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What Are Postcodes?

All the countries around the globe use postal codes. It is one of the few things we have in common regardless of where we are from or where we live. Almost all countries have the same or similar postal code system. But, they are known by several names.

Initially, postal codes in the UK went by their original name, but now the postal codes in the UK are called postcodes. Furthermore, postal codes in the British Overseas Territories and Crown dependencies are also called postcodes. At the same time, you will find a different name for postal codes in other countries.

For example, the postal codes in the United States are called ZIP codes. Similarly, in India, they call their postal codes by the name PIN codes. So, it might be confusing to people or, more likely, businesses that send out domestic and international direct mails.

Postcodes play a vital role in facilitating easy and efficient direct mail communication. Despite the boom of the digital age, postal mail remains a formidable communication medium, especially for businesses. With the advent of direct mail automation, more and more businesses are turning to direct mail marketing. 

But, most of them do not understand postcodes or their significance in direct mail campaigns. Here, we will discuss what postal codes are, how they can help your business operation, and more. A proper understanding of the postal codes will help you to organize effective direct mail campaigns.

Furthermore, it will also help you streamline your direct mail operations, including targeting customers. So, if you are planning on implementing direct mail marketing for your business, you should keep on reading. 

What is the UK Postal Code or Postcode?

The UK postal code is also known as postcode. It is the postal code used for addresses inside the United Kingdom. They are similar to ZIP codes used in the US as they both serve the same purpose. Both postal codes are used to denote addresses in their respective countries.

However, how UK postal code is denoted is very different from ZIP codes in the US. The postal codes in the UK are alphanumeric whereas, and the ZIP codes contain only numbers. This difference is because the system used to determine and categorize the addresses in both countries are different.

Early History

Although the postal code as we know it was only established around the late fifties, the idea was conceived much earlier. You could even say that the idea for a postal code system originated in England or London, to be more precise.

In 1857, almost a hundred years before the inception of the modern-day postal code, London was divided into ten postal districts. It became increasingly challenging to manage postal mail delivery in a hectic city such as London.

Modern Postcode System

The postal code in the UK was devised by the General Post Office, which is today’s Royal Mail. Alphanumeric postal codes were first implemented in the UK in 1959, but they continued evolving for years. It was around this time Royal Mail tried to use electromechanical sorting machines on an experimental basis.

Soon, Royal Mail came up with a six-character alphanumeric code. This new postcode assigned three letters to a geographical area and three numbers to identify individual addresses. By 1974 the UK postal codes were pretty much optimized, and only slight modifications have been made to it since then.

Why is Understanding Postcodes Important?

We know that the postal codes were first developed by the Royal Mail for enhancing and streamlining postal deliveries. But, you must understand that postcodes and their geography have become an integral part of business planning over the years.

It is true for the UK postal codes and all the postal codes around the world, including ZIP codes in the US. The application of postal codes is not just limited to postal delivery and has excellent growth potential. Hence, businesses must get a proper understanding of postal codes.

Formulate Marketing Strategies

Understanding postal codes and their working is essential for advanced marketing strategies like automated direct mail marketing. For example, systems like PostGrid automate your direct mail campaigns and provide you with advanced features.

PostGrid also enables you to have advanced capabilities like geocoding and reverse geocoding. Using such a feature, you can easily plot the presence of your target audience in specific areas. You can then use this map or data to develop targeted campaigns explicitly made for these locations.

Explaining How Postcodes Work

As we have briefly mentioned before, the postcodes are a combination of numbers and letters or, in other words, alphanumeric. Usually, a postcode consists of five or seven characters, and they are used to identify a group of addresses/houses.

The UK postal codes have two parts: an outward and an inward code, and space separates them. It is also worth noting that every full postcode contains fifteen delivery points on average. Moreover, each postal delivery by the Royal Mail also happens in two stages.

Routing of Mailer Using Postcodes

Every time a letter is collected for delivery, it is identified using the first part of the UK postal code or the outward code. After identifying the outward code, the mailer gets routed to its main sorting office. Similarly, the local sorting office identifies the second part of the postcode or the Inward Code.

The mailers get assigned to individual mail carriers by the local sorting offices. A similar system is used for postal delivery all around the world. However, when it comes to UK postal codes or postcodes, they operate at four levels.

The four levels of operation of a UK postal code are better explained through an example. So, from here on, let’s consider the postcode SP7 0AG to explain how postcodes work.

Level 1: Area Postcodes

The Royal Mail has divided the areas it serves into 124 parts for making quick and easy postal deliveries. As you can see in the postcode example, we have taken that the postcode is split into two halves. Note that the postcode’s first part is the outward half of the postcode.

The first two letters of the postcode are used to represent the area postcode. If we consider the postcode example SP7 0AG, the area postcode would be SP. Usually, the area postcodes are named based on the area or Post Town they cover. However, It is not always the case.

The SP in the example we have taken denotes the Post Town Salisbury. Similarly, AB is used to represent the Post Town Aberdeen, YO for the Post Town York, and so on. Pretty simple, isn’t it? So this way, the Royal Mail can easily identify which Post Town your mail should go to.

Special Cases

Some area postcodes are unlike the normal ones we are familiar with and look disconnected from the Post Town they represent. Take Rochester in Kent or Lerwick in Shetland, for example. Their area codes are ME and ZE, respectively.

Both of these area codes may seemingly appear disconnected from their respective Post Towns. However, that is not always the case. Here, ZE for Shetland was derived from the Zetland, an archaic spelling of Shetland.

