We came across a snippet of postal information in DM News today and felt it was important to add a quick post to our blog about it.
Here it is word for word:
“The USPS issued a statement last week which ensures the earliest a new rate case will take effect is March 27. It confirmed the next price change will use the new CPI-capped* rules, adding that mailers will be given at least 90 days’ notice before changes are implemented. USPS Governors will decide when the next change will occur. Future changes will occur annually, on a predictable schedule.”
As soon as we hear about a definite date in 2008 for this new rate case, we’ll add the information to this blog.
*Consumer Price Index
Popularity: 30% [?]
Tags: Postage, Postal Rate Case, USPS
Double-postcards are effective because they’re relatively cheap, simple to print and make it pretty easy for your target audience to reply back to you (meaning, they tear off the one half and mail it back).
We produce a pretty healthy amount of double-postcards for clients and one recent mailing prompted us to write this blog post.
It was your standard double-postcard (folded dimensions of 4 1/4 height by 6 inches width, wafer-sealed closed), but tucked inside was a yellow, folded business return envelope…and the BRE was glue-tacked down so it didn’t fall out.
The client we produced this for is a magazine publisher so obviously they’re trying to increase cash/check orders (called pay up). This technique, however, is applicable to most any company using a double-postcard to sell a product or service.
It also makes the double-postcard a little puffy which further increases the odds of the recipient opening and reading the mail piece because they want to see what’s inside.
It might be a mail piece worth testing for your company.
Lastly, here are some postage stats regarding a double-postcard (current as of 12/4/2007):
It mails out at the first-class postcard rate of roughly 22 cents per piece if the one half is a returnable reply card. Otherwise, it mails out at the standard-class letter rate of roughly 25 cents per piece.
So by designating one half as a reply card, you save roughly 3 cents per piece on postage, and the delivery is both quicker and better (first-class versus standard-class).
In the case of the mail piece above, one half was a reply card that you tear off, but since it had a BRE tucked inside, it had to mail out at the standard-class letter rate.
The mailing was just sent out, so no results just yet…but if the client agrees, we’re going to feature them in an upcoming direct mail case study newsletter.
Popularity: 33% [?]
Tags: Double-Postcards, Postage, USPS
