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:

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 If your list is out of date, it is possible that mailings are wasted on incorrect recipients, sent to duplicate residences, and more.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.