Direct Mail Demystified

Printing, I "get." Mailing? I'm a stranger in a strange land. Mailing acronyms stump me. Changing postal regulations confuse me. File scrubbing sounds much too painful to even contemplate.

But if you (like me) are in the business of promoting companies, events, and products, you're probably in the business of direct mail. Want to produce and mail materials in ways that keep your costs down and also get your stuff delivered when you want, using the most efficient methods, and in pristine shape?

Get thee to a mailing expert.

Last month, Christine Erna of Fulfillment Plus Mailing Solutions* in Haverhill, MA spoke to our BPB dinner attendees on this very subject. Christine is the company's VP of Sales & Marketing. That night, she provided enough meaty insights and tips about producing direct mail that I no longer feel "mailing challenged."

How can marketers be sure that the killer direct mail pieces they design and create are delivered on time and on budget? By understanding the elements involved in preparing direct mail. Take a look at how Christine approached it.

Ms. Erna focused her presentation on three main areas:

1. The Devil's in the Data,

2. Reducing Direct Mail Delivery Time, and

3. Diva Design.

The Devil's in the Data

According to Erna, 80% of the success of any printed direct mail piece may be attributed to the quality of the data and 20% to creative - because pieces that are not delivered equal sales lost. To illustrate, the USPS processed 206.1 billion mail pieces in 2004, and, of those, 5.6 billion were undeliverable, costing over $1.857 billion! She reviewed the dangers of messy data and detailed how to avoid them by managing address files in order to maximize savings and increase the response rate.

It is always to the client's benefit to ask for bad or UAA (Undeliverable As Addressed) mail back, so that that data can be corrected. Keeping on top of the data is important, since 14.2% of Americans move each year, 19.3% of businesses move each year, and 1.8 million new addresses are added each year.

By knowing about various processing options, marketers can maximize postal discounts. Every step taken that brings the mail closer to its end point results in greater savings. When purchasing or renting mailing lists, Erna advises to ask if the records were certified using CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System), which is the USPS benchmark.

You want it there when?

USPS guidelines state that first class mail is usually delivered in one to three days, and standard mail in two to nine days. However, this is not guaranteed, and events such as Hurricane Katrina can cause delays of up to a month.

So it's vital when planning a project to schedule enough time for all the steps required, including sufficient time for delivery, by working back from the date you want your prospects to receive the piece. Delivery time can be reduced by taking advantage of mail automation, entry point discounts, and by using standard size mailing pieces.

The most important planning tool, according to Erna? Communicating early with your fulfillment professional, who can review the details with you and review the location and variability of the address, the number/type of inserts, class of mail, method of postage (stamp, meter, permit), and more.

Diva Design

Encouraging mailers to "design with the end in mind," Erna outlined several "must-haves" and "must not haves" when developing a mail piece, encompassing physical characteristics, dimensions, quality (paper stock weight), types and orientation of folds, address legibility, and more. Almost anything can be mailed (even a coconut!), but there are certain papers and materials that are incompatible with mailing.

So consult with your mail fulfillment provider, and say goodbye to those phone calls announcing that your mailing's been refused.

*Fulfillment Plus Mailing Solutions, Inc. is a full-service literature distribution, product fulfillment and mailing company. Visit their web site at http://www.fpmsi.com.