Susan Dickenson

Navigating the direct mail course
February 20, 2007

You've just planned the greatest mom's-night-out-clearance-gourmet-tabletop-in-store-sales event the world has ever known. But if the 1,000 postcards you've hired XYZ Direct Mail Services to mail to your pre-defined target market aren't accurate, you're wasting time and money. When it comes to competing with the big guys, the ability to deliver personal service and a memorable buying experience is hailed as one of the small retailer's biggest advantages.

Key to the process is the ability to maintain contact with accurate, up-to-date customer information and a flexible, low-cost mailing program. If you're mailing at least 200 identical pieces and have decided to forgo a broker or private mailing service to do it yourself, the U.S. Postal Service says bulk mail is the most economical way to go, with potential savings of 30%–50%.

The amount you save depends on the mailing service you choose and the amount of additional work you're willing to do. For example, if you mail 1,000 letter-sized flyers to everyone in your ZIP Code advertising your store's spring tent sale, it would cost $0.39 per piece for retail First-Class postage, or $390. If you add a barcode to each piece, sort by carrier route and deposit the mail at the post office that handles its delivery, you're eligible for Standard Mail classification at a cost as little as $.127 per piece, or $127.

The Postal Service has published lots of information in print and online detailing specific format requirements, addressing standards and rates. The problem here is that Postal Service publications change as frequently as postage rates, so if you search online for what appears to be the most relevant source of information for getting started, Publication 25-Designing Letter and Reply Mail, you'll find that Publication 25 "is undergoing revision and not currently available." Same for Publication 221-Addressing For Success, which is now obsolete.

Save yourself some time and frustration by starting at pe.usps.com, where you can link to two of the three documents in the Postal Service's newly transformed Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) series, An Introduction to Mailing for Businesses and Organizations, and Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service. The comprehensive collection of business mailing tools and information is organized and presented to make it easier for customers and postal employees to access and use postal products and services.

While the interactive menus and enhanced search options are definitely an improvement, the very detailed addressing and formatting requirements of the standards manual are still pretty overwhelming. If you don't have an eye for detail, it may be enough to make you abandon the whole project. Before you do, consider a just-released (January 2007) white paper by New York marketing consulting firm Winterberry Group on the effectiveness of direct mail. The study reveals that printed mail is still a much more effective vehicle than electronic mail for reaching the consumer, and that 85% of women ages 25 to 44 read the printed direct mail marketing pieces sent to their homes. It also suggests that the keys to consumer response are timing (appealing to the consumer with an offer when the consumer it most likely to make a purchase, i.e., lifecycle or seasonal events), relevance (a promotion that appeals to a consumer's needs, desires and preferences), and personalization (an offer tailored for a unique recipient).

A final note: When it comes to the wording of your personal invitations or promotional pieces, consider the recipient. I was in a friend's store several years ago when he received an emotional telephone call from a very upset recipient of the store's latest "preferred customer" mailing. The list had been generated by a private mail service using pre-selected ZIP codes. The caller was asking detailed questions about her husband's purchasing history and expressed great relief when a staff worker told her they received the mailing because their names and address had come from a purchased mailing list, and not because either of them had shopped there. Prior to that, the caller had decided that her husband must have been buying gifts there for some mysterious other woman, which led her to pack his bags and put them in the driveway. She had never set foot in the store, she said, so how else would she and her husband have earned the special designation of "preferred customer?"

Posted by Susan Dickenson on February 20, 2007 | Comments (5)