Similarly, London also has area codes that do not really align with Post Town. It is because they had developed a postal system for London way back in the 19th century. For example, the area code for North London is simply “N.”

Trivia

Did you know that the smallest size area code in the UK is WC, West Central London? Its area is only 2.59 square kilometres. In the meantime, Inverness (IV) is the area code with the biggest size. Inverness spread to an area of 16169.3 square kilometres.

It is worth noting that the average size of an area postcode is 2009.831 square kilometres. Shetland (ZE) has the least number of districts, with only three of them in it. At the same time, Belfast, with 80 districts, has the largest number of districts.

Level 2: District Postcodes

As you might have already guessed, each postcode area is further divided into district postcodes for segmentation purposes. The district postcode is denoted by the number or numbers immediately following the area postcode.

Let’s consider the postcode example SP7 0AG again. Here, the district code is the 7 in SP7. Similarly, you can find the district postcode in every postcode. The district postcode may contain one or more than one digit, so the space between the outward and inward is essential.

Provision of Districts in Postcode Areas

There are almost 3000 postal districts all over the UK. By subdividing the area postcodes, the district postcodes enable the Royal Mail to route the mail to their relevant sorting offices. We know that districts fall into different areas, and there are around 23 districts in an area.

However, the actual number of districts in an area can vary anywhere between 3 and 77. This variation is mainly due to the considerable difference in size and population of the postal regions.

Trivia

The smallest postcode district in the UK is Eastern Central London or EC2N, with a 0.07 square kilometres area. On the other hand, the biggest postcode district is Lairg, and the district code is IV27. It has a massive area of 3607.8 square kilometres. Thus, the average size of a postcode district in the UK is 85.47 square kilometres.

Level 3: Sector Postcodes

Each postcode district in the UK is further divided into various sectors. Similar to the district code, the sector code is also denoted using numbers. In the postcodes, they are written right after the district code however, they are separated by space.

It also means that the sector code is a part of the inward code that we have mentioned above. Whereas, the district code is a part of the outward code or the first half of the postcode. As both are numeric, separating the district from sector codes avoids unnecessary confusion.

Forgetting to add the space between the inward and outward codes is one of the common mistakes businesses make. Although such minor mistakes are expected now and then, it is not ideal for business communications.

It is why most businesses now choose to use an automated direct mail system like PostGrid. With a tool like PostGrid, every address is standardized and verified, so there is no scope for such errors.

Provision of Sectors in Postcode Districts

There are around 11,200 postal sectors in the UK. The postal sectors play a vital role in helping the Royal Mail to pick their delivery rounds. There can be 1 to 10 sectors in a postal district. However, the average number of postal sectors in a district is three.

Trivia

The smallest postal sector in the United Kingdom is in London, which is EC3A 1. It has an area of merely 0.002 square kilometres. On the other hand, Sutherland in Lairg is the largest postal sector, and it has an area of 3607.8 square kilometres. This brings the average postal sector area size to 25.1 square kilometres.

Level 4: Unit Postcodes

Unit postcode is the fourth and final level of a UK postal code. It is used to point you towards a group of houses or addresses. The unit postal code can be used to describe a particular property or a set of properties. Listed below are the type of properties that can be described using a unit postcode:

• Street or a part of the street
• Single Addresses
• Group of Properties
• A subsection of a property
• Individual organizations
• Departments within an organization

As you can guess, there is a vast number of unit postcodes in the UK, over 1.7 million to be exact. However, this number regularly keeps on changing as around 2750 unit postcodes are created, and 2500 unit postcodes are terminated every month.

Large User Postcode For Organizations

It is worth noting that the Royal mail allocates some organizations with a unique postcode. These unique postcodes are assigned to better segment the delivery of a large number of mails made to a single address.

However, to qualify for a unique postal code, an organization must receive an average of 50 mailers or more a day. Therefore, the Royal Mail allocates your organization a large user postcode only if this condition is met. For example, DVLA is a prominent mail user, and they have different postcodes for their various departments.

Importance of Unit Postcodes

You may think of unit postcodes as worker ants that do all the work on a base level. Unit postcodes enable you to identify around thirty million addresses or delivery points in the UK. So, you can deliver to a particular address only because you have the address’s unit postcode.

As you can guess, you need at least one delivery point to constitute a unit postcode. Furthermore, a unit postcode can have as many as 100 delivery points. However, the average number of delivery points in a unit postcode is 17.

Trivia

Each postal sector has 180 postcodes on average. As mentioned above, a postal sector needs to have at least one postcode address and a maximum of 390. However, theoretically, the maximum number of postcodes in a postal area is 400.

What is a Postal Code Used For Other Than Sending Mailers?

Although the primary application of the UK postal code is to send mailers throughout the UK, that is not all postcodes do.

Since postcodes find their way into sectors, districts, and areas, they can define geographical locations. Its capability to define locations through the UK showed immense potential for business marketing. Listed below are some of the significant applications of postcodes.

Demographic Profiling

The population inhabiting the whole of the UK is 67 million people. Each of these 67 million people has its personality. They may have a different outlook on life, different priorities, needs, and they all lead to a way of life that is unique to them.

With such a diverse and rich tapestry of life, the United Kingdom is home to audiences of all kinds. Therefore, it presents an immense opportunity for marketers in practically all industry verticals. However, it is seemingly impossible to identify the ideal audience for your product or service.

