Postage Rate Increases for 2023 

Last month, the USPS filed for a proposed rate increase with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) in an effort to mitigate the effects inflation has had on its operations. This proposal involves raising the price of postage three cents domestically and five cents internationally. If the PRC approves this proposed postage rate increase, the new rates will go into effect in July of 2023.  

Below is a helpful table to better understand these proposed postage rate increases. 

Mail Type  Existing Postage Rate  Proposed Postage Rate 
First-Class Mail Letters (1.0 oz)  $0.63  $0.66 
First-Class Mail Letters (metered 1.0 oz)  $0.60  $0.63 
Postcards (Domestic)  $0.48  $0.51 
First-Class International Mail (1.0 oz)  $1.45  $1.50 
First-Class International Mail (metered 1.0 oz)  $1.45  $1.50 

The USPS is also proposing increases for other services including postal boxes and certified mail.  

Tips for Managing Postage Rate Increases 

Businesses and marketers who rely on the USPS for their direct mail will likely feel some burn with these proposed rate increases. Additional postage on each mail piece for large volume campaigns can become very costly. The pros at Pel Hughes can help. We offer a suite of services to help our clients get the most from their direct mail campaigns.  

Following are some helpful tips to offset the effects of postage rate hikes.  

Use Our Database Services to Improve Your Mailing Lists 

If your business has been using the same mailing lists for a couple of years or longer, now is a great time to consider using our database services. Cleaning up your database can eliminate a lot of waste. We use state-of-the-art software and have access to reliable consumer data to ensure that your mailing list is comprised of accurate and active addresses. Database services will help ensure that your direct mail campaigns are sent to quality recipients.  

Automate Your Campaigns to Save Money on Labor 

Campaign automation can save time, money, and labor. We offer Storefront, a digital library to house all your print and marketing materials. Campaign automation makes it easy to send direct mail to new and existing customers with just a few strokes of a keypad. Storefront is also helpful for ensuring that your business stays within your marketing budget because you can set limits on orders and provide specific permissions to your personnel.  

Enhance Your Direct Mail with Cross Media Marketing 

If you need to tighten your print advertising budget, cross media marketing can help. Leveraging e-mail and social media marketing can help build your brand and enhance the effectiveness of your direct mail campaigns. We provide several cross media marketing services to help you make the most of your marketing budget and improve your direct mail response rates.  

Analyze Past Performance of Your Campaigns 

If postage rate increases cause concern, the pros at Pel Hughes highly recommend taking a close look at the performance of your last campaigns. Analyzing KPIs like response rates and sales conversions can help you determine what messaging resonates with consumers, which campaigns at various times of the year are most effective, and more. Taking a deep dive into past performance can help you reduce costs, increase sales, and improve your messaging.  

Pel Hughes is a full-service printing company serving businesses, non-profit organizations, and higher education institutions throughout the United States. We offer cross media marketing, graphic design, database services, and campaign automation to help your enterprise thrive. Give our friendly team a call at (504) 486-8646 to learn more.  

Using Coupons with Direct Mail 

Do you want higher response rates with your direct mail campaigns? If so, the pros at Pel Hughes strongly encourage you to use coupons with direct mail to incentivize consumer action. Using coupons with direct mail has always been a great way to elicit a response from your campaign’s recipients but now with record levels of inflation and reduced consumer spending, utilizing coupons may be the very thing you need to keep revenue coming in at healthy levels.  

The Effects of Inflation and Reduced Spending on Businesses 

Inflation is driving up costs for consumers and businesses alike. For the consumer, their purchasing power has dipped to record levels. This means customers are hypervigilant with every dollar they spend, are able to buy less than before, and anxious about making ends meet.  

For businesses, many enterprises are laying off their workforce, reducing their budgets, and considering scaling back on marketing in an effort to ride out the storm. While constraining spending is a wise move, taking a hands-off approach to marketing could leave businesses in the lurch when the economy takes a more positive turn. One way you can invigorate sales is to ensure that you use coupons with direct mail campaigns to get the most bang for your buck.  

