DM News & Tips

How 5-day mail affects DM
The USPS will most likely stop Saturday mail delivery soon. Monday and Tuesday will be the heaviest volume days for carriers. Wednesday and Thursday could be the lightest days for carriers. Retailers will need to adjust their in-home dates for sales Printers and mailers will need to adjust production timelines. Everyone needs to allow more time for postal delivery. In-home delivery will be slower and less predictable.

Does NCOA correct all addresses?
NO! The National Change of Address (NCOA) is a required service on all presorted mailing lists. But the reality is that about 5% of the people who move –don’t tell the Post Office or anyone else. That’s the result of the economy. Many people don’t want to be found by creditors.On Standard Mail, Undeliverable As Addressed (UAA) mail is thrown away. That’s a huge waste to you. Adding an endorsement line like Return Service Requested is recommended to clean out the UAA from future mailings. Another option is to add “Or Current Resident” to your address label.

Survey shows 82% open rate
A Household Diary Study shows that 18% of people who receive direct mail don’t read it. That's the equivalent of clicking the delete button for e-mail. But it means that a whopping 82% of direct mail recipients do read or scan their direct mail...which is the equivalent of clicking on and opening an e-mail. The average click and open rate for e-mail is about 5%. Direct mail still reaches more eyeballs and provides a level of branding, involvement and shelf life that e-mail can’t match.

Quote from an adman
“Set your headline, and indeed your whole advertisement, in upper-lowercase. CAPITAL LETTERS ARE MUCH HARDER TO READ, PROBABLY BECAUSE WE LEARN TO READ in lowercase. People read their books, newspapers and magazines in lowercase.” -David Ogilvy