Identifying Distinct Groups

Demographic profiling is all about identifying distinct groups of people from a vast population such as the UK. The unique group of people you choose to target should have a lifestyle and needs that perfectly fit the product/service you are offering.

Some businesses may already have an existing database of such potential customers. But that is not always the case. Moreover, even the ones with an existing database may want to expand their target audience. So, in either of these cases, you would need a solution like geodemographic classification.

Postcode Mapping And Geographic Analysis

Businesses or more particularly marketers can get a better understanding of their target audience through postcode mapping. It enables you to get geographical context to your data, including customer behaviour. Provided below are some of the ways you can access and utilize postcode data.

Postcode Point Mapping

A point set map can be based on several things such as full UK postal codes, geocodes, or a general central point. For example, the central point referred to could be based on incomplete postcodes, postcode sectors or areas, or even administrative geography.

Postcode point mapping enables you to chart features of interest in a geographic region. Furthermore, the mapping makes it easier to understand as the data is converted from a table format. The points you can map can be anything such as your best customers, store and sales network, and so on.

Heat Mapping

Even complex data can be made easily understandable with the help of a heat map. Therefore, it is no wonder that numerous businesses use heat mapping for plotting crucial aspects of their business data. Some of the popular data used for heat mapping include the following:

• Customer/Competitor locations
• The average value in an area (e.g., purchase levels)
• Demographic trends
• Distance between customer’s residence and stores/reps

You can even set the areas of our maps using postcode, administrative areas, and more. Furthermore, a heat map can use colour coding to better understand the map and its data. It means you can use red, amber, green, or any other colour scale. You can even choose a colour scheme that matches your company’s branding.

Postcode Territory Mapping

Territories or catchments are created via postcodes, and they can be used for guiding sales and delivery networks. Usually, these maps can be based on several things, such as a list of postcode references or fixed radii from specific points.

Additionally, you can also base the maps on customer value within an area or number of households that fit a demographic group. You can even overlap or draw borders to calculate catchments depending on the tool you are using.

Postcode Sector or Area Mapping

Sometimes businesses may require maps, not of a specific area, but of a specific area. For example, consider a marketing campaign that’s targeted within a certain geographic area. In such cases, postcodes play a vital role in formulating a map for your business.

What is ZIP Postal Code?

The ZIP in ZIP code is short for the Zonal  Improvement Plan. As we have mentioned before, the postal code system is universal, and it goes by different names in different parts of the world. The ZIP codes are the postal code system that is used in the US.

Like the postcodes in the UK, the ZIP codes also enable their postal service provider to identify locations or addresses. However, the US ZIP code system uses a 9-digit ZIP code system, unlike the alphanumeric system used in the UK.

Postcode Vs ZIP Code

Basis For Comparison	Postcode	ZIP Code
Country	The United Kingdom	The United States of America
Year of Inception	1959	1963
Purpose of Creation	Address reference, identification of locations, census and route planning	Address reference and identification of locations
Numeric/Alphanumeric	Alphanumeric	Numeric
Length	The length of the postcode can vary depending on unique locations.	Between 5-9 characters. A full ZIP code consists of 9 digits. You may choose to use the first five digits but, it can affect the accuracy of the address.

Automated Solution For Determining Postcodes

The primary purpose of the UK postal code for businesses is to send direct mail to their customers or clients. However, getting access to accurate postcodes is not so easy. Even accurately copying the postcode to a mailer can be hard at times, especially if your business sends bulk direct mails.

Thankfully there are advanced solutions like PostGrid that can help you verify and standardize address databases. For example, PostGrid’s address verification API allows you to bulk verify your addresses using a simple CSV file.

Also,  you can choose to print your direct mails, including postcards, brochures, newsletters, and more via PostGrid. By doing so, you can be sure that your mailers have validated and standardized addresses. PostGrid even offers advanced capabilities like geocoding to make the most out of your marketing efforts.

Conclusion

Postal code is used for numerous purposes today, and its scope goes well beyond postal mail delivery. For example, businesses now rely on postcodes not just for delivering marketing and communication mailers but also for advanced marketing strategies. 

Postal code plays a vital role in advanced operations, including demographic profiling and postcode mapping. However, all of this requires accurate postcode data. Powerful address verification API such as PostGrid can help you access accurate postcode data via Royal Mail’s address database. 

PostGrid also has advanced capabilities like geocoding, which can help you in postcode mapping. Therefore, tools like PostGrid enable you to target your direct mail better and enhance its results. You can even personalize, print, and mail your direct mail via the Royal Mail using PostGrid.

It is high time businesses adopt innovative solutions like PostGrid to streamline their direct mail operations. With an exceedingly high deliverability rate and automated process, you can minimize your postcodes and direct mail errors. As a result, you will be able to run seamless direct mail campaigns and access deep insights that you never could before.

The post What Are Postcodes? appeared first on PostGrid UK.

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Direct Mail Marketing Costs

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Direct Mail Marketing: How Much Does Direct Mail Cost?

When you send direct mail pieces to your prospects, you tend to sell 28% more products than other marketing techniques. Hence, it increases your ROI considerably.

However, the primary question that remains is how much direct mail costs to the marketers? To answer this question, you may need to consider several sections. Plus, depending on your business type, mailing list’s size, and the quality of your direct mail campaign, the cost may vary significantly.

Several things that decide your direct mail cost are graphics, copy, type of the collateral, printing, personalization, number of direct mails, and shipping. Some companies handle design and copywriting in-house to reduce the cost. However, other companies hire professionals to do it for them. The latter option may cost more in the beginning but provide better chances of good revenue generation.

