Direct Mail and Postal Discounts

There are several steps involved in the mailing process and a successful discounted mailing requires careful consideration of the steps below.

1. Choosing a Mailing Service - Which mailing service you choose depends on the shape, weight, and content of your mail, along with speed of delivery.
2. Choosing a Postage Payment Method - The Postal Service offers three ways for you to pay for and apply postage to your mail pieces. (stamps, permit imprint & metering)
3. Preparing Your Mail - Machinable, non-machinable, and automation are the three ways The Postal Service classifies how mail pieces are prepared. These classifications are based on the ability of your mail piece to be processed on Postal Service equipment.
4. Sorting Your Mail - Sort your mail according to Postal Service standards.
5. Entering Your Mail - The minimum requirement is to enter your mail at the Business Mail Entry Unit (BMEU) or Post Office where you hold a mailing permit. You can receive additional discounts by transporting your mail closer to where it will be delivered.

After you make these choices, prepare your mail pieces, then sort them by Postal Service  standards, and enter your mailing at a postal facility. For each step, you will need to complete the minimum level of work required by the Postal Service. You may also choose to complete higher levels of work to receive greater postage discounts.

To qualify for certain postage discounts, you must mail a minimum number of pieces:

• 500 pieces for First-Class Mail
• 200 pieces (or 50 pounds of mail) for Standard Mail
• 50 pieces for Parcel Select
• 300 pieces for Presorted or Carrier Route Bound Printed Matter
• 300 pieces for Library Mail 300 pieces for Media Mail (formerly book rate)

In some cases, the characteristics of your mail pieces will determine which rates and discounts are available to you. If you need any assistance in determining what method works best for you, please contact Eye/Comm at 619-448-6111 or email info@eyecomm.org. We’re happy to help with all your questions.

Appeal Mailings

It’s that time of  year again when many non-profits are sending out their Holiday Appeal mailings. With that in mind, I thought I would share a couple of strategies to get the most out of your appeal. An appeal mailing could be a particular direct mail piece or a specific email campaign sent to your prospects and donors. With any Appeal mailing, make sure you track who responds to each solicitation. With this information, you can determine the following:

• Whether you’re focusing on the correct individuals or organizations
• What type of solicitation garners the most support (e-mail, direct mail, personal letters, etc…)
• What type of messaging gets the most attention

Another good suggestions is to track the effectiveness of your appeals over time to determine if certain types of appeals work better than others. It’s also important to include dates in the description of your appeal…like Walk-a-Thons, Charity events, etc…this way you can accurately measure the success of each appeal and remember, donations related to a certain appeal will continue to come in after the event is over.

Remember the tips above and your next Appeal Mailing will be a successful one!

Politicians and Direct Mail

It’s election time and direct mail is one of the most important tools that local campaigns can use to reach voters effectively.  If you’re looking to design a political mail piece, here are a few basic guidelines and suggestions.

• Grab the Voter’s Attention - Remember, your mail piece is competing not only with every other campaign mailing that is sent out, but with catalogs, bills, business advertisements, etc…make sure yours stands out!

• Use Appealing Graphics, Pictures, Etc… – Your copy is important,  but the most important part for the voters are the visuals…the voter wants to see who they’re voting for and it brings more of a personal touch to the mail piece.  Use powerful graphics and pictures, including a color scheme that stands out but is also easy to read.  Stay away from using the “good old fashioned” political colors and logos.  If you do, your mail will simply blend in with all the other political mail that the voter receives and you want yours to stand out.

• Timing is Everything – The timing of mailings can be as important as the content. In some campaigns, you may want to hold the best negative attack until the final week when there is no time for the opponent to respond and after you have built up your own candidate’s credibility. In other circumstances, you may want to take the opposite approach and launch a tough attack early so that the opponent is forced to use resources to respond.

In order to make your mail piece succeed, you have to plan your campaign and design your mail piece to be effective and stand out amongst the crowd. By using the tips above, you should be able to design an effective and successful mailer…good luck!

Lists – Are You Hitting Your Target?

Yesterday I attended a great seminar put on by the SDDMA (San Diego Direct Mail Association). The presenter was the Director of List & Data Solutions for a local business here in San Diego.The focus of the event was how to maximize the most important element of your Direct Marketing campaigns…THE LIST. Whether you use one that is in house or you’ve purchased one from an outside vendor, about 40% of your success rate comes from targeting the correct demographic. Your campaign may have excellent copy, a clear call to action or even a great offer to go along with it, but if you have the wrong list you end up with ZERO response.  If you’re working with an in house  list, here are a couple of points to help you out.

• When registering a new client, gather as much information as you can
• Understand who you’re working with and profile your database
• Add more info and append demographic fields
• Rank – model and score your fields

One more thing to remember when using a house list…they will always change. People are constantly changing addresses, jobs, titles, etc…so keep them up to date. House lists are the most responsive…however, growth comes with prospecting.  What’s the key to prospecting…take a hard look at who your customers are now (who’s coming to your site, who buys, etc…) and go out and find more that are just like them!

 

Banks and Social Media

Social media has become a great customer service tool across many industries and banking is no exception. However, not all banks are so proactive. A recent study found that 40% of banks avoid discussing specific products and services in their social media efforts. But for banks that are more active in engaging with their customers over social media channels about their products,  a real-time communication can be helpful in addressing problems with customers. In other cases, a visible Twitter account can be a quick and easy first step in the customer service chain when people want to get specific information.

Many, if not all that use Social Media, see many of the same questions on Twitter that they get on typical channels such as telephone or in person, but they are starting to see social spaces as a potential channel of choice for customers to get the information they need. However, because of the sensitive nature of banking and the openness of social media, customers need to be careful when sharing information with customer service reps on social channels. On Twitter for example, its strongly recommended that in order to keep conversations private, use direct messages and from there a more secure communications channel (e-mail, etc…) to gather sensitive details.

Most banks are now seeing positive feedback on their Twitter accounts, etc.. compared to when they first opened  as credibility was an issue. So when it comes to banking, the more you help your customers via Social Media the more your legitimacy will grow.

Using Social Media to Put Customers First

Today I attended a seminar put on by the San Diego Ad Club and presented by Social Media guru Becky Carroll. The seminar focused on how to leverage  Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc…) to make sure your customer’s experience ROCKS! Customer Service is key in all business whether it be B2B or B2C and nowadays, everyone has a device that enables them to let others know of the experience they’ve had in real time. If somebody has a bad experience, you can guarantee that it has been posted on Twitter, Facebook or even a video on YouTube within an hour or so of it happening…if not immediately. If you’re looking into using Social Media in any aspect of your business, I would highly recommend checking out Becky’s website (www.customersrock.net) and reading her blog posts.

Enjoy!

The New World of Direct Mail and Marketing

The transition from Consumer Electronics to Direct Mail and Marketing has been challenging…but very interesting. Although it’s something I’ve never done, its becoming something I thoroughly enjoy as I  get to work in an environment where I can be creative by assisting clients build a strategic marketing piece.  I also get to use my extensive Customer Service skills  as we work with the client from the first time we speak until the piece hits the mail. We are constantly building a relationship and want them to know that we are here to help and collaborate on all their Marketing needs. I still have a lot to learn and many challenges ahead, but I truly enjoy this new endeavor and am looking forward to the World of Direct Mail and Marketing.