Planning your mailing
Plan your mailing and you stand a better chance of gaining a successful response. Mailing is essentially common sense with a little thought attached.
Think about:
- Timings for data, creative, printing, mailing and delivery
- Data and your target audience
- Pack design, size and weight and number of inserts
- Using a return address
- Postage methods
- Use a reliable mailing house
Timings
Data supply, creative, copywriting, printing, mailing and posting all take time. Allow enough time to get your mailing out at without rushing and forcing you or your suppliers to make mistakes. If the mailing is time critical make a point of specifying this in writing.
Data
What is your target market? Give this some thought as it is the most important part of your mailing. You should mail contacts that are interested in your offer or product.
Get your data cleaned and your response rate should increase. Most good mailing and data processing companies will give you a free audit on your data. If you rent the data this shouldn't be needed.
Tip Get data to the mailing house early on.
Mail Pack Design
Design automation into your mailing. Discuss with your mailing company ways that you can make the mailing automated. This will speed up the mailing process and help you to reduce production and postage costs.
The mailing house will want to know everything about your mail pack and its contents. Size, approx weight, number of pack variations.
- List a clear description of inserts including sizes.
- Provide artwork as a print ready PDF or letter text as MS Word.
- Get the mailing house to supply your envelopes, they buy millions!
Keep your mailings within weight and size bands. Even if your pack is or 2 gms outside a weight band you will pay a lot more. They are 0-100gms and 101-250gms. We have a postage weight calculator that can work out your pack weight based on the contents. Call us for more information.
Generally the smaller the mailing pack the cheaper it is.
| Pack | Sizes | Weight Bands |
|---|---|---|
| Letter | 240mm x 165mm x 5mm thick | 0-100gms |
| Large Letter | 353mm x 250mm x 25mm thick |
|
Tip Go for a C5 envelope if possible and keep the pack weight under 100gms
Use a return address
A return address on the outer will help you clean up your database for free by allowing you to remove the returns you get from your mailings. This will save you money in the long term as you will not mail them again. Many mailing houses will key in returns for you and send you the list.
Tip use a return address
Postage
There are many postal options for UK domestic mail (1st class, 2nd class, Mailsort etc) as well as extensive International postal options with a range of delivery times. You will need to consider if speed of delivery or price is the consideration, or a mixture of both.
Postage will usually need to be paid to the mailing company prior to despatch of the mailing. The simplest and most efficient way is usually by BACS.
See our postage section of the site for more information.
Use a reliable full service mailing company
Mailing companies come in all shapes and sizes. Ask to see references from existing long term clients and if they are QMP or Royal Mail accredited. Do they carry out the work in-house or subcontract and do they use home workers? What are their quality procedures.
For further information call us on 01489 796611
