Whether you are mailing First Class or Standard (bulk advertising) mail, the US Postal Service assesses postage rates, in part, by the “processing category” of your mail piece.

Knowing what category your mail piece will be placed, is extremely important when designing your mail piece. We see instances all the time where, a very slight change in the height or width of your mail piece (usually 1/8^th of an inch or less) would result in postage savings of as much as 10 to 15 cents each! Also, each of the different processing categories have different postal regulations as to eligibility for special bar coded postage discounts and preparation requirements. So, here’s the scoop on how the post office will assign a processing category to your mail.

When you read the word “post card” in the DMM (Domestic Mail Manual), they are referring to the official definition of a USPS “postal card”. The rest of us think of a “post card” as a single sheet of card stock with color, text or pictures on the front and back of the card with an area to put the name and address of the person you are mailing to. In order to qualify for a presorted first class “post card” rate (as, there is no “post card” rate for standard mail), the size and dimensions of your mail piece must be at least 3 ½  inches high and 5 inches long, but not more than 4 ¼ inches high and 6 inches long.

Most of your standard mail (advertising mail) post cards will exceed those dimensions and will be categorized by the post office as a “letter” sized piece. For instance, if you design a large postcard that is 6 inches high and 11 inches long, it will be assessed a “letter-rate”.

A “letter” sized piece is defined by the post office as a mail piece that is at no more than 6 1/8 inches high and 11 ½ inches long. “Letter” sized rates are the most common for standard mail. If your piece is taller than 6 1/8 inches, your mail piece will be placed in a much more expensive postage category called “Flats”. So, be careful!. I can’t tell how many pieces we’ve seen come in at 6 ¼ inches high (1/8 of an inch too high). In most cases, the aesthetics of the piece would not be affected by shaving off that 1/8 of an inch. Especially if it saves you an extra 10 to 15 cents per piece in postage.

“Flats” are the more expensive postage rate and consists of any mail piece that is taller than 6 1/8 inches high or wider than 11 ½ inches long.

So now that you know the way that the Post Office will categorize your mail piece, you can use that information during your mail piece design stages to insure the best possible postage.

Four-color variable image mail is, hands-down, proving to be the single most successful innovation in mail advertising since the invention of the envelope. With success stories of mailers who have received response rates as high as 80% and return on investment rates in the one-thousand-percent range, advertisers everywhere are beginning to take a serious look at this new technique.

“How do I get started?” Actually, it’s easier than you think.

The ability to vary pictures, images and text based on what you know about the recipient all starts with taking a good look at the data file that you will use in your mailing.

For instance, is the recipient male or female? If “male,” you may want to design your images, text, and motif for a male or masculine point of view. Whether working with tools in the garage, cars and trucks, or maybe even a sport such as football, basketball or baseball. If “female,” you’ll want to tailor your images, text and motif to more of a feminine angle, possibly, with images of shopping, family, health and fitness, and so forth. 

If “gender” isn’t one of the stored columns in your database, there are several software packages that we can use to assign gender, based on the prospect’s first name. Keep in mind that you will need a “default” non-gender-specific motif for instances where the recipient’s first name could be either male or female such as “Francis” or “Jackie.”

Of course, the more information you have about a recipient, the easier and more effective your message will be. But, lack of information is not as detrimental as you might think. More often than not, the information is there; it just takes a little imagination to capitalize on it.

For instance, the city, state and zip can give you a lot of information, if you think about it. Does this person live in upscale Metro-West, downtown Orlando, or out in rural Eustis? If you are mailing in the middle of winter, does this person live near the beach in Florida or in Green Bay, Wisconsin? Is the address type an “SFDU” (single-family dwelling unit) or an apartment complex? All these little pieces of information can fit together to allow you to produce a variable image and text mail piece that is targeted specifically toward that person. Your message and offer becomes relevant and personal to the recipient, which results in much higher response rates.

Remember, designing successful variable image advertising campaigns starts with your data file. Try and put yourself in the shoes of your prospect and what they deal with on a day-to-day basis.                 

Just in case you’ve been living in a cave over the past year, “Going Green” is the new initiative and battle cry for 2008 and beyond. It’s in the news, It’s on radio and television commercials. Automobile manufacturers are building Hybrids. New fuel resources are seriously being investigated. It’s all the rage.  It’s what happening now! New environmental issues such as global warming and preserving our natural rain forests as well as rising fuel and transportation costs dictate that we all begin to be a little more responsible with what resources we have left.

In fact, I predict that over the next 5 years, you will see mandates from the large users of printed material that their print buyers must begin to use Digital Print On Demand rather than traditional offset print.

Digital print on demand allows you to print only what you need, when you need it.  Because it is printed in smaller quantities and “on-demand”, it is always current – never obsolete.  An InfoTrend study done in 2003 showed that, on average, 12.6% of all printed material, nationwide, sitting on pallets in warehouses becomes obsolete and must be thrown away before the first piece is ever used. A study by Xerox back in 2002 showed that, on average, businesses will spend $4 in usage, storage, obsolescence and shipping of printed material for every $1 actually spent in printing the material in the first place.

Does that make any sense to you?

So, save some trees. Be “eco-friendly”. Go “Green” and save money at the same time! Use Digital Print On Demand from Fulfillment Partners – Millennium Marketing Group.

Personalizing your communications always gives you an edge over others who simply print and mail a generic mail piece. At Fulfillment Partners – Millennium Marketing Group, your letters can be personalized throughout the entire text, not just at the salutation line.

Printing only what you need, when you need it allows your brochures, flyers and sales collateral to always remain current – never obsolete. Using Fulfillment Partners, Inc – Millennium Marketing Group for all your 4-color digital print-on-demand needs not only saves you money, but also lets you “go green” and become eco-friendly by not printing large amounts of material that may become obsolete and thrown away before it is used up.

Fulfillment Partners, Inc. – Millennium Marketing Group has been performing laser printing in the Orlando Area since the introduction of laser printers back in the 1980s. With over 10 high speed laser printers in operation, Fulfillment Partners – Millennium Marketing Group maintains the largest laser printing facility (color as well as black and white) in the Orlando area.

4-color variable imaging gives you the ability to change pictures, graphics and text on one run during the color laser printing process. Each sheet of paper that is printed can contain a unique picture, one right after the other. This allows you to create 1:1 communications that are personalized to each recipient which can increase your response rates by as much as 500%. Fulfillment Partners, Inc – Millennium Marketing Group uses several different 4-color variable image production presses, giving them more flexibility in paper sizes and stocks.

Always there to help in the Orlando tradeshow and convention industry, Fulfillment Partners – Millennium Marketing Group can assemble and ship goody bags and lanyards, as well as print tent cards, name tags, posters, programs, brochures and signs.