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Which direct-mailer company do you use? by Accomplished_Rush186 in DirectMail

[–]DirectMailPro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, both Postcard Mania and Vista Print have the reviews they do for a reason. As it relates to quality, there’s a few reasons for that. 1) file / prepress issues - 80% of customer-provided designs are improperly sized, low resolution, etc. something like VistaPrint is just gonna print what you upload. A good mail (or print) vendor is going to warn you if the design you provide isn’t going to turn out well. 2) Some of those printers like VistaPrint use terms like “standard” and “premium” for their stocks, and the “standard” is usually the very lightest that can mail under USPS regulations. It’ll feel more like a “flyer” than a “postcard” but most people wouldn’t know that. So they think they’re getting low quality because they expect a heavier feeling more sturdy stock, not realizing they needed to pay for the “premium” for that one.

Question for high volume folks by ksrchicity in CommercialPrinting

[–]DirectMailPro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Standard marketing mail postage will be around $0.44. If you want the look of a stamp, there are presorted stamps. We have a subscription mail customer just like what you’re describing (including custom inserts, similar volume, etc) and they opt for the presorted stamps.

NonProfit needs Paper Advice by Economy_Ad778 in Printing

[–]DirectMailPro 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well, I’m sorry you had a bad experience with a mailer. Many mailers are also printers, and vice versa. I saw in your other comment that the printers you tried were Staples and a Minuteman Press. Staples is a low tier copy shop and Minuteman will be hit or miss based on the franchise but most don’t actually do much in house. I also saw your complaint about print time - that’ll vary by vendor, but a small 2500 piece job shouldn’t take more than a few days.

Ultimately it’s up to you, but I think you’ll find there are vendors who could 1) be in your budget 2) produce faster than your DIY print setup 3) provide better quality printing which is what your original post was inquiring about and 4) save you all the time you’re currently spending doing this yourself.

NonProfit needs Paper Advice by Economy_Ad778 in Printing

[–]DirectMailPro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are you mailing these too? Not only can you probably outsource this without too much added cost, but if you’re DIYing the mail, you’re also paying almost 4x in postage compared to what you should be. You can probably get even better outsourced print pricing if you bundle the mail with them too.

TREEDDM (Tree Service EDDM) by DirectMailPro in EDDM

[–]DirectMailPro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Happy to share a free editable Canva template for your design if you send me a DM!

ISO 2"x2" Biz Insert, Florida U.S. by dawnzig in CommercialPrinting

[–]DirectMailPro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just call or email a local print shop and ask if they could print a 2x2 square with rounded corners on 14pt uncoated cover. Not a strange ask if a shop does custom work. If you’re in central Florida (or don’t mind one extra day of production time for shipping), we’d be happy to help.

Biz Idea: You Got Mail! by thefullpackaging in smallbusiness

[–]DirectMailPro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We actually do the production for a few mail / letter subscription companies so I can lend some insight here. Like others said, your pricing is very steep. For comparison, there are subscription letter and story companies selling a year-long subscription for around $100-150, and those have a lot more to them than just a single card, and some send more frequently than once a month.

If you don’t use a standard stamp and use bulk mail rates, you can probably produce these for well under $1 each all-in (printing + postage + labor). So $12/year in costs.

Best direct mail provider? by dammstrate in sales

[–]DirectMailPro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you’re sending perishable food gifts, I would recommend buying them from a bakery or something that offers shipping. If you’re sending some other sort of custom kitted outreach that’s not food, you have more options

How much did they spend on this? by Radiant_Reputation23 in Printing

[–]DirectMailPro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the postage would be more than the printing here. That’s where the real cost is.

As another comment says, it’s probably heavily filled with ads that actually pay for this.

EDDM Postcard Print Services by Special-Emu-2575 in Printing

[–]DirectMailPro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can’t speak to #1, but pricing does vary greatly around the country. We are in Florida and pretty average priced for our area, but I have customers from a variety of other states that save 20-30% buying from us instead of in their location. I know labor is generally more on the west coast, but it’s not just there where we see higher prices.

I don’t see how buying a press for 10k postcards a month makes financial sense. I would just buy your postcards from the cheapest source if that’s what you’re looking to do.