The Power of Coupons with Direct Mail 

When money is tight for consumers, coupons can help them justify their purchases. Moreover, consumer loyalty is less predictable in times of economic hardship. In many instances, a consumer will shop for the best deal and abandon previous loyalties to certain brands and businesses in favor of perceived savings. This means, using coupons with direct mail could attract customers who are new to your products and services. If you can offer a comparable product or service along with ensuring they have a great customer experience, you could also earn a long-term relationship with new consumers.  

Maintaining marketing during a recession offers a competitive advantage against other businesses who are tightening their budgets. According to research conducted by McGraw Hill, businesses who maintained (or increased) their marketing efforts during the 1981-1982 recession saw over 250% growth compared to businesses who constrained their marketing and advertising efforts during this time.  

Tips for Coupons in Direct Mail 

Coupons should be incentivizing a purchase. This means the discount must be significant enough to warrant action from a money-conscious consumer. All kinds of businesses from service-based enterprises like dry cleaning and home maintenance to restaurants and dental clinics can benefit from using coupon-based incentives. The trick is offering a big enough discount to spurn action without hurting your bottom line.  

Now that digital shopping is here to stay, it’s important that coupons can be used online and in person. Using QR codes is a great way to ensure that coupons offered in direct mail can be used in brick-and-mortar locations as well as online. These types of coupons are popular, too—in fact, over 5 billion QR coupons were redeemed last year.  

How Pel Hughes Can Help 

Pel Hughes is a full-service printing company that employs modern solutions to enhance the effectiveness of direct mail. Our team of experts has access to reliable and accurate consumer databases that can help your business send targeted direct mail to consumers who are most likely to make purchases with your brand. We also offer campaign automation, database services, graphic design, and cross media marketing. Give our friendly team a call today at (504) 486-8646 or request a quote online.  

USPS Discounts for Direct Mail in 2023 

Did you know that the USPS offers discounts for direct mail that utilizes components that invoke a sensory experience? In 2023, marketers can save five percent on USPS-delivered direct mail when they develop campaigns that offer a tactile, sensory, or interactive (TSI) mail piece. This promotion runs from February 1st, 2023 to July 31st, 2023.  

Following are some helpful details from the experts at Pel Hughes to find out if this promotion is right for your business.  

Sensory, Tactile, and Interactive Discounts for Direct Mail 

In an effort to improve response rates of direct mail, the USPS is running a promotion for 2023 where marketers can save money on their mail pieces. A five percent discount is applied when direct mail campaigns feature special inks, scents, tastes, and manipulatable elements.  

Specialty Inks 

Discounts for direct mail are applied when specialty inks are implemented into mailers. The USPS accepts a range of ink treatments including: 

  • Light reflective inks 
  • Temperature-influenced dyes and inks 
  • Color-changing inks 
  • Metallic inks 

Sensory and Tactile Elements 

Treatments that tap into the five senses make for very dynamic direct mail. Integrating components like scented mailers and envelopes, edible components, and tactile embellishments such as paper applied with coatings or non-geometric die cuts all qualify for the USPS’ TSI promotion. Other tactile and sensory options include: 

  • Textured surface treatments such as velvet and leather 
  • Holographic stickers and filters 
  • Sound chips 
  •  

Interactive Features 

Interactive components can make your mail pieces more memorable, which generates brand recognition and consumer engagement. If you’re looking to incorporate interactive features into your direct mail, the USPS discounts use of the following: 

  • Clean release cards 
  • Zip/Perforated Strips 
  • Scratch-offs 
  • Three dimensional elements such as pop-ups 

For a more detailed look into which TSI features are eligible for this promotion, click here. We recommend consulting with the USPS before printing to ensure that your elements are eligible for the five percent postage discounts for direct mail.  

