Direct Mail answers for PR & Marketing Professionals, Nonprofits, and Small Business

Important Limitations Associated with Saturation Rate Mailings

Who doesn’t want to mail at the lowest possible postage rate?  Everyone wants to save money, but as with most bargain basement priced items, there are some inconveniences and limitations associated with saturation mailings.  Please read this post before diving head-first into a saturation mailing.

What are some limitations associated with the bulk mail saturation rate available in the United States?  The saturation rate only applies to those mailing to a “rural route” as defined by the USPS.  See my earlier post, Saturation Rate Mailings: The Cheapest Way to Go!, to determine if a specific target area is classified as a rural route.

To qualify for the absolute lowest saturation rate, bulk mail must be dropped off at the actual USPS “Processing Center.”  Many of the Business Mail Entry Units are not processing centers, and if a saturation rate mailing gets dropped off at one of these locations, the postage rate will be almost 5 cents a piece higher.  For those who are not located near a Processing Center, saturation mailings may lose their appeal when factoring in driving time and fuel costs.

Anyone preparing a saturation mailing must secure a signed “Statistic Report” from a qualified member of the USPS Business Mail Unit.  The function of this report is to identify how many addresses there are in a rural route.  This tells the mail carrier how many pieces are need to “saturate” the entire targeted area, and also allows the mailer determine how many pieces to print and deliver to the Business Mail Unit.  The Saturation Rate mailing will be refused by the Business Mail Unit without the “Statistic Report.”

When would you want to avoid using the saturation rate?  Anyone interested in personalization would want to avoid using the saturation rate, as this type of mail cannot be personalized.  The address field on a saturation piece mailer will display “Postal Customer ECRWSS” where the name would normally be printed.  This is hardly personal, so while it would not be well suited for an invitation to a social event, it may be perfect to announce the opening of a new sub shop.

Anyone wanting to target just businesses would want to avoid the saturation rate as the only option is to target “Postal Customer” which reaches all residents including businesses, or “Residential Customer” which captures all residents excluding businesses.  Sending to just the business address is not an option when using the saturation rate.

What’s the Next Best Option if this is not a Good Fit for me?  In circumstances where saturation rate mailings are impractical, cumbersome or too impersonal, presort standard rate bulk mailings are probably the next best option.  For about an additional 10 cents a piece, presort standard mailings allow personalization, can target businesses specifically, and they can be delivered to any Business Mail Unit (potentially saving a long drive).

Saturation Rate Mailings: The Cheapest Way to Go!

In a tight economy, every penny counts!  Saturation rate mailings offer the least expensive bulk mailing option in the United States.  Saturation rate postage costs even less than standard bulk mail/presort standard mail.  When using the saturation rate, the per piece postage cost can be as low as 13.9 cents a piece.

Do all mailings qualify for the saturation rate?  No only areas classified by the US Post Office as “rural routes” qualify for the saturation rate; “city routes” do not qualify.  The classification of a rural route does not necessarily means that an area has to be truly “rural.”

How can I check if my mailing qualifies for the saturation rate?  Click on “Find a Zip Code” in the top left hand corner of the main www.USPS.com website.  From there, enter an address in the area being targeted and click the “submit” button.  Click on the “Mailing Industry Information” link to the right of the address, and a box will appear; the “Carrier Route” is the top listing in the box.  If the carrier route starts with an “R” (Rural) or an “H,” (Highway) the mailing qualifies for the saturation rate.  If the carrier route starts with a “C” (City) it does not.  A note of caution: sometimes within the same zip code there are both rural routes and city routes, so don’t assume that an entire zip code is eliminated because a specific neighborhood is a city route.

Obviously, not every bulk mail campaign qualifies for the saturation rate.  However, there are valid arguments against using the saturation rate even for mailings that do qualify.  Stop back next Wednesday to read my post, “Important Limitations Associated with the Saturation Rate.”