Once you’ve added all direct mail elements’ expenses, you can expect your direct mail to cost you anywhere between $0.03 – $3.00 per piece. You can also measure your cost per thousand direct mails sent, commonly known as cost per thousand (CPM). It makes the process of analyzing the cost easier.

All you have to do is determine your direct mail pieces’ total cost and divide it by 1000. This method is also recommended to calculate the price because most vendors provide you with a quote in this format.

The number of your mail pieces has a significant role in deciding the overall cost of your campaign. If you want to decrease your direct marketing cost, consider sending direct mail pieces in bulk.

In this guide, we’ll discuss the various elements that affect the cost of your direct mail campaign. By choosing and deciding the quality and size of these elements, you can regulate your direct marketing cost accordingly.

Direct Mail Design Charges

Depending on your direct mail design, it can cost you up to $1000, starting from $10 per direct mail campaign. This vast difference in the price usually depends on your choice of designer and the collaterals you’ll use in your direct mail campaign. Plus, the content, graphics, images, etc., also matters.

Additionally, the major cost difference is caused by the person who’ll design your direct mail. For example, you can either get a company to create your mail sample, an expert with tons of experience, a new freelance designer, or someone with designing skills in your company.

However, that’s not all. You can also design your direct mails yourself using templates. Let’s find out how these different options can alter your design cost.

1. In-House Designing

If someone is designing your postcard or letters in-house, you can expect that the upfront cost will be almost zero. Hence, it is the most economical option, especially if you have to design invoices or billing statements.

In addition to that, if you frequently launch direct mail campaigns, then you should consider hiring a professional designer for the company. This way, you can save a lot more than paying per design, get things done in less time, and get it edited just like you want it and as many times as you wish.

However, one disadvantage of this method is that your direct mail design may or may not be professional if you hire a cost-effective person with not that much experience or get it created by a non-professional staff member in-house.

2. Templates

After in-house designing, the next most economical option for your designs is templates. You can find various direct mail templates online, and some even cost no more than $10.

Using this option, you can design your direct mail instantly and easily. Most such templates are designed by professionals so that you can display your brand’s image via well-performing artworks.

3. Hiring a Professional

If your company launches regular direct marketing campaigns and needs complex designs for each of your mailpieces, consider hiring an expert. It may cost you a bit more than the above two options, but the outcome would be great depending on your design and copy combined.

You can expect to pay anywhere between $100 to $2000. Mainly, designing agencies cost more, so if you’re just starting, you can also consider hiring a freelance designer with just the right experience.

Direct Mail Copywriting Charges

Copy of your mailpiece is as essential as your designs. After catching your prospects’ attention, if you fail to deliver the message just the way they want to listen to it, it’ll all go in vain.

Just like designs, you can write your copy in-house or get it done by a professional. But since most of your return depends on this part of direct mail, we recommend hiring an expert.

If your copy fails to engage your prospects and get them to take action, then the whole campaign will go in vain.

The rates of copywriting also vary greatly. Depending on the experience and the result your copywriter is promising, you can expect to pay anywhere between $20 to $2000.

And it may seem like a big deal to you right now, but when the results start to show up, you realize it was worth this investment. For example, if you paid $1000 for the copy of one of your direct mail campaigns and generated a great client base, you know it was worth it. And once you get a taste of it, you’ll never settle for less.

However, if currently, you’re a startup, a one-person micro business, or just low on budget, you can consider hiring a freelance copywriter. If you’re willing to do it yourself – making the copywriting cost to zero – then follow a few simple tips like:

• Always mention benefits than stating the features of your products or services.
• Make it all about them.
• Never try to sell. Instead, explain your customers’ problems and provide them with a solution—your product/services.

Direct Mail Lists Charges

Your mailing list vastly depends on what you want to acquire. For example, if you want to launch a new product and market it to your existing customers, your in-house or already built mailing list will work just fine.

However, if you’re just starting out or you want to expand your customer or client base by offering a different type of product or service, then you can consider buying a new mailing list.

To get the new mailing list, you’d need to do market research and study your buyer persona. Then depending on your customers’ demographic details, you can buy a mailing list.

The rates of mailing lists differ. For example, some vendors may offer you the list at $30 per 1000. The charges vary depending on the number of times you want to use that list, the value it’s delivering to your business, and what quality clients it is providing.

The best option for acquiring a mailing list, which we mostly recommend at PostGrid, is building one of your own. It can be beneficial for you in many ways. For example, it will be the most specific. The prospects’ details that you have here are the ones that have already interacted with you before. Hence they know at least a little, if not much, about you.

Furthermore, by getting a more advanced direct mail API, like PostGrid, you can keep your database updated, free from errors, and automate your direct mails’ sending to the audience’s segmented list.

PostGrid helps you integrate your CRM and fetch all of your mailing list data within seconds.

Additionally, how much these mailing lists cost mainly depends on the kind of mailing list you want for your company. For example, the general residential mailing lists formulating the demographic details are comparatively cheaper than the business mailing lists.

You can either rent or buy them, depending on your current need. The charges differ from vendor to vendor, yet you can expect to pay anywhere near $0.03 per record, that is $30 per 1000 records, for the residential mailing list and $0.46 per account, which is $46 per 1000 people for a business mailing list.

Direct Mail Format Charges

Your direct mail can cost you differently depending on the format and size you choose for it. For example, most companies try to keep their mail pieces slightly bigger to stand out in prospects’ mailboxes.

