailer (no envelope), fold it with the crease on the bottom, and the wafer seal (a sticker to hold it closed) on the top so it will slide smoothly through the post office’s machinery.

* Don’t use glossy (shiny) paper; the ink will smudge when it goes through the postage meter.

Before you start, check with a lettershop/mailing house for detailed information on addressing formats, size limits, and postal templates.

Depending on whether you are mailing first class or bulk, the number of pieces you are mailing, and whether you are a nonprofit or business, this can get your mailing down to 36 cents a piece for first class, 25 cents for commercial bulk mail, 14 cents for nonprofit bulk mail, and as little as 9 cents for very large nonprofit mailings.

About the author:

Jodi Kaplan fixes “broken” marketing. She transforms ineffective mailings and unappealing Web sites into powerful revenue-generating tools. If your marketing is broken and you’d like to fix it, visit: http://www.kaplancopy.com for free articles, marketing resources, and information on marketing services.

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