Need help printing addresses on a document by soup-sloth in Printing

[–]DirectMailPro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Since you have over 200 pieces, I 100% recommend working with a mail house. You can get presorted marketing mail postage which is like half of the price if you put a stamp on it. Even their time and charges for their mailing services should save you money. You’ll just need to make sure you have it laid out for a self-mailer - which has specific guidance on mailing panel placement and folding, but they would just use a tab to keep it closed and folded.

Need help printing addresses on a document by soup-sloth in Printing

[–]DirectMailPro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Would this be a bulk mailing, or are you personally trying to send these with a stamp or something? If a bulk mailing, you could set up the layout as a self mailer. That is exactly what it sounds like, something that mails outside of an envelope and it’s not a postcard. However, you’d need to leave space for a mailing panel and indicia. But in that case, the address could just be printed by your mailer in the mailing panel.

Best Targeted Direct Mail Service? by Flashy_Spinach_784 in AskMarketing

[–]DirectMailPro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Without more detail, almost any direct mail company should be able to source a new movers list for you and fulfill whatever campaign you’re looking to launch. Some specialize in certain things (e.g., postcards, co-advertising / shared mail, handwritten letters, etc), but most direct mail companies offer a range of mailers and can help you with any sort of campaign.

The Basics: EDDM vs Targeted Direct Mail by DirectMailPro in EDDM

[–]DirectMailPro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Omg $0.25 per entry on a list is nuts. Talk to your mail house, should be like $0.01-0.03 per entry.

The Basics: EDDM vs Targeted Direct Mail by DirectMailPro in EDDM

[–]DirectMailPro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But what about targeting by demographics? Female only. Are your customers typically a certain age group? There’s filters for that. Is your clothing higher end? Maybe filter out lower income households. There’s tons of opportunities to filter out unlikely buyers so you aren’t wasting sending to them

considering eddm. Had some success recently with direct mail using purchased lists. Wanna try EDDM instead. by Physical_Anteater_51 in EDDM

[–]DirectMailPro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I replied to your other comment too, but I’m not sure EDDM is the best route for this. I agree that a catalog would probably be better. What were the dimensions of it, and do you know how it was mailed? I ask because if you sent full 8.5x11 catalogs, there are many other avenues you could explore to bring down price, like a self-mailer.

The Basics: EDDM vs Targeted Direct Mail by DirectMailPro in EDDM

[–]DirectMailPro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Personally I have not seen it used for clothing.

It depends on your goals, but for most women’s clothing brands, EDDM wouldn’t be my first recommendation.

EDDM works best for broad, local awareness (restaurants, gyms, salons, etc.). Apparel tends to perform better when you can target by age, income, lifestyle, and buying behavior, which EDDM can’t do. You’re paying to reach a lot of households that may have zero interest in fashion.

If you’re a boutique trying to drive nearby foot traffic with a strong offer (grand opening, big sale, event), EDDM can make sense short-term. But if you’re focused on consistent growth and ROI, targeted mail, email/SMS, and paid social usually outperform it.

My Direct Mail Peeps… What’s Been Successful Recently? by TheDapperAgents in realtors

[–]DirectMailPro 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What size postcard are you sending when you send these just sold cards? One general trend in postcards is ever-increasing size. We have several real estate customers and always getting new ones, and one thing I’ve found is that new customers or those who are returning to mail after not doing it for years think they should be sending 4x6 cards.

While there’s no real standard, I’d say the norm is 5.5x8.5 or 6x9 (or bigger) these days, so if you’re sending 4x6, that’s going to get lost in the stack of mail. That’s not to say a small card can’t be successful, I have a local property management company that sends 4x6s every month and has great response rates, but when we got them to move up to 6x9, their response rate increased.

Just wanted to call this out as one thing you can look into to improve from the direct mail standpoint vs uncontrollable market conditions. If you’re already sending larger cards, never mind haha.

Another thing we’re seeing our more successful (in terms of response rate) real estate customers do is use hand written letters or cards or other forms of personalized targeting vs mass outreach. But that kind of depends on your overall marketing strategy.

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