How Pel Hughes Can Help 

The pros at Pel Hughes utilize the latest printing techniques and technology to ensure that your direct mail campaigns resonate with consumers. We offer an array of treatments, embellishments, specialty inks, and more. Some of our popular TSI treatments include Spot UV printing, die cutting, metallic foils, and raised varnishes.  

Beyond printing, our team can help with procuring excellent mailing lists, graphic design, campaign automation, and database services. Give our friendly experts a call at (504) 486-8646 to learn more.  

Dental Marketing with Direct Mail: Increase Patient Loyalty 

Did you know that dental marketing with direct mail increases patient loyalty? It’s true. While digital marketing has its place and all dentists should have social media accounts and websites, there’s still a very real need for print advertising. Direct mail is a powerful tool for dentists that adds legitimacy to your business, improves patient acquisition and retention, and helps educate patients on important oral health matters.  

Benefits of Dental Marketing with Direct Mail 

Dental marketing with direct mail offers unique advantages when compared to other forms of marketing and advertising. The following are just a few notable benefits to implementing direct mail into your practice’s marketing strategy.  

Incentivize Patients with Discounts or Special Offers 

It can be difficult to ensure that your patient base is maintaining their regular appointments for checkups and cleanings. One way to help keep your appointments as full as possible for preventive care is to incentivize patients with discounts or special offers. With campaign automation, you can easily send direct mail to patients that have missed or cancelled a cleaning or checkup. Adding special offers such as discounted teeth whitening treatments is a great way to incentivize patients to book their appointment. 

Improve Patient Education with Value Added Information  

Direct mail can do more than just serve as an introduction to potential new patients or remind existing ones about upcoming appointments. The copy on your direct mail can help educate your patients with helpful information. For example, a direct mail campaign can highlight the prevalence and symptoms of oral cancer. It can also offer explanations and benefits of common treatments like root canal therapy. Educating your patients with helpful information empowers them to seek out your services when they notice new symptoms while also demonstrating your genuine concern for their wellbeing—both of which help build a loyal patient base for years to come.  

Target Specific Neighborhoods and New Residents 

With tools like Every Door Direct Mail and consumer databases, you can target specific neighborhoods and demographics with your mail pieces. This means your dental practice can send mailers to the neighborhoods nearest your office. You can also target your mail to specific demographics like household income or age groups. Demographic targeting is especially beneficial to dentists who provide specific services like cosmetic dentistry or work with particular age groups such as children or senior citizens.  

Build Trust with Patient Testimonials 

Reviews and testimonials are powerful. You likely have reviews posted on your website, social media accounts, and on other sites like Google. Highlighting a few of these positive patient testimonials on your direct mail campaigns can do wonders for building trust with existing patients and attracting newcomers to your practice.  

If you’re new to dental marketing with direct mail, give Pel Hughes a call at (504) 846-8646. We serve dentists throughout the United States. Our full-service printing company offers graphic design, campaign automation, and database services. We pair the latest technology with client-forward service to help your business thrive.  

Direct Mail Campaigns: Why Marketers Choose Print

To some, print advertising and marketing might seem antiquated but industry experts respectfully disagree with that notion. A recent survey of top tier marketing professionals in the United States indicates that 74% of the industry’s experts favor direct mail campaigns to other forms of marketing, including email. This survey and report, The 2023 State of Direct Mail, offers some interesting insights that can help guide your future marketing efforts, particularly direct mail campaigns.  

Highlights from the State of Direct Mail 

One key finding from this survey was that 74% of marketers believe that direct mail campaigns yield substantially more benefit than other forms of marketing, including digital channels like social media and email. While this isn’t to say that digital marketing isn’t important, it does make the case for merging print with digital for optimal results.  

This report surveyed 250 marketing professionals throughout North America. All those surveyed were employed at large corporations with more than 1,000 employees. The survey’s respondents worked in a variety of industries including non-profit organizations, banking, insurance, e-commerce, retail, and healthcare.  