Now, if you choose a smaller mailer, then naturally, the cost will be lower. Apart from that, several other elements, like personalization and customization, can also change your mailpieces’ price. And if you’re doing all the tasks manually in-house, you may also need more printing supplies for a bigger direct mail than a smaller one.

Besides, you’d also need to consider the quality of your printing supplies. For example, what kind of paper would you want to use for your letters, the white glossy one, matte, off-white, or how thick it would be. Plus, most businesses also use different material types – other than paper – to print their message.

This method helps them stand out from the other mailers present in the prospects’ mailbox and increases brand awareness. Like, if you receive a beautiful postcard delivering a message written on a metal or wooden card, you’re more likely to keep it on your table or refrigerator than throwing it off.

Now your visitors may notice it, as at the bottom of the card, the company decided to leave their logo or website details.

But again, you might want to consider the shipping charges of Royal Mail, and that’s per weight.

Direct Mail Personalization Charges

Over the years, everything has evolved, including marketing, which means personalization isn’t an option anymore. If you want good results, you better personalize each of your direct marketing campaigns.

With so much advertising around us, it’s hard to keep the prospects engaged to what you have to say. But if you try a personal approach and try to let them know you already know them, their likes, their problems, and how your product can help them solve those problems.

Although it can be cheaper to send generic direct mail pieces to your prospects, the results you’ll receive will vary considerably.

But personalization can also help you track your direct mail campaigns and increase your response rate. For example, if you add a personalized URL, it’ll be easier for people to visit your website.

To personalize your direct mail, you can either go for variable data printing (VDP), but it would be a little expensive. The other option is an automated PostGrid API that you can use to fetch tons of your data just by integrating your CRM or other systems. Then you can use it to personalize each of your direct mail pieces with the various details of your prospects.

Direct Mail Printing Charges

One significant element that changes the entire cost of your direct mail marketing is printing. The starting per piece printing price is $0.05, going up to $2.00 per piece. But more or less, it depends on the printing vendors and different printing labs that may charge differently.

Apart from this, it’s not the only option you can use to print your mail pieces. You can also get it done in-house. However, if you decide to print all of your mailpieces within your firm, get ready for the extra time and resources you may need to put into it.

For example, besides bringing the big printing machines and hiring staff to print and manage the other task, you’ll also need to invest in the printing supplies. For example, the cartridges, paper stock, colour, envelopes, labels, etc., and then you’ll need a separate space in the office to keep them and continually manage them so that you never run out of the stocks when you need it.

So it’s a lot of work. Plus, once your printing is done, you’d also need to label, fold, and sort them. Then ship those direct mail pieces in bulk.

Another better and easier option is automation API, like PostGrid. It allows you to manage everything from a single dashboard and just give the command to print and send after selecting the quantity and other necessary details.

Once you’ve completed this step, we’ll get your mail pieces printed and shipped within two business days. This way, you save time, resources, and a lot of effort that might go into keeping the stocks, hiring staff, and managing tasks and people. Plus, it’s also cost-effective.

Direct Mail Postage Charges

After printing, postage charges will add the most to your direct mail marketing cost. Although it mainly depends on your particular mail piece’s weight and the distance you have to send those letters to, priority processing can hike the charges.

If you want to decrease your shipping charges, you should go for Royal Mail. Other mail services can be a little more expensive for you.
The rates of Royal Mail start from 85p for the regular delivery of a 100g package. From there on, the postal service offers first-class, second-class, special, international, and next-day deliveries.

Plus, they also provide a payback if they lose any of your direct mails depending on the weight and the category you sent it in. Here’s a list of shipping charges of Royal Mail for all the categories.

How Automation Can Help Drop These Charges Significantly

You can launch direct mail marketing campaigns regularly and head-ache free. You can send direct mails just like emails, including the triggered mails.

All you have to do is integrate PostGrid API with your CRM or other systems, and you can control all of your direct mail marketing campaigns entirely from a single dashboard. From designing your mail pieces to printing and mailing them, it’ll all be our responsibility.

Plus, you will not even need to calculate the charges of everything like design, copywriting, printing, and shipping. We’ll do it all for you and send you the invoice as you prefer to receive it.

With PostGrid automation API, you can save tons of hours, resources, staff, efforts, and money. We also provide an address validation feature, free of cost, with the API. This way, the data of your mailing list is checked against the official database of Royal Mail and is updated each time after a campaign launch.

Hence, you save the money you might otherwise spend on the direct mail pieces sent to the wrong addresses resulting in the loss of confidential information if it’s not a direct marketing mail.

Plus, sometimes your database contains duplicate address listings. That way, you can send identical direct mail to a single prospect twice or thrice. Depending on the number of the same addresses present in your system, your misspending can be excessive.

PostGrid helps you reduce the cost of your direct mail campaigns, the time and effort you put into it and increase your response and conversion rate.

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The post Direct Mail Marketing Costs appeared first on PostGrid UK.

source https://www.postgrid.co.uk/direct-mail-marketing-costs/

source https://postgridunitedkingdom.blogspot.com/2021/10/direct-mail-marketing-costs.html

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Types of Direct Mail

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Different Types of Direct Mail to Help You Generate Leads

Direct mail continues to be among the most effective marketing strategies for businesses. But, you have to draft strategies that fit well with your business objectives.

There are many uses of direct mail advertising including connecting with new prospects and retaining existing customers. It is one of the best ways to approach someone and increase your leads.

