Direct Mail Design

In preparing any direct mail campaign, you naturally start with both an idea and a budget.  Before getting too involved in your project, be sure to check that your concept works well with your budget, both in terms of postage and post office delivery and processing time.  A good suggestion is to run the size and design by your mailing house for feedback.

Automated and machineable pieces are always quickest for the post office to process and deliver.  At the same time, these pieces also receive the least expensive postage, the greatest dollar savings. 

What makes a direct mail piece machineable?  Several items to check:

• 1) Size. Letter size mail always processes quicker and costs less in postage, regardless of whether it is being mailed first class, presorted first class or presorted standard. Non-letter size mail can cost almost twice as much in postage. Square and odd-shaped pieces are not only considered non-letter size, but are always processed manually by the post office and, therefore, more time consuming to process and more expensive in postage. 
• 2) Thickness. Be sure the mail piece is at least as thick as the minimum postal standards and will withstand post office equipment processing. Conversely, make sure it is not too thick so as to require manual processing.
• 3) Location of Address. Be sure the address can be placed where you can receive automated discounts. Also make certain it is the first address that will be read by the post office machinery. Post office processing equipment reads addresses from the bottom up and from right to left. If a destination address is placed higher on a mail piece than a return address, the post office might attempt to deliver all of the mail to the one trying to send the mail. If the mail piece is non-letter size, be sure the address is positioned in the top half of the piece. If not, there are no postal discounts available; you would have to pay full first class postage on every piece.
• 4) Room for a Barcode. A barcode is just under 3″ wide and you may not print the barcode in the ½” closest to the right margin. You should also have at least ¼” clear on the left side of your barcode. A good rule of thumb is to keep a 4″ area clear from the right side of the mail panel. Having a barcode speeds delivery and can significantly lessen postage.

Remember, any good direct mail house will always be willing to look over the design of your mail piece before it is printed.  This way, potential problems can be caught while they are still an easy fix.

If you have some tips that you can add to this, we welcome your comments.