The Mailworks

Internet shopping has undeniably made our lives easier and more convenient in more ways than one. Shopping done from your sofa and in your PJ’s beats the mall on a Saturday afternoon, any day. There are some things I now exclusively buy online. These things seem to fall into 2 categories, A) easier or B) cheaper.  Example: The vitamins are just easier. I order the same ones from the same retailer over and over again, and buying a bunch at once and having them delivered to my doorstop is a no brainer. Other times,  I’ll receive an incentive to shop online, such as a direct mail offer to spend $100 online and get $30 off your purchase. (I’m looking at you, Loft, VS, Express, Limited, etc.)

Today, you have the option to buy pretty much anything online. Groceries, cars, pets, diamonds, etc. Still, there are something’s that even if I received a great incentive, I would not buy online.  Certain things still call me to see them in real life, to hold them, to talk to an expert- and a discount wouldn’t  make me shop online for.  Are stamps one of them?

A relatively new company, Stamps.com, offers an at home online alternative to the post office. You are able to essentially print your postage from home in the exact increments that you need. This means you have to weigh your items yourself and rely on your own discretion to abide by postal regulations to ensure your items are actually mailable. If that sounds like there is a lot of room for something to go wrong, you are right. That said, it is certainly possible to weigh, measure, print, and send your items. What a lot of consumers are asking is, is this worth it?

A quick review of Stamps.com’s services on epinions shows that the company on average is rated 3/5 stars. Not bad, not great. As I looked over some common complaints, and then confirmed them on the Stamps.com website, a few major concerns jumped out at me. First of all, Stamps.com charges a standard monthly fee of $14.99 per month, even if you do not mail a single thing. Second of all, there are a lot of issues with their billing policy, which enters you into a contract that has been termed “difficult” to break, and many people who were not aware they were going to be automatically billed each month.

Another one of Stamps.com’s claims to fame is offering free postal services.  When I looked closer, the postal service already offers most of these services for free.

The consumers that rate Stamps. Com highly seem to be mailing a unique amount of mail. More than an ordinary consumer, so the monthly membership fee is worth it for the convenience. Yet, smaller than an average business.  For consumers who do not have close access to a post office, who mail very regularly, and are software, and postal regulation savvy, stamps.com could be a valuable service.

For most people, I think the personal touch of handing off a package to the post office or using an experienced mail house to get the best possible postage rate will still be the method of choice for the future.

Looking to catch the eye of customers and prospects? Here’s a new take on an old classic… a personalized brochure sent via direct mail.

If Google is using direct mail to promote their products and services, why shouldn’t you be? This brochure has been digitally printed utilizing variable data personalization to create pages that are unique for each recipient. This is sophisticated stuff, folks! Each page is highly relevant and presents data that is specific to the viewer. For example, page one shows the actual pay per click ad our company had published in Google Adwords. It then shows the number of clicks, impressions, and overall results of the campaign. Not only is it visually appealing, but this is a very useful piece – making it likely that it will not get thrown away. I can assure you, we will be holding on to this report for years to come.

Yes, Google could simply send this report online via email – but even these internet giants know the value of holding something in one’s hand. The internet cannot replace the value of tactile connection.
Some ideas for personalized brochures for your business:

Financial Updates

Let your clients know how their portfolio is progressing. We’re sure you already have all the info in excel, leverage your data and create high-end personalized communications.

Retail View Books

If you have an eCommerce website, you may have many customers with full shopping carts or wish lists that have not yet been purchased. Send them a “nudge” and create a personalized view book with a coupon that showcases the items you know they already want. Using the information you already have to remind them of their own wants and desires will help close the sales loop.

Inquiry Response Material

When someone requests information about your company, instead of sending them a general, possibly overwhelming, booklet of all your products and services, give them exactly what they are looking for. You can create a custom brochure for each inquiry that prints only the pages that are relevant to the prospect.

While today’s online marketing guru’s might be quick to tell you that everything is better online, at FS Marketing and Hearing Aid Marketing, we are still championing Direct Mail as a tried-and-true king of marketing that works. Yes, online marketing and all things social media definitely hold a permanent and uncontested place in our world.  Yes, we are huge proponents of strategically integrating as many marketing platforms as possible to strengthen your message, but for us and for many specific industries, direct mail is still reigning supreme.