2010 USPS Holidays

Don’t delay the delivery of your next mailing project because you’ve overlooked postal holidays!  The U.S. Post Office operates on the same schedule with the rest of the Federal Government, and with that in mind here are the dates that you will not be able to launch your direct mail campaigns:

• New Year’s Day – Friday, January 1st
• Martin Luther King’s Birthday – Monday, January 18th
• President’s Day – Monday, February 15th
• Memorial Day – Monday, May 31st
• Independence Day – Monday, July 5th (In 2010, the 4th of July holiday falls on a Sunday, so the government is recognizing Monday July 5th as a holiday for its employees).
• Labor Day – Monday, September 6th
• Columbus Day – Monday, October 11th
• Veterans Day – Thursday, November 11th
• Thanksgiving Day – Thursday, November 25th
• Christmas Day – Friday, December 24th (In 2010, Christmas actually falls on Saturday, December 25th, so the government is recognizing Friday, December 24th as a holiday for its employees)

Anything else I should know about postal holidays?  Bulk mail or presort standard mail (often referred to as 3rd class mail) is the last in line for attention by the USPS.  Nonprofit bulk mail is treated is treated the same as standard bulk mail from a delivery urgency point of view.  During postal holidays, the whole mail system can get backed up, and in addition to the day lost for the holiday, there’s a very good chance that an additional day or two can be lost as the USPS gets back up to speed.  With this in mind, it’s always a good idea to avoid scheduling time-sensitive mailing projects to drop the day before a USPS holiday.

Can I drop my bulk mail campaign on a Saturday? Although the USPS currently delivers mail on Saturday, the bulk mail unit of the US Post Office is not opened on Saturdays.

Lifestyle Mailing Lists: The Best Kept Secret For Attracting New Customers

Wouldn’t it be great if you could look into a crystal ball and find out who wants the products and services that you offer? In many cases, utilizing lifestyle mailing lists can help you find these illusive new customers.

What is a lifestyle mailing list? A lifestyle list is a list of prospects who share a common interest or passion instead of a common geography. The great thing about using a lifestyle select first when creating a list, is that the list can still be pared down using traditional selections like geography, income, age, etc. The net result is almost always a smaller list of better prospects. The financial benefit of this is a much bigger bang for the buck since the list is smaller, but response is typically substantially higher than using more traditional criteria only.

What information is typically used to create these lists? The number one source for most lifestyle databases is magazine subscriptions. It’s a safe bet that the majority of people who subscribe to “Horse Illustrated” probably like horses, and may even own one. Product registrations are another common source for this data. Signing up to receive coupons and special offers for certain types of products or services is another way this information is collected. Also, credit card purchases history can be used as a source for this information. The bottom line is that there are a variety of ways to compile this information, but the information is available and it’s what’s used to create lifestyle databases.

What sort of lifestyle lists are available? Some of the most frequently requested lifestyle lists are wine-lovers (used often by upscale restaurants) and avid golfers.

For those selling products to infants and moms, one of the most popular lists is the maternity list which is composed of women who are pregnant right now. It can actually be further sorted by the appropriate trimester. Related to this is the “new moms” mailing list that can pinpoint babies of a certain age; this list is a favorite for professional photographers.

For a theater or playhouse trying to sell ticket subscriptions the art & cultural events mailing list would be a great fit while art galleries may be more interested in the arts & antiques list.

For those marketing organic products, there is a “health foods and natural foods” mailing list available. Mailing lists based on religious affiliations and political parties are also available. People who enjoy knitting and quilting even merit their own lifestyle mailing list.

How do I know which list is right for me? Those considering using a lifestyle list to grow their customer base simply need to identify the hobbies, pastimes, or interests of their existing customers and look for a list that targets this data. This article identifies just a handful of the lifestyle lists that are available; there are thousands of other lists available that most people aren’t even aware exist. With this in mind, the only dumb lifestyle list question is the question that is not asked. Most list vendors will offer a free list count that will identify how many records are in a particular list, so it’s free to research what’s available and the size of the list. With this in mind, I am happy to offer a free count to anyone interested; simply click here to submit your request.