Forever most marketers and mailing service providers have been spending $.01 - $.03 per piece too much for their postcard postage and don’t even know it. With proper planning and the right partner, there is a better way to mail your 4.25 x 6 postcards.
Postcards work well.
Postcards are inexpensive as compared to self-mailers or letter packages. And, your marketing message is right there to catch the eye of your recipient, not requiring them to “open” anything to see your offer or call to action. If you are a marketing professional, it’s likely that you have been involved with sending tens of thousands if not millions or hundreds of millions of these little jewels in your career.
What’s a postcard?
Well according to the United States Postal Service (USPS), a postcard is defined as a single sheet no larger than 4.25 x 6 inches with the address running the 6-inch direction. Anything larger than that is a letter. Go figure. The USPS offers special first class postage rates for postcards. These rates are the same or slightly less than sending a postcard via standard commercial service. So naturally, marketers jump at sending them first class and unknowing mail service providers happily oblige them. Why not get 3 - day service instead of 5 - 10 day service for the same price?
There’s a better way.
If you are organized and you can get out in front of your mail date a couple of weeks, there are ways to save $10 - $30 per thousand on postage. That’s up to $30,000 for a million postcards. This is not chump change. We find that many of our clients use the savings to increase their circulation thereby increasing their responses and revenue.
What do you need to do?
The first step is to send your postcards standard commercial service. But what about hitting my in-home dates you say? No problem. A well-informed and detail oriented mailing service provider will take the initiative to develop a custom drop plan for every mailing that ensures every client pays the lowest possible postage AND the mail hits the homes within a three-day window. Postcards included. The second thing you should do is get a postage price up front for both first class and standard. If the savings to mail standard is not significantly greater than a penny per piece, you should consider finding a mailing partner with a deeper understanding of the postal system and knowledge of the techniques to save clients postage.
There are many arrows in our quiver that allow us to lower postage and maintain service. It is all driven by the mail file and there is always a significant savings when done right. Every mailing usually employs multiple strategies to shave postage. We like our partners at the USPS, but we don’t want to send them anymore of your money than necessary.