How to save on postage, Part 1

I was recently asked by a colleague to collaborate on a piece that explores some basic ways that mailers can save on postage rates – which eat up about 70 – 75% of a mail center’s operational budget. There are many approaches, but in the next few posts I’ll take a look at a few trends on the rise.

Extend the power of the mailpiece

Postage cost increases in Standard and First-Class mail make it more attractive to combine marketing messages that have been historically sent out as separate direct mail pieces with transactional mail – often referred to as Transpromotional mailing. This avoids the extra postage and production costs of a separate application. And by enclosing advertising or special offer inserts, or changing a document design to include personalized marketing messages, you can improve the relevancy and impact of a mailing.

Transpromotional mailing is gaining momentum because it meets two common challenges – improving communication and lowering cost. Mailpiece inserts have been used for advertising for many, many years, but new technology and methods have improved the results by enabling mailers who are already sending out documents with high open rates to target their own offerings on their documents.

If a mailer can prove that cross-selling and up-selling via the mailpiece can become a profitable endeavor, or at least be done in a way that lowers cost, they can justify even more organizational investments. The reality is that for all of the advertising that is seen by the average mail recipient each day, very few messages actually cut through the clutter and wind up in the hands of the reader. Transpromotional content can do that.