Determine your direct mail piece
Will you mail a letter in an envelope, a small 4x6 postcard, a large 6x11 postcard, or a trifolded self mailer? Will you use black ink on white paper, or a full glossy four-color process? These factors will affect the appearance and cost of your project.
Design your direct mail advertising piece
Will you design the piece yourself, using desktop publishing software, or will you utilize a graphic designer? Before deciding, you should probably select a print shop, and consult with them. Complex graphics and photographs will not always correctly transfer to press from certain software programs. Your printer will usually have design professionals who can assist you.
Mailing requirements for direct mail
To get the best postage, the mail piece must be made "automation compatible". This means that the piece is prepared so that it can be processed through the automated mail sorting machines at the post office. There are many, many complex rules to comply with. There are rules regarding size, weight and thickness. The piece requires a barcode of a certain size placed in a certain position. There must be sufficient clear space, free of text and graphics, around the barcode and the address block.
Folded self-mailers require tabbing in certain exact positions and must be folded in a certain way. Letters in window envelopes must be designed to allow sufficient space between the barcode and the window edge, and must be folded to avoid shifting in the envelope. The postal indicia (the mailing permit where the stamp normally goes) must be properly placed, sized, and worded. Certain paper colors and thicknesses are problematic.
MOST OF THESE PROBLEMS CAN BE EASILY CORRECTED PRIOR TO PRINTING. ONCE THE PIECE IS PRINTED, IT MAY NOT BE FIXABLE, AND SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONAL COSTS CAN RESULT.
Printing
We can help you with all of your printing needs, regardless of the complexity of your project.
Mailing List
This can be the most important aspect of any mailing project.
- Will you be using an internally generated mailing list, a purchased list, or some combination of both?
- Do you know who your target audience is?
- Will you be putting together lists from multiple people in your organization?
- Are you concerned about outdated addresses and duplicates? Is your mailing list in a proper electronic format?
We can help you obtain a purchased mailing list. We can also clean-up and "dedupe" your existing data. You can email your mailing list to us. It needs to be in a database format. Most people use Microsoft Excel, putting the list in column format. Name in one column, street address in another, city, state, and zip in another.
LISTS ALREADY SET UP IN AVERY LABEL FORMAT CANNOT BE USED WITHOUT INCURRING ADDITIONAL CHARGES TO CONVERT THE DATA TO DATABASE FORMAT.
We can also use a comma or tab delimited text files, or Access. Not sure? Email it to us and we'll look it over at no charge to you. See our Your List page for much more information on preparing your list for mailing.
Tracking 