The State of Direct Mail survey revealed that the overwhelming majority of marketers believe the key to maximizing the effectiveness of direct mail campaigns is automation. In fact, 81% of marketers using automated direct mail campaigns believe automation provides substantially higher response rates when compared to the results of marketers who do not use automation. Campaign automation is especially useful for following up with customers who visited your website, added an item to a shopping cart, or those who engaged with your business via e-mail or social media.  

Measuring the effectiveness of direct mail is more important than ever. Having reliable metrics was a concern for the respondents of this survey, too. According to the 36% who encountered lackluster response rates found that bad data such as incorrect addresses was a major culprit. This aspect of the survey demonstrates the need for database services and access to up-to-date consumer indexes. Successful direct mail campaigns require reliable information for its recipients as well as proper management of this data.  

How Pel Hughes Can Help Improve Your Direct Mail Campaigns  

Our full-service printing company experiences the power of direct mail every day with our clients’ campaigns. From non-profit organizations to businesses operating in insurance, banking, law, healthcare, and retail, well-executed direct mail has the power to attract new clients/customers, retain them, and build a powerful brand identity.  

The most effective direct marketing campaigns harness the power of technology. To help our clients thrive, Pel Hughes offers database services, campaign automation, direct mail retargeting, personalization with Variable Data Printing, and so much more. Technology can help your business expand your reach with reliable demographic and consumer data while making the execution of direct mail easy and efficient.  

Feel free to call our friendly experts at (504) 486-8646 to learn more or request a quote.  

Postage Rate Increases in 2023: What You Need to Know 

The cost of almost everything is rising, including postage rates. Effective on January 22, 2023, postage rates will increase about 4.2% on average for certain types of mail. While this may not affect the day-to-day of households, it could certainly make staying within budget difficult for marketers and businesses. While these postage rate increases were expected, they are coming at an inopportune time for businesses and organizations bearing the brunt of inflation, supply chain issues, and labor shortages.

Fortunately, the pros at Pel Hughes can help you and your business adjust to postage rate hikes. Read on to learn more.

Postage Rate Increases: Who will be affected?

Anyone sending large volume mail will likely be affected by these rate increases. The following types of mail with increased rates include:

  • First Class
  • Package Services
  • Periodicals
  • Special Services
  • Marketing Mail

For example, First Class mail currently costs 60 cents for a Forever stamp. Under these new rate increases, however, the same stamp will cost 63 cents after January 22nd. Here’s a helpful breakdown of current rates versus new rates:

Mail Type

Current Rate

New Rate

Letters (1.0 ounce)

$0.60

$0.63

Letters (Metered 1.0 ounce)

$0.57

$0.60

Postcards (Domestic)

$0.44

$0.48

Postcards (International)

$1.40

$1.45

International Letter (1.0 ounce)

$1.40

$1.45

How to Adjust to Postage Rate Increases

Your printer pros at Pel Hughes understand the concerns surrounding postage rate changes better than most. We are also aware of other issues affecting businesses and their print marketing campaigns such as supply chain issues and labor shortages. While these rate increases are unfortunate, there are steps you can take to mitigate their effects. Following are some helpful tips to offset rising costs.

#1 Clean Up Your Mailing Lists 

Old mailing lists can leave a lot to be desired. If your list is out of date, it is possible that mailings are wasted on incorrect recipients, sent to duplicate residences, and more. A clean, up-to-date mailing list can help reduce waste and lower your costs. If it is time to clean up your mailing lists, we can help. Not only do we have access to large consumer databases we also offer database services, which includes sophisticated software to ensure that your mailing lists are as clean as possible for maximum efficiency and effectiveness.

#2 Focus on Quality of Your Direct Mail 

When money is tight—especially in light of postage rate hikes, sometimes focusing on quality is better than focusing on quantity. Rather than sending mail to every address in a zip code, consider sending targeted direct mail to specific neighborhoods that match the demographics of your ideal consumer. With targeted mail, you can select demographic data such as gender, household income, and consumer activity. We also offer technology to help you track the effectiveness of your direct mail campaigns. Adding elements like QR codes and personalized URLs helps track response rates and merges digital marketing with traditional print. 