You can pair direct mail with modern technology for better targeting and increase your return on investment.

Both B2B and B2C companies can use direct mail marketing campaigns to increase sales. PostGrid’s account-based marketing solutions can help you print and mail items directly to decision-makers.

What are the Two Major Direct Mail Advertising Types?

Postcards and letters are most commonly used but you also have other options. There are many different types of direct mail items that you can use to connect with your target audience. All of them have different features and can be used for different purposes.

It is important that you select marketing items that justify your messaging and appeal to the recipients. While direct mail postcards are effective in communicating short messages, letters are used to explain something in more detail.

In this article, we will discuss the various types of direct mail advertising collateral and also suggest which one can suit your business. But first, let us talk more about direct mail marketing and how you can increase your response rates.

Elements of Direct Mail Marketing

Your marketing campaigns depend on a lot of factors to succeed, like your design, copy, and offers. These things also affect your mailing costs significantly.

The first thing to focus on is your mail design. Choose an eye-catching and attention-grabbing template. Pay attention to the colours, placement of words, and quality.

In addition, take care to only use targeted mailing lists. The types of direct mail lists you choose dictate whether your campaign will be successful or not. You can either rent mailing lists

The next important element is the call to action. Use CTAs that are easy to complete and work great in combination with a special offer. Most of all, select the right type of direct mail collateral that can help the above-mentioned elements do their job.

What Types of Direct Mail Are the Most Effective?

If you tailor your messaging and choose the right audience, you can guarantee better engagement rates. We have shortlisted some of the most effective direct mail formats to further help you increase conversions.

Postcards

Postcards are among the most cost-effective types of direct mail. As the name goes, they are small cards that are sent to people via post. Royal Mail delivers billions of mail items every year that chiefly consists of postcards and letters.

Earlier, postcards were used by people as a way to connect with their loved ones. The number of mailed postcards is the highest from the day of Thanksgiving up to New Year’s. Apparently, they are a great way to deliver your greetings and stay connected with others.

Marketing postcards work the same way, but with the prime motive to increase conversions. Though postcards are not meant to ask people to buy from you, they lead the way to it. You can incorporate postcard marketing into your social media and email marketing campaigns for better results.

What are the benefits of using postcards?

Out of all the types of direct mail, postcards garner the most open rates. This is because they can be mailed without envelopes and all the recipients need to do is flip them over.

Also, postcards are highly appealing and a lot of people find them useful. They act as a quick and easy way to talk about your brand and communicate your offers to potential customers.

Postcards generate a response rate of 4.25% which is pretty good as compared to other marketing channels and types of direct mail pieces.

Use Cases of Postcard Marketing

All large, medium and small businesses can use postcard marketing as part of their marketing campaigns. You can use postcards to promote sales, increase brand visibility, showcase your brand offerings, and make announcements.

A lot of marketers also use postcards to introduce loyalty programs for old customers. It is an excellent tactic to win back your old customers and ask them to buy from you again.

Postcards can also help you create hype about new products and services. You can invite prospects and customers to product launches through postcard marketing or add a small welcome-back discount and talk about how much you appreciate your customers. PostGrid’s postcard API can help you create, print, and mail personalised postcards effortlessly.

Postcard Sizes

They are typically small but are available in many different sizes. Oversized postcards have been around for a while and perform great, although they can increase your costs.

The most popular postcard sizes are:

• 3.25” x 5”
• 4¼” x 6”
• 9” x 6”
• 9” x 11”
• 11” x 6”

Small postcards can help you save money, but oversized postcards enable you to stand out from the crowd. However, use oversized postcards only when the size suits your messaging. Otherwise, you can stick to small and medium-sized postcards with an attention-grabbing design.

 Also Read: How to Automate Postcard Marketing?

Letters

Before deciding that postcards are the best type of direct mail, consider marketing letters. They have more space and give an elegant touch to your message.

Direct mail marketing letters are enclosed in envelopes that make them more confidential and professional. You can target customers and prospects by sending well-written letters that can offer helpful solutions for their needs.

Add more details about your brand and the products or services you offer. Letters give an opportunity to converse with someone and convince them to complete the CTA.

Their layout is plain and simple, but you can focus on the finer details such as the paper quality and envelope design. Take care to craft an excellent copy that the recipients find worth reading.

You can include an order form or reply card along with your letters. They motivate recipients to reply to your letters more promptly.

Letters are more often used in B2B marketing wherein you need to contact professional clients. Some letters are precise and short, whereas some are friendly and long. You can pick from the different types of direct mail letters that best appeal to your clients.

Again, PostGrid can help you print and mail letters with ease and convenience. You also have the option to use letters with oversized envelopes that are more attention-grabbing.

 Also Read: Benefits of Outsourcing Transactional Printing

Newsletters

The different types of direct mail advertising items serve different purposes. Hence, you should always consider your requirements before choosing among them.

The type of mail you choose makes a big difference, especially for small businesses who wish to spend their budget wisely.

Another cost-effective direct mail item is a newsletter. It is very effective to keep in touch with your existing subscribers, supporters, investors, and customers.

Newsletters can consist of a vast amount of content ranging from your latest achievements to the new products you have been working on. You can add customer testimonials and real-life stories to relate to people and keep them connected to your business.

Direct Mail Packages

Direct mail packages are a combination of two or more types of advertising direct mail items. They are used to increase the impact of your direct mail campaigns and drive more engagement.

