National Postal Forum Mailing Industry Update

Solutions to prevent rising postage costs for catalogers

22 May 2013 08:29:03 CDT

There are solutions catalogers can do to safeguard their catalog from rising postage costs. In a hand-out at the American Catalog Mailers Association's National Catalog Forum in Washington, D.C., Quad/Graphics offered eight solutions to prevent rising postage costs.

Successfully converting First-Class Mail to Standard Mail

22 May 2013 08:29:03 CDT

Almost 20 percent of First Class Mail can be successfully converted to Standard Mail. Seventeen percent of FCM consists of advertising (only) and another 2.4 percent is invitations and announcements.

6 direct mail mistakes that could cost thousands

22 May 2013 08:29:03 CDT

Did you know the Standard Rate postage difference from an automation letter to a non-machinable letter can be 15 to 23 cents per piece? For First Class mail, it is even worse (around 35 cents each). With loads of new (and not-so-new) postal regulations in effect, there are some pretty easy ways to make a design or production misstep that can cost lots of money. In most cases, a little design planning and communication could have prevented the errors.

Personalized mail works - and insurance, financial services and fundraising marketers know it

22 May 2013 08:29:03 CDT

"Control mailings" - those mailings that are repeated in the mail - are considered successful mailings and are often the most worthwhile for marketers and printers to study. It's why they play such a prominent role in our multichannel marketing database, Who's Mailing What! But how does the use of personalization vary depending on whether a mailing is a control or not? And in which industries is this happening the most?

Out-of-the-box thinking

22 May 2013 08:29:03 CDT

When direct is in your name, it can set a pretty high expectation among customers and other constituents that your marketing will, in fact, be direct (i.e. relevant and targeted). DirecTV went the opposite way - on purpose - to get attention for its addressable TV advertising capabilities.

Employ both push and pull marketing

22 May 2013 08:29:03 CDT

The future of push vs. pull marketing is a hot debate. With social media continually on the rise, there's a trend to disregard push marketing in its entirety. That's a mistake. Not only is there a place for both, limiting yourself to one over the other will inhibit your ability for profitable growth.

A novel approach to direct mail: Lifestyle-based analytics

22 May 2013 08:29:03 CDT

Despite the fact that our world is becoming more and more digital, direct mail can still be an effective tool for healthcare marketing campaigns. It can be highly informative, easy to track, and often an optimal way to reach older populations that don't use computers, smartphones and tablets as much as younger generations.