With a new year upon us, now is a great time to re-evaluate your marketing and advertising strategies. Pel Hughes is a full-service printing company that offers graphic design, campaign automation, in-house fulfillment, database services, and world-class customer service. Give our friendly experts a call today at (504) 486-8646 to request a quote.

Direct Mail and Seminar Sales: A Winning Combination 

Direct mail is an incredibly versatile form of advertising. Businesses of all kinds, including medical and dental practices, boutiques, service-based businesses, and even non-profit organizations can utilize direct mail to reach a wider audience and boost their revenue. Direct mail and seminar sales are an especially powerful combination for striking relationships with consumers and increasing sales.

According a Forbes article penned by seasoned seminar sales professional, Rylee Meek, no other form of advertising worked as well for seminars as direct mail. In his article, he discusses the fact that direct mail involves less competition than other forms of marketing and that mailpieces serve as an offline funnel, which delivers interested parties to an in-person sales event where he can pitch to multiple people in one fell swoop.

Direct Mail and Seminar Sales: Why It Works

Seminar sales are a unique way to generate revenue. One major advantage to this sales method is the fact that a salesperson can pitch to multiple parties at once. These parties voluntarily agree to attending a seminar where they are often gifted a free meal or refreshments, which helps facilitate an environment for success. While seminar-based sales won’t work for every industry, this method is especially useful for businesses that operate in the tourism, real estate investment, and legal industries. Companies that offer real estate trusts, living wills, and timeshare properties have found great success in seminar sales.

Direct mail works very well with generating interest in seminars for a couple of reasons. The first is that competition for a consumer’s attention is not as steep with mail pieces as it is online. Compared to the digital marketing realm, direct mail is far less competitive. Marketers sending mail don’t have to compete with thousands of related businesses nor do they have to contend with pop-up and ad-blockers or e-mail spam folders.

A second reason that direct mail is effective is that it’s seen as a legitimate and trustworthy form of advertising that intrigues consumers across many demographics. According to research conducted by the USPS, direct mail resonates with all age groups—including Boomers and Generation Z. 

Although billions of people use the Internet on a daily basis, most folks maintain a healthy mistrust of digital content and tend to view print more favorably. In the case of seminar sales, consumers are tasked with making big decisions that can involve large sums of money. Gaining a consumer’s trust is paramount to making a successful sale. Since trust is such a factor in seminar sales, it’s important to select the most trustworthy forms of advertising, which includes direct mail campaigns.

Lastly, another major advantage to advertising seminars with direct mail is that modern technology makes it easy to target your ideal audience. For example, Pel Hughes has access to vast and reliable consumer databases. These databases make it possible to target consumers with certain education and income levels. Consumer databases also contain helpful information related to consumer spending and behavior. Using these databases makes sending targeted direct mail easy, efficient, and cost-effective.

Pel Hughes is a full-service printing company well-versed in the power of direct mail advertising. We offer database services, campaign automation, graphic design, and easy online ordering. Give us a call at (504) 486-8646 or fill out our online form to request a quote.

Direct Mail for Dental and Medical Practices 

For medical and dental practices to stay afloat, practitioners must accomplish two things: acquiring patients and retaining them. In addition to marketing with social media, websites, and e-mail newsletters, dentists and doctors need to reach out beyond the digital space. One often overlooked yet effective advertising method is direct mail. Direct mail for dental and medical practices can ease the burden of acquiring new patients while also keeping communication lines open with a practitioner’s existing patient base.

Benefits of Dental and Medical Direct Mail Campaigns

When executed properly, a direct mail campaign yields better ROIs than digital marketing alone. There are a few reasons for this. First, direct mail is seen as a trustworthy form of advertising across many demographics, including younger generations. Secondly, direct mail elicits a stronger response rate because it provides a tangible, sensory experience that digital marketing cannot. Lastly, because modern technology makes it possible to manage swaths of consumer data and automate campaigns, direct mail is an efficient, cost-effective way to reach patients in your area.

