Anyone who has analysed the price breakdown of a Direct Mail or Transactional Mail campaign will know that postage almost always makes up the majority of the cost behind these communications. With domestic and international postage prices rising in recent months, it’s important to understand; now more than ever, that maximising the efficiency of your postage will have huge budgetary benefits, more-so than any other element of your mailing campaign. Utilising our market insight and internal expertise, we’ve compiled a list of 7 simple but effective tips to help you do just this.
1). Access the latest Royal Mail and Wholesale Incentives to obtain postal credits of up to 25% off future mailings
In recent years, Royal Mail have been pro-actively incentivising Existing and New users of mail to utilise the channel. There are a multitude of postage incentives for Advertising Mail (now including Programmatic Mail), Business Mail and Publishing Mail. The nature of these incentives varies, but some of the key incentives are around Testing & Innovation, First Time Usage and Increased Annual Volumes. With up to a hefty 25% Postage Credit, it is certainly worth exploring these incentives. The application process is simple and can be completed on your behalf by bakergoodchild, completely free of charge.
2). Look at alternative solutions such as Partially Addressed Mail (PAM)
Following the introduction of GDPR and the uncertainty around the use of third-party data, Partially Addressed Mail (PAM) has grown rapidly. PAM is a highly targeted, GDPR compliant acquisition tool, which uses smart geo-demographic’s, allowing you to talk to your future customers without needing their personal data. If you’re looking to send a mail piece to customers within a specific postcode, but don’t have the individual data for the recipients of that area, then PAM is perfect for you. With a discount of 28%* when compared to conventional 2nd Class, Advertising Mail, it’s easy to see why more and more mail pieces are now addressed to ‘The Homeowner’, ‘Pizza Lover’ or ‘Remote Controller’ *Economy Partially Addressed Mail service, compared to 2nd Class Advertising Mail service
3). Review the current format of your mail pieces
Are you sending items as Large Letters that could actually be posted as a Letters with a few tweaks to your paper weight? Are you sending items First Class that could actually be posted as Second Class if your mail was planned and executed a day earlier. Is your catalogue being mailed as a Large Letter in polythene, when it could in fact mail as a Letter if enclosed into an envelope or paperwrap? These are just a few things to consider when looking at ways to improve efficiency around postage. It’s often the smallest tweaks that can make a huge difference to the overall cost of a campaign. Your mailing house should always pro-actively advise you on the most efficient way to send your current mailings.
4). Consider switching from a 2nd Class Service to an Economy Mailmark Service
At over 7% cheaper than conventional 2nd Class Mail, Economy Mail is certainly a service worth considering for your letters. Royal Mail data captured through bakergoodchild’s RightTrack technology shows that mail posted on an Economy Mailmark service, performs almost identically to a 2nd Class Service from a delivery perspective with over 90% of items landing within 3 days of posting. This service is applicable to both Advertising and Business mail communications, so if your mail isn’t truly time-sensitive this is certainly an option for consideration.
5). Clean data is essential to maximising Return on Investment
Marketeers understand the importance of targeting the right person, at the right time, with the right message; however, this approach isn’t always followed when posting out Advertising Mail. It’s not uncommon for Legacy databases to be neglected and for there to be severe wastage in Direct Mail campaigns because of un-cleaned data. A complete data cleansing service will minimise wastage and offer a significant saving on postage for your mailing activity. By suppressing and flagging incorrect records, you reduce the number of items posted and in turn reduce the cost of the campaign.
6). VAT Mitigation
Depending on the nature of your business, you may be applicable for VAT Mitigation on your postage. For registered charities this is often a key factor in planning budgets and activities. Our in-house postal team will work closely with you on setting up an Agency Agreement with Royal Mail, to ensure that the majority of your postage is VAT exempt.
7). Review the options around International Mail
International mail can certainly feel like the unknown and in almost all circumstances far over-shadows the cost of domestic postage. In-light of the recent Royal Mail Cyber Attack it’s now prominent, just how important a robust and efficient international supply chain can be for businesses. The multi-vendor solution bakergoodchild offer, ensures that your items are being routed with to the right countries for the right price. This is opposed to using a single international mail carrier who may be more expensive posting to certain countries than others.
If you’d like to discuss any of the points above or wish to talk to a member of the team about your postage activity, please call 0800 612 1972 or email info@bakerg.co.uk
