List companies are good sources for buying mailing lists but are they the best? Not in my opinion.

First of all, let’s talk price. A List Company usually has a pricing structure based on the quantity that a customer purchases. A Direct Mail Firm that offers Mailing Lists will get discounts off the retail pricing so that they have a margin in which to mark up the cost to their customers. An end user that goes directly to a list company will usually be looked at as a onetime sale and be charged the highest rates. Many Mail Houses will mark up their cost to match the retail price that a customer would get going direct and therefore make a small profit for their efforts. Some, charge above the retail and in Personal Touch Mailing’s case, usually charge below the retail cost passing the savings on to our customers. So, as far as list cost is concerned, with many mail houses it would cost no extra and in some cases save money to go to them verses a list company.

Who would be concerned more at getting you the best targeted database, a list company that gets a onetime sale and is done or a mail house whose job is to make this data work the best that it can for you and want to earn your repeat business?

Database Companies may have to only sell from their “house” accounts limiting the availability of the many other sources. A Mail House usually is not restricted by these rules and can look far and wide for the perfect database to suit your needs.

A Direct Mail Professional’s mission should be to help you reach your marketing goals. They should be attentive to your needs and passionate about ensuring that each step throughout the project is working to accomplish your goals, which may include the purchase of a well crafted, targeted mailing list.

With so many things at stake such as printing, postage and labor costs, not to mention the marketing impact on your business, it is imperative that you start your Direct Mail Campaign with a well thought out, targeted & clean mailing list.

Want to know how to create a winning direct mail campaign that won’t break your bank?

Click here to receive our consumer guide: 12 Ways To Avoid Paying More Than You Have To For Direct Mail. Inside you’ll learn the key mistakes to avoid when developing a direct mail campaign, the key element that can make or break your direct mail offering, plus you will be eligible to receive a special discount as a first-time customer! Get your free direct mail guide today!

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Many companies, especially non-profit organizations, utilize volunteers and interns to perform many tasks around the office, including the processing of their direct mail campaigns. They are under the assumption that since the labor is free that they are saving money, but is this true?

In rare cases, maybe, but many times they are losing money and wasting valuable manpower.

If the volunteers and or whomever is directing the direct mail production are fully aware of all the postal rules, they have the software and equipment to process efficiently and the people involved are capable of fast paced production speeds then yes, they could save some costs by working their mailing in-house.

What we have found is that many of these companies do not have the equipment and are utilizing their “free” labor to do most of the many tasks by hand, ie. folding, stuffing, sealing, applying labels, etc. This takes a great deal of time and can delay a mailing project for days.

By not having the most up to date software their address list cannot be C.A.S.S. Certified & Move Updated as required by the Post Office to receive discounted automation postage rates. Therefore the mailing must go out at higher standard rates. Small oversights from the lack of experience such as paper weight, being sure that any reply mail is automation compatible, wafer seal  and address placement, positioning of staples, etc… can all cause the total postage amount to be much higher.

Having a mailing professional process your direct mail project helps to ensure that the postage costs are as low as possible, time frames are met due to high speed machine production and all the postal rules are met so as not to cause delays and or extra costs. Deliverability is optimized and since the address list is “cleaned” there is less waste due to being undeliverable which the postal worker is authorized to throw away on a standard rate mailings. Each wasted mail piece is a loss in printing, postage and labor and since the customer is not notified of the undeliverable addresses subsequent mailings of the same addresses could have the same issues plus any new changes that have gone undetected.

One key factor to remember when deciding on whether to use a mail house or volunteers on your next mailing campaign is that many times a mailing professional can save their customers so much money in postage that the difference can actually pay for the mail house’s labor charges. In other words, The labor costs for a mail house could end up being the same as using volunteers, FREE! but with less headaches, faster turnaround times and more efficiency and deliverability.

Want to know how to create a winning direct mail campaign that won’t break your bank?

Click here to receive our consumer guide: 12 Ways To Avoid Paying More Than You Have To For Direct Mail. Inside you’ll learn the key mistakes to avoid when developing a direct mail campaign, the key element that can make or break your direct mail offering, plus you will be eligible to receive a special discount as a first-time customer! Get your free direct mail guide today!

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Is using Volunteers really saving you money?

Many companies, especially non-profit organizations, utilize volunteers and interns to perform many tasks around the office, including the processing of their direct mail campaigns. They are under the assumption that since the labor is free that they are saving money, but is this true? In rare cases, maybe, but many times they are losing money [...]

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