You can combine letters and postcards, or use either of them with personalised gifts. People are delighted to get more than one thing in a mail package. Hence, sending all-in-one packages can help you grab the limelight.

Direct mail packages can be an expensive marketing tool, so send them only to your top accounts or long-term customers.

Such packages give different ways to talk about your offerings and also offer variety in design. But, make sure to keep your messaging, offers, and CTA consistent.

Wrapping Up

It is hard to determine the best type of direct marketing methods before first trying them out. Marketers should test different types of direct mail to see what works best for their company.

You can divide your target market into two or more different segments and mail different marketing items to each segment. Don’t forget to add QR codes, pURLs, or other trackable features to help you capture responses.

PostGrid’s direct mail API can help you design, print, and send your items to any part of the world. It can also help you with tracking mail, measuring campaign results, and preparing reports for future reference.

Sign up to streamline your direct mailing efforts towards more conversions!

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B2B Direct Mail Guide

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Introduction into B2B Direct Mail Marketing

Have some highly relevant accounts in your list and don’t know how to convert them? Well, the answer is crystal clear – Marketing. But how? What marketing channel should you use, and how to get the best out of it?

First, let us be clear about what B2B marketing is; it basically comprises marketing activities conducted by B2B companies – those who sell to businesses. B2B marketing is different from B2C marketing (wherein a company’s products and services are advertised directly to customers).

The best way to reach out to your corporate customers is direct, which is why direct mail marketing is your best choice. Businesses can use direct mail as a lone marketing medium or by collaborating with other forms. Many marketers think that direct mail marketing is still expensive, untrackable, and difficult to conduct. However, with new direct mail practices, these things are turned into mere myths. 70% of direct mail recipients think direct mail makes them feel special. Using direct mail, B2B businesses can establish strong relationships with their clients and increase ROI drastically.

We have put together a B2B direct mail guide to understand direct mail better and all the possibilities you can explore.

Best Practices for B2B Direct Mail Marketers

Direct mail marketing becomes easier when you clearly know what things you are supposed to do. Moreover, by understanding these things, you can improve your chances of getting responses and driving conversions. Find below the best practices for you to incorporate into your B2B direct mail marketing strategies:

1. Align Marketing with Sales and Define Prospect Profile Carefully

In B2B marketing, you target a company that is most likely to be converted into a customer. It is important to note that employees of your prospect company can shift positions or leave the organization. Your direct mail activities can go to waste if you send mail to an employee who has already left. Hence, it is vital that you align your marketing efforts with your sales team to guide you about the concerned persons and add them to your mailing lists.

Always take notes from your sales team and then mail accordingly. Furthermore, define your prospect profile clearly and target the right ones.

2. Include a Straightforward CTA

Your call-to-action should be no mystery to your direct mail recipients. Hence, include a straightforward CTA, which can be completed by them easily. Including a CTA in your direct mail pieces is very important as it fulfils the main purpose of the campaign.

Tell your customers about what is expected of them. Sending a mailer without any CTA can never get you any responses as the customers are not directed towards the next step. Therefore, always include a CTA; it could be anything from signing up on your website or requesting a demo.

3. Step Into Your Prospect’s Shoes

You should be aware of your prospect’s preferences, life stages, likes, dislikes, lifestyle habits, and needs. Only then will you be able to know what they exactly want. Advertising to the right audience is simply reaching out to people who actually require your products or services. Companies should make sure that their direct mail is curated in a manner that answers their prospect’s questions.

Avoid complicated language and explain about your brand in a way that appropriately suits their needs and can induce them into buying your product.

4. Personalize Your Mailers

Sending plain mailers with no personalization can lead to campaign failure. Personalization can be used in any manner – you can do as little as insert the first name of your prospect on the item. This simple step can help you connect with the person instantly. Sending personalized direct mail to existing customers also helps in retention and repeat business. Always make your customers feel special as it results in increased brand loyalty and reputation.

5. Get Creative

Creativity can do wonders. Advertising is all about grabbing attention and nothing can do that better than an eye-catching and appealing direct mail item. Get as creative as you can and send mail pieces that do not miss any eye.

You can add your logo, include some jaw-dropping graphics, draft a persuading copy, and use bright colours. The right combination of these things can make your direct mailer a conversion driver.

6. Follow Up Regularly

Sending a mail just once and waiting for a response won’t help it. You need to follow up and know what is in the minds of your audience. An email after receiving your mailer is the first step of follow-up. Further, you can send another mail piece or even call them up. B2B marketing requires strong and frequent follow-ups. You might have to invest a little more in sending follow-up mail, but it is worth it.

B2B Direct Mail Use Cases

Direct mail can be used for a number of things like increasing customer engagements, driving online traffic, and more. Keep reading to explore the opportunities that direct mail marketing offers to B2B marketers.

1. Reach Out Directly

Create a concise yet attractive direct mailer to be sent out to your prospects. You can directly reach out to your prospects and secure a one-to-one connection with them through direct mail marketing. With the help of targeting, you can reach out to the right people with the right message, which will surely get you somewhere.

2. Grow Your Network

Whether it is growing your network offline or increasing your social media followers, calling out to people to know about your brand is an excellent strategy for any business. Especially in B2B business, companies are focused on growing their contact lists and inviting more and more people to know them.

Companies can send direct mail to people engaged with their business through social media platforms as they already know about their brand and are more likely to be converted.

