Statement Printing

Effective May 11, 2009, there will be a postage rate increase in all classes of mail. The single piece rate (full rate) for letter size, one-ounce mail will increase by $.02- from $.42 to $.44. The increase in discounted rated for automated letter mail will vary depending on the rate category.

A $.02 per piece increase seems small on an individual piece scale, but if your company prints and mails 2,000 statements per month, this can add up to $480 per year or $5,760 over a 5-year period in additional costs. Outsourcing statement, invoice, or letter printing and mailing can typically save a company $.06-$.08 per piece. So, now is a great time to check into your options for print and mail outsourcing.

If you’re wondering how a print and mail company can save you $.06-$.08 per piece, the answer is through co-mingling. Basically, the print and mail company takes your mail pieces and mingles them with their other clients’ print and mail pieces to get volume mailing discounts. The idea is simple, and the savings really add up! It is important to choose a high volume, established print and mail company to ensure that you will get the maximum postage discount.

This postal rate increase is actually at or under the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index, and more increases will mean even more additional costs making now a great time to switch from printing and mailing in-house to outsourcing these services.

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In a truly paperless world, we wouldn’t handle another piece of paper: no bills, no books, no newspapers, no magazines, and no advertisements. This idea sounds appealing in theory, but according to Outsourcing Venture, studies have shown that that people prefer to have some paper in their lives. They don’t want clutter, but they do want to have the ability to touch certain pieces of mail. What it comes down to is that a truly paperless society is unlikely to exist anytime soon.

That doesn’t mean a company can’t get the best of both worlds through their print and mail outsourcing. When looking for an invoice or statement printing and mailing company, it is important to see if they have the option for e-bill presentment. Today, businesses know the importance of reducing costs, and the e-bill presentment option along with outsourcing print and mail needs allows businesses to reduce the amount of paper they use and save on costs.

By providing both the e-bill presentment and mailing option for statements and invoices, companies can be sure to meet all of their customers’ needs whether they are on one end of the spectrum and handle all of their bills online and rarely even check their mail or if they are on the other end and pay all of their bills through the mail and rarely even use a computer. So, there will always be certain mail items people want to physically hold, but combining e-bill presentment with invoice and statement mailing is the happy medium between a society filled with paper clutter and one that is completely paperless.

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“I think we were busier during the promotion, but we’re not sure exactly where the response came from.” Does this sound familiar? You rush to get the direct mailing out, push to handle the responses, but overlook the tracking of your direct mail campaign. According to a Marketing and Business Development Council, with proper tracking, direct mail is highly accountable.

Why is it important to track your direct mail campaign? The obvious reason is to reveal your return on investment, but there are many more reasons. Tracking the campaign gives you information for future direct mail campaigns including how your list performed, which offers perform best, and what type of direct mailer is most effective.

Some of the ways to track your campaign are through the front end process of ordering lists, coordinating test cells, and coding the responses. If your company has a POS system or a barcode reader, you can use a mail piece that can have an encoded magnetic strip, like a plastic card mailer, or a barcode on it. These two options not only allow you to track who is redeeming the offers, but also enhances the security of the piece. By encoding a magnetic strip or including a bar code, you can restrict the use of your promotion, prevent staff from allowing people without your piece to receive the same benefits, and determine a time frame for the promotion.

Tracking your direct mail is a crucial element of any campaign, but it is one that is too often overlooked. By tracking your direct mail, you can improve the accuracy and redemption of future campaigns.

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“I’m like most people…The mail comes and I sit in front of the trash can and dump most of it. But every so often there’s a gem in there that I’m interested in. That’s the value of direct mail.” This is a quote from the co-owner of a direct marketing firm in Los Angeles, CA from the Los Angeles Times. Her company mails about 12 million pieces per month, a 40% decrease since last year.

Some people think less “junk mail” is a good thing, but what about all of the direct mail companies or the businesses who can’t afford to send marketing pieces anymore? These are not positive side effects of less direct mail getting sent out.
In this economic climate, businesses have to be smart with their marketing dollars. Direct mail is still an effective way to reach customers and what’s better is you can target customers through a demographically filtered list. But, the real question is, how to you send out those “gems”-the pieces that actually make recipients take notice and then take action?

A targeted list is a good start. For example, if you’re a specialty store that caters to avid golfers, those are the people you should target through your direct mail campaign. Secondly, have a piece that stands out among the rest. A thicker plastic card mailer is a great option. These mailers stand out and the graphics are high quality.

According to the Direct Marketing Assn., direct marketing generates more than $2 trillion in sales annually. Don’t let your business miss out on your part of those sales!

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