How to Use Direct Mail for Medical and Dental Practices

Direct mail is especially powerful when it is targeted and personalized. For example, targeting new movers to specific zip codes is a great way to attract new patients. You can take personalization a step further by having a customized map indicating the new patient’s path to your conveniently-located office. Other ways you can personalize a patient’s direct mail experience is to send targeted direct mail on his or her birthday. Technology makes automating this a breeze, too. When sending a birthday card via direct mail, you can incentivize a patient booking an appointment by offering a discount on elective services like teeth whitening or Botox injections. Targeted and personalized mail helps your existing and potential patients feel valued, which goes a long way for creating long-term, loyal relationships.

The content of your direct mail is important. For simple postcards, we recommend sending reminders for annual checkups or to announce new services your practice offers. Some dentists and doctors send print newsletters, too—typically on an annual basis. Newsletters are great for highlighting new staff members, acquisition of diagnostic technology or therapeutic tools, and any community or cause-based service your practice provides. A newsletter is also a great opportunity to provide patient education. In short, print newsletters are great tools for humanizing your practice and keeping your patients informed.

Beyond personalized and targeted direct mail, our experts at Pel Hughes recommend merging digital marketing with print. For instance, placing PURLs and QR codes on direct mail can drive existing and potential patients to your website and social channels. PURLs and QR codes will also make it easier to gauge the effectiveness of your print advertising campaigns.

Pel Hughes is a family-owned, full-service printing company that provides cross media marketing and direct mail for dental and medical practices. We offer graphic design, direct mail, database services, and campaign automation. Give our friendly team a call today at (504) 486-8646 or request a quote online.

Cross Media Marketing with Smarter Direct Mail 

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Smarter direct mail campaigns should be a part of every enterprise’s cross media marketing strategy. While conventional direct mail offers a high ROI, its effects are further enhanced when direct mail implements tracking metrics like QR codes and PURLs along with digital outreach in the form of e-mail marketing. As regulations change the way data is gathered and analyzed to accommodate consumer privacy concerns, many businesses are turning to conventional marketing methods to ensure that their brand messaging reaches their target demographic. Merging digital outreach with direct mail can help increase sales, strengthen brand recognition, and maintain loyal consumership with your customers.

How to Integrate Direct Mail with Cross Media Marketing

Direct mail is a tactile, three-dimensional form of advertising that connects a consumer to your brand in a visceral way. Conventional direct mail alone, however, doesn’t yield as good of results as mail pieces that integrate modern technology. One of the best ways to merge digital with print is to make following your digital channels part of your mail piece’s CTA.

Requesting that mail recipients follow your business’ social media accounts or subscribe via e-mail for special offers and promotions is a great way to connect your customer to your business in-person and online.

Another great strategy for improving your direct mail’s ROI is to place QR codes and PURLs into your copy. A QR code is a scannable icon that can take your recipient straight to a landing page of your choosing, such as an e-mail subscription form, an exclusive coupon or discount, or to view a short video. Additionally, PURLs—which involve generating personalized URLs for each mail recipient—can direct users to personalized shopping carts based on previous purchases, special offers like BOGO deals, or to complete a customer satisfaction survey. Since QR codes and PURLs are customized to each recipient, these tools provide reliable metrics for analyzing the effectiveness of your direct mail campaigns.

Benefits of Smarter Direct Mail

Smarter direct mail can make a big impact—especially when it is used as part of a comprehensive cross media marketing strategy. Pairing smart direct mail with digital marketing gives businesses a competitive advantage. One aspect of direct mail marketing that is especially powerful is the fact that this mode of communication occurs in real-life. Your mail piece is a physical representation of your brand that extends far beyond the web. When you integrate direct mail with digital marketing, you can cultivate stronger brand recognition among consumers, which helps set your business apart from others. The increased visibility afforded by robust cross media marketing helps foster long-term and loyal relationships with your customers.

