Vol. 7 No. 1

Commingling helps publisher reduce postage by 28%

There are two ways to improve your return on investment (ROI) in direct mail marketing. The first is to improve response rates. The second is to reduce costs.

Reducing costs requires taking a closer look at printing, production and postage. It’s the postage that can have the greatest impact. Postage costs can account for 30% to 50% of the total direct mail budget.

This basic #10 package would have cost 28% more iin postage without the benefits of commingling.

For one magazine publisher, commingling reduced postage costs on a project by 28%. It also eliminated a great deal of production, which saved money too!

Moose River Publishing of St. Johnsbury, Vermont approached A.M. Mailing with a direct mail problem. They wanted to send a personalized co-op advertising agreement to turf care professionals nationwide…and they had 113 versions of the agreement.

Laser imaging was the solution for personalizing the agreement and creating all those versions. The bigger problem was that 98 of the versions would be mailed to lists that were smaller than the 200 piece minimum, required for a Presort Standard mailing. These versions would need to be mailed straight First Class at $0.37 each. The other 15 versions were being mailed to larger lists but with low zip code saturation. Postal discounts would be minimal and sorting all those lists would be costly.

Commingling was the solution offered by the postal team at A.M. This is a service that mixes several customers mail together to take advantage of higher zip code concentrations. The commingled mail is then drop shipped to the nearest regional postal facility. This service moves the mail quicker and takes advantage of greater postal discounts. For Moose River Publishing it lowered postage for all versions to $0.225 per piece. Overall postage was reduced by 28% for the 113 versions in the mailing.

The benefits of commingling go beyond postage. All of the versions going to the same city will be delivered on the same day, which allows for more predictable in-home delivery. Mail is handled less, which streamlines delivery and maintains the integrity of the mailpiece. Finally, commingling a mailing with 113 versions reduces mail shop production time which reduces costs.

Kathy Upton of Moose River Publishing was delighted with the way her co-op mailing was handled. She had produced this mailing internally in the past. A.M. provided a one-stop shopping experience by printing the #10 package, laser imaging 113 letter versions, folding, inserting and then commingling the mailing project. “You guys did a great job with our co-op mailing,” said Upton. “I know that I, as well as my circulation staff, appreciate what you do. This is a real treat for us not to have to do that project,” she said.

The Moose River co-op mailing was a test. Based on the success of this package, Upton has decided to roll it out for all six of their trade publications. With the help of A.M. and the benefits of commingling they’ll be able to mail a project like this every month.

For more information about commingling or a FREE analysis of your last postal statement, contact Dan Topel at 608-884-3452. Let A.M. show you how commingling can work for you.