Where does a marketer spend their time? For all marketers, but especially those of us working on direct mail campaigns, it looks like it should boil down to either campaign development or cost control.
Of course since we are marketers and used to doing more with less – it is both. Let me explain.
After we take a look at our most successful direct mail campaigns, we always find that campaign development and campaign cost control have had a complex interplay. One’s success feeds the other. If we can find a way to incorporate this line of thought into our direct mail campaigns, we can increase ROI. This is a major advantage we direct mail marketers have over other marketing channels, such as digital or through media. We get the feedback, through response, to drive our decision making. With that in mind we can find ways to save money and spend more on our campaigns.
One important way of saving money for direct mail marketers is on postage costs. Postage is the single most expensive cost associated with executing effective direct mail campaigns.
If you’re not leveraging the USPS’s many opportunities to reduce postage costs, you’re spending unnecessary dollars that could be better spent elsewhere. Therefore, determining the best postage prices is crucial for a successful, optimized direct mail campaign.
There are a couple ways that I work through this with clients. First, we examine prior postal optimization strategies. Questions like How are you sorting your files? and can/should you be commingling? are crucial to determining how we can reduce postage and delivery times.
Just as important, be aware that the USPS is offering discounts on postage. Most promote integrating innovation in your campaig development so they really do contribute to improving your direct mail campaign effectiveness and ROI.
Here are a few examples of USPS discounts in 2016:
- Personalized Color Transpromotional = 2% Postage Discount
- Emerging & Advanced Technology / Video in Print = 2% Postage Discount
- Mobile Shopping = 2% Postage Discount
- Tactile, Sensory, & Interactive Mail piece Engagement = 2% Discount
These cost reduction ideas will not deter from campaign but to the contrary will act to improve direct marketing key performance indicators including cost per piece and increased response and ROI.