The ROI on direct mail is higher than digital advertising but when direct mail is sent shortly after digital outreach, its ROI increases even more. According to research conducted by AI Technology Insights, businesses saw a 60% increase in ROI when digital interactions were followed up with personalized direct mail campaigns. An example of following up with direct mail after digital interaction involves sending personalized discounts in the mail after a consumer makes a purchase online. This tactic promotes brand loyalty and higher engagement. Gallup found that syncing direct mail with digital interactions increases consumer loyalty by 25%.

If you’re interested in developing a winning cross media marketing campaign that includes smarter direct mail, give the experts at Pel Hughes a call. We pair cutting-edge technology and advanced printing techniques with client-driven service. We offer database services, campaign automation, smarter direct mail, and graphic design. Call us at (504) 486-8646 or request a quote online.

Direct Mail Formatting: 5 Issues To Know About

While direct mail is a marketing powerhouse for businesses and non-profit organizations, formatting issues could put a big damper on your campaign. The US Postal Service imposes strict regulations on direct mail campaigns so it is important that marketers stay abreast of these potential concerns well before their campaigns are printed. Following are five issues related to direct mail formatting that you should know. 

Direct Mail Formatting Issues You Need to Know About 

Thin Stock Could Raise Your Postage Rates 

The USPS requires a certain thickness of stock for direct mail pieces. The minimums and maximums for thickness will vary depending on whether you’re sending letters or postcards. For example, a postcard should be between .007 and .016 in thickness. It’s important to know exactly what thickness specifications are necessary for the type of direct mail you are sending. We recommend discussing your direct mail campaign with our experts or with the USPS before selecting your stock.  

The Placement of Your Mail Panel 

Where an address is placed on direct mail varies on the type of pieces you’re sending. Booklets, postcards, and letters all have different requirements. Our team recommends e-mailing PDFs of your campaigns to your mail service provider to ensure that your mail panel is placed appropriately.  

Aspect Ratio 

The USPS imposes requirements on the aspect ratio of postcards, letters, and booklets. Typically, the aspect ratio should be 1.3 and 2.5. Aspect ratios beyond these parameters will cost extra.  

Size 

Size requirements, like other elements of direct mail, vary depending on the type of mail being sent out. Adhering to these requirements can be tricky so it is best to consult with your mail provider before finalizing your campaigns.  

Common size requirements include: 

  • Self-Mailers: 3.5 x 5.0 to 6.125 x 11.5 
  • Booklets (mailers with binding): 3.5 x5 to 6.0 x 10.5 
  • Postcards: 3.5 x 5.0 to 6.0 x 9.0 

Weight 

As most know, the heavier a piece of mail is the more it will cost in postage. Presorted mail allows for more weight, up to 3.5 ounces, before extra postages rates are imposed while regular first class mail imposes extra fees for every additional ounce of weight.  

Considerations for Non-Profit Organizations’ Direct Mail Formatting 

Direct mail is a mainstay of non-profit marketing because of its high ROI and ability to resonate across many demographics. That being said, there are special considerations with direct mail formatting that non-profits should know about. One of the most common formatting issues associated with non-profit direct mail is the verbiage used related to raffles.  

If raffle tickets do not expressly state that donations are not required to enter, the USPS will consider raffle tickets a “lottery”, which is forbidden by mail. If you are mailing raffle tickets, ensure that you make clear in your copy that donations are not required to enter. This can be done by simply adding verbiage like “suggested donation” for the cost of each ticket or provide a box stating “I do not wish to make a donation at this time with my entry” that the recipient can check.  

Direct mail formatting can be cumbersome—especially to businesses and organizations new to mail campaigns. Our friendly experts at Pel Hughes are here to help. We provide a number of services to help your direct mail campaigns resonate with your community including graphic design, campaign automation, and database services. We pair advanced technology with old fashioned client service. Give us a call at (504) 486-8646 to discuss your marketing needs.