When it comes to building your business, direct mail is a powerful tool when communicating to your audiences. But be careful, direct mail can become expensive if you don’t watch your costs – making a positive ROI nearly impossible to achieve.
“What should my direct mail campaign cost?” Great question. Here are a few points to ponder that will ensure you avoid costly mistakes.
POSTAGE: The cost of mailing your direct mail piece will consume about 50% of your total budget. And don’t become bitter when you can’t bargain for a lower rate. This money goes directly to the USPS and is a pass-through cost for the direct mail company. Thus, don’t be surprised if postage is collected in advance of mailing.
PRINTING: Expect the printing of your project to consume about 25% of your campaign budget. This can be reduced by printing off-set instead of digital, but resist the temptation to create a static mail piece. Personalized messages will capture your customer’s attention and produce a higher response rate.
DATA: Good news! Whatever target audience you want to reach, the data is out there. However, the more selective the data, the higher the cost. Allocate about 15% of your budget for data if you don’t already have your own database. If you need help building or updating a database, U.S. Mailing House can assist.
MAILING SERVICES: Once you need to mail more than 400 letters, stop making the company intern manage it. Let a professional, like U.S. Mailing House, handle it for you. Mailing services are about 10% of a direct mail budget, which means having the professionals address, fold and insert your letters is the way to go.
BONUS – TOP THREE SECRETS TO REDUCING DIRECT MAIL COSTS
Don’t Procrastinate
The more time you give a direct mail company to produce and mail your campaign, the lower the cost. Why? Because rushing requires additional labor and overtime. It may also cause you to make costly mistakes from overlooked details.
Use One Shop
Each time you add another vendor to the project, you add additional markup to the cost. Let a single shop handle your project from start to finish. This also reduces production time. And did we mention that U.S. Mailing House is a “one-stop-shop?”
Use Stock Items
Specialized paper, envelopes or sizes creates specialized pricing (i.e. higher pricing). Unless the campaign is unique, let the mail house recommend the type of materials to you instead of the other way around. The quality is just as good, and the cost is much lower.