We may live in a digital age, but classic direct mail is still one of the most effective forms of marketing! The team at Priority Press has all the know-how to help you build and execute a direct mail strategy that keeps costs low and returns high.
Classes of Mail
Different classes of mail offer different benefits for different prices. When deciding what type of mail is right for your business, it’s important to know the exact details for each.
- First Class Mail: All mailable items under 13 oz can be mailed as First Class Mail. With this option, senders get forwarding and return services for recipients who have moved or for mail that’s undeliverable. To mail in bulk using First Class Mail at commercial prices, a batch must have at least 500 pieces. First Class Mail costs the same, no matter the destination, but additional services like Registered Mail and Certified Mail cost more.
- Marketing Mail: With a minimum quantity of 200 pieces or 50 pounds of mail, Marketing Mail is designed with businesses in mind. This is a specific class of mail for anything under 16 oz that’s not required to be sent First Class or Periodical. Newsletters, flyers, catalogs, and other printed advertising materials can be shipped at low bulk prices, but this option does usually lack some advantages, such as returned mail.
- Non-Profit Mail: Nonprofits can get a lower rate of postage, but they must follow very specific guidelines and receive prior authorization. Categories of eligible organizations include: agricultural, educational, fraternal, labor, philanthropic, religious, scientific, veterans, and some political committees. Not every organization in these categories is eligible, and even for those who apply for and receive authorization, there are limitations on the types and amount of advertising mail you may send.
- Every Door Direct Mail: A sub-section of Marketing Mail, this option is perfect for promoting your business in a local community determined by a geographic boundary. You can also use the EDDM tool online to further target advertising by a variety of demographics. A business must send at least 200 mailpieces but are allowed up to 5,000 per day per ZIP Code, and there are no return services.
Automated Mail Reduces Postage Costs
Looking to reduce postage costs? Consider automated, presorted mail! Priority Press offers the option for presorting your mail before it reaches the post office, which saves your money, since the USPS has less work to do.
Presorting is exactly what it sounds like. Instead of sending off your mail all at once, all addresses mixed together, and letting the post office sort it by destination, that sorting is done on the sender’s end instead. Mail is presorted by ZIP Code and bundled together, working your way up from specific areas to broader ones. It’s a great option that applies to First Class and Marketing Mail and can really add up to significant savings.
What Are Mailing Permits?
Simply put, a mailing permit is permission from the USPS to use a particular postage payment method for commercial mailings. To pay for commercial mail at a given post office, you must hold an appropriate permit and pay an annual mailing fee. Typically, businesses will get a permit imprint too: an account for paying postage.
All you have to do to apply for a permit is fill out an application form, take it to your local Business Mail Entry Unit or post office (which may not be your usual, closest post office – check ahead of time to find where you should take your application), and pay the application fee. Remember: you’ll need to hold a mailing permit and pay an annual mailing fee at each post office you use to do your mailing.
Priority Press can use your permit to take care of all your mailing needs! Our team can help you with the logistics.
How Can You Save Money on Mail?
It’s easier than you think to save money and reduce postage costs through better data hygiene and postal logistics. Priority Press has the experience and expertise to help you find solutions for all your mailing needs, at a price point that works for you!
The steps we take are surprisingly simple, but can make a big difference. For instance, we deliver mail pieces to the postal center located in a region where the majority of target addresses are located as well. This saves the post office from trucking mail to that region and saves you money (if the cost of the freight is less than the postal savings).
Priority Press can work with you on improving data hygiene for more efficient, cost-effective mailing practices. The National Change of Address (NCOA) System is one such tool: a system that reduces the likelihood of undeliverable mail due to recipients having moved to a new address. By finding and fixing these errors before the mail pieces are sent, this system can save you money on “wasted” undeliverable postage while also keeping your databases up-to-date.
Priority Press also provides CASS Certification which verifies that the address on the mail is correctly formatted. CASS Certification also helps to ensure a higher percentage of deliverable mail, and is also a requirement to qualify for automated mail rates and other discounts.
Printing Solutions for Direct Mail
Priority Press provides clients with comprehensive solutions for direct mail, including:
- Offset printing
- Digital printing
- Envelope printing
- Specialty finishing, such as foil stamping, embossing, engraving, thermography, and die-cutting
- Folding, stitching, tabbing and gluing
- Data processing, data hygiene, and list clean-up
- Comprehensive letter shop services, including insertion and ink-jet addressing
- Matched mailing capabilities
- Postal logistic solutions
- A-B Testing
Two Processes and a Multishift Facility
Priority Press offers both offset and digital printing in one convenient facility. In our offset department, we print up to 5-colors plus coating on 28” x 40” sheets, and have smaller presses for envelope printing.
Our digital department prints both 1-color and 4-color. If you want to improve open and response rates, consider one-to-one direct mail, printed digitally and incorporating personalized messages, images, and offers.
Some of our clients choose to print shells on our offset press, and then imprint with addresses and offers on our digital presses. This type of hybrid printing is often the best solution for clients who are looking for options to lower total costs.
Priority Press’ multishift facility has plenty of capacity, can turn projects quickly and meet challenging mail dates.