Thought I’d touch tonight on mail, not email, but direct mail. Remember it? You know, that stuff that arrives in your mail box!
Before we hit some of the important news, I found this story interesting. It seems that 39,000 pounds of junk mail bound for Florida burned on a Georgia highway.
According to the Associated Press, in a story from January 24, authorities said they determined that nearly 39,000 pounds of mail bound for Florida burned on the side of a highway in Waycross, Ga. A U.S. Postal Service spokesman told the Florida Times-Union that all 38,616 pounds was advertising mail, also known as junk mail. Authorities said a truck driver saw flames coming from around the rear wheels of his semitrailer January 21. Firefighters extinguished the fire, but the mail had already burned.
Now many would say “no harm, no foul” since it’s just junk mail, right!?
With the advent of email, direct mail lost much of its luster. But many are coming back to the medium.
The Direct Marketing Association reports that last year, “more than 70% of Americans shopped direct. More than 80% of U.S. households read some or all of their advertising mail. And nonprofit organizations raised nearly $200 billion from generous donors through direct mail.” Some pretty serious numbers, huh?
Effective this week, the U.S. Post Office announced its “2nd Ounce Free” offering, allowing businesses mailing First-Class Mail automation, presort letters using “2nd Ounce Free” pricing to mail letters weighing up to 2 ounces at the 1-ounce postage rate.
According to a USPS press release, first-class mail automation, presort letters are primarily generated by commercial mailers of bills and statements — or transaction mail. The “2nd Ounce Free” pricing will provide these customers with greater value from their transaction mailings by letting them include an additional ounce that can be used for operational or marketing purposes at no additional cost.
“With 2nd Ounce Free, companies have greater flexibility to offset mailing center costs by including additional promotional offers with bills, invoices and statements,” said Gary Reblin, vice president, Domestic Products. “2nd Ounce Free also provides business mailers with the option of using higher quality paper stock or larger envelopes to create greater impact.”
The Post Office says that “2nd Ounce Free” can be used to inform, educate and strengthen customer loyalty by providing additional information, such as announcements, disclosures and notifications. The extra ounce also can be used to conduct consumer research with surveys and reply cards.
By combining transaction mail with promotional mail, known in the industry as transpromo, companies can add more inserts and “onserts” — totaling up to 2 ounces — without incurring additional postage costs. (Onserts are advertisements or promotional offers usually printed at the bottom of bills or statements.)
Learn more about direct mail and the new prices from USPS (effective Jan. 22).