3. Engage New Customers

Getting new customers is one of the most important use cases of direct mail marketing. It is because sending direct mail to someone who has never heard of you can help such people know you, ultimately increasing brand awareness. However, it is needed that you first study your audience, personalize your direct mail, and then launch a campaign. Reaching out to someone for the first time with an impressive mailer that solves their queries and offers a solution to their needs or problems is something you can root for using B2B direct mail.

4. Keep Your Audience Updated

It is a great idea to keep in touch with your audience and side-by-side promote your new product launches, services, discounts, season sales, and any events or conferences hosted by you. This twin approach to keeping your audience updated by educating them on the latest affairs and advertising your brand can help you engage more and more people. Some people might not be interested in your new product but might want to participate in your contests and vice versa. B2B direct mail marketing enables you to develop new ways of communicating with your prospects and luring them into completing the desired CTA.

B2B Direct Mail Examples

• Trustpilot used large-sized letters with popping colours and an eye-catching format to induce their audience. Their letters were simple but had an appealing message.

• CAT used B2B direct mail for promoting their events and special offers. They kept the colours consistent with their brand for easy brand recall. The most intellectual part of their campaign was that they added an excellent offer that was very persuasive against a CTA.

There are two popular direct mail items that any B2B company can use. Both of these items are highly professional but at the same time have attention-grabbing features.

1. Postcards

Postcards are both concise and appealing. They can communicate your message to your prospects in short and simple messages and in a very professional manner. Undoubtedly, postcards are appealing, and many people tend to collect postcards – which offers your brand more exposure when you print your logo on them.

Nowadays, postcards come in various sizes and types. There are dual-fold and tri-fold postcards available that companies can use as per their messaging. Pop-up postcards are also getting popular. Hence, postcards offer great versatility and are also very cost-effective.

2. Letters

Letters can be hyper-personalized according to the requirements of your prospects. You can simply put out their whole range of needs and offer solutions to each one of them. Such letters can change the whole game as they are capable of commencing a deep personal bond with a person. The talks through letters are down-to-business and straight-to-the-point. Like postcards, there are some variations in letters as well. You can either use single-page or multiple-page letters. Some companies also use oversize envelopes to stand out from the crowd.

Things to Take Care of While Conducting B2B Direct Mail Campaigns

1. Take and Implement Customer Feedback

Don’t forget to collect customer feedback and implement the same in your upcoming campaigns. You can ask your direct mail recipients about what they liked and disliked about your direct mail items and what they are exactly looking for. Such reviews or feedback can be really valuable as they give you an outsider’s view of your organization that can be very helpful.

2. Add Inducing Offers Against Your CTA

Asking for a favour in return for nothing seems dull and will not land you anywhere. If you expect your prospects to complete the CTA, you should provide something in return. Like we said earlier, CAT’s B2B direct mail campaign was successful as they offered a great deal in return for a CTA.

3. Always Test and Measure Results

In order to have an idea of what your audience likes, send out some test samples and measure the results. Launching a large-scale campaign without any research and testing can lead to great losses. Instead, test and learn first, then you can proceed to launch a big campaign. It can help you save a lot of money, time, and effort. PostGrid’s direct mail automation solutions can help you test and measure results through detailed campaign analytics and insights.

How to Track Your B2B Direct Mail?

There are a lot of trackable features that you can include in your direct mail pieces. Adding such features in direct mail is very important as they form the base to measure your campaign results.

1. PURLs

PURLs are personalized links that take your prospects to a personalized landing page. This page might include their name or other aspects specific to them. You can also include their name in the customized URL, like www.xyz.com/steve-matthew. Such links make it easy for you to record your mailers’ open rates and make your prospects feel special.

2. Trackable Phone Numbers

Always insert a contact number that is unique to your campaign and easily trackable. You can create a dedicated phone number and use it for a particular campaign. Hence, every time you get a call on this line, you know it was prompted by your direct mailer. Measuring campaign results this way is easy and highly productive. You can also record all the calls on this line to trace respondents and follow-up accordingly. Make sure that the number is toll-free.

3. QR Codes and Coupons

Adding coupons and scannable QR codes is the easiest way to track your B2B direct mail marketing campaigns. Whenever a person scans a QR code, it will take them to a landing page where they can complete a CTA. The coupon codes also offer companies a way to track results as every coupon is redeemable on either an online purchase or by taking it to an offline store.

4. Automation

Direct mail automation solutions like PostGrid can help you track results, get timely reports and insights. They can help you measure everything appropriately and design your future campaigns accordingly.

Be it including pURLs or trackable phone numbers. You can do it all through a direct mail automation API. PostGrid’s API is completely designed to suit your B2B direct mailing requirements and makes it easy for you to design, launch, and track your campaigns. With PostGrid, you can:

• Create or design your direct mail items using in-built templates
• Get them printed and mailed on-time
• Track the progress of your mail items
• Manage user permissions
• Get timely reports and campaign insights
• Integrate with your CRM so you can get rid of manual data entry
• Ensure data privacy and confidentiality
• Build new mailing lists and segment them according to certain demographics
• Verify and validate addresses speedily

Conclusion

B2B direct mail marketing is the most impactful way to reach out to your corporate customers and convince them to try out your brand. PostGrid’s direct mail solutions can help you conduct successful direct mail campaigns capable of driving results and boosting sales.

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The post B2B Direct Mail Guide appeared first on PostGrid UK.

source https://www.postgrid.co.uk/b2b-direct-mail/

source https://postgridunitedkingdom.blogspot.com/2021/09/b2b-direct-mail-guide.html

source https://suzannefcox.tumblr.com/post/663772011502370817