You might be thinking…..even my grandmother is online; are you sure about this direct mail stuff?  The answer to that is, yes. I cannot speak for every industry out there, but for us at Hearing Aid Marketing and for other industries who have a very specific target demographic, direct mail is the medium that delivers predictable and reliable results, time after time.

Today, our email accounts are pretty likely to be flooded with all things junk mail, so… the power of a personalized piece of mail in your actual hands should not be underestimated. As you feel the sharp corners of the envelope in your hands and tear with reckless anticipation…your curiosity is already piqued with this piece of paper. This piece of actual mail is more likely to spend some time quality time on your desk, live on your kitchen table, or hang on your refrigerator to be faced by you multiple times per day. It is not simply seen once and navigated away from – it is held, opened, seen, held, and then seen some more.

Not only does it have a sensory leg up, Direct Mail can target like no other marketing medium. Today, lists and controlled demographics allow us to mail to exactly who is most likely to have a need for our products. That means less waste for us, and lower costs for our customers. Beyond that, we can further analyze prospect data and target groups differently…. big customers, lapsed customers, and consistent customers, and so on.

That said, your direct mail can really only be as successful as your targeting and customizing can be, and The Mailworks gives us the option to customize our print products in a way that was not possible before. Personalizing our already targeted message even further with hand written fonts and custom messages allow us to engage each individual recipient.

Direct mail is not as simple as choosing a design and mailing a few thousand postcards. Our campaigns are very high quality and The Mailworks advanced technologies and knowledgeable team have made that level of quality possible with digital printing, offset printing, folding, tabbing, live stamps, perforation and gluing, and other mail services.  The Mailworks also works hand in hand with us on the design of our pieces in order make sure all designs meet postal requirements and get the best postal rates available.

Last year alone, The Mailworks printed and mailed 28 million pieces of direct mail for us. Our partnership with The Mailworks has made our production more seamless, cost-effective, timely, and efficient that ever. For us, that means we can continue providing effective and creative direct mail to more businesses in our industry. For our customers, that means top notch direct mail, with the low prices and results that keep them coming back.

-Jessica Garrity

Marketing Specialist

FS Marketing

As many of you already know, the USPS has issued a postage rate increase effective Jan. 22nd, 2012.  A first class stamp now costs $0.45 each.  Postcard rates increased by three cents from $0.29 to $0.32 each. Overall, the raise averaged 2.13% across the board, with non-profit mailing classes actually seeing a slight reduction.  This is the first rate increase in 2 and a half years. As a courtesy to our customers we put together this chart to help give a better idea of the standard mail pricing. See our notes below on how to achieve the greatest postal discounts possible by mailing at the “SCF” rate.

This chart focuses solely on letters and postcards. Notice that there are significant discounts in the “DSCF” class.  To receive these postal discounts you must enter your direct mail campaign at the post office closest to your direct mail piece’s final destination. For instance,  if you are mailing Albany, Schenectady, Troy, or Saratoga, you will achieve postal discounts by using a local print and mail vendor and having your mail entered at the New Karner Rd. Post office.  For instance,

On an average local standard mailing,  you would pay approximately $0.19 per piece in postage if entered at the New Karner Rd. Albany, NY SCF center.  If you chose to work with a vendor outside of the area, you would pay approx. $0.27 per piece.  Mailing locally will result in average of $80 per thousand savings.  If you are mailing 10,000 pieces, that really adds up!

For clients mailing more than 80,000 pieces there are other methods that can be used to achieve postal discounts.  If you are mailing large quantities on a national level, you may benefit from drop shipping.  Drop shipping cuts down on delivery time and postal costs. Your mail is trucked to the post office closest to entry, which achieves the SCF rate.  You must have large quantities for this to work.  On a 100,000 piece mailing, the average savings can result in upwards of $6,000 in postage.

To learn more about this, contact Albany NY print and direct mail specialists at 518-435-9300