I answered a blog comment this week from someone complaining about the slow delivery of their bulk mail, and my first question to them was, "Are you automating your bulk mail?" If you're reading this, and "automated mail" sounds Greek to you, then read on because understanding automation is pretty simple, and it absolutely can save bulk mailers time & money.
What is direct mail automation? While most mailers are familiar with the concept of bulk mail discounts associated with presorting, many are completely in the dark about automation discounts. Simply put, automation is the act of converting a mailing address into a postal-certified barcode and printing it on the mail piece before it gets dropped off at the post office. Bulk mailings can be automated using postal approved software, or by working with a mailing professional that uses postal approved automation software.
How does automation save money? When bulk mail arrives at the US Post Office with barcodes, it gets to skip several steps that it would otherwise go through as non-automated mail. Non-automated mail has to have the address scanned by an electric eye at the post office, and then the address has to be converted into a barcode. Once the barcode is created, it either gets printed directly onto the mail piece, or it gets printed onto a label, and then the label gets affixed to the mail piece. When the post office doesn't have to perform these tasks, they offer an additional discount to the sender on top of the normal bulk mail discount. Typically the savings is around an additional 5 cents a piece!
How does automation save time? Because it's saving steps for the post office, the automated mail that gets dropped off is in essence closer to being delivered than non-automated mail. In fact, many local BMUs (Business Mail Units) will send automated bulk mail to a completely different processing facility than they send non-automated bulk mail.
Automated presort standard mail and automated nonprofit bulk mail can realize substantially quicker delivery time than regular non-automated bulk mail. Many mailers make the mistake of paying first class postage to get quicker delivery when, in fact, they can mail at the same discounted class and get timely delivery simply by using automation.
What else do I need to know about the barcodes? To work effectively (and to qualify for the discount) barcodes must be printed in the appropriate "reader zone" as defined by the US Post Office. To assure successful placement of the barcode, the Business Unit of any US Post Office provides a free transparent tool; the tool allows the user to confirm that the barcode is being printed in the correct location. There are actually several zones or locations that qualify as approved barcode locations. Obviously, if the sender is working with a 3rd party bulk mail vendor, they don't have to worry about this.
Do you have to outsource your direct mail campaigns to make them automated? No, you do not have to outsource. Interested bulk mailers can purchase software that will automate their bulk mail campaigns. My company uses Accuzip, but for those who want to handle the automation internally, there are many software vendors that offer different automation options as well as other valuable features & benefits. FYI: I am not an affiliate marketer of Accuzip and only mention them because that's what my company uses.
Who should consider using automation? Any for-profit or nonprofit organization that's mailing thousands of pieces on a consistent basis should absolutely consider taking advantage of automation rates. Really, the only bulk mailers who may not benefit from automation, are ones who are sending fewer than 1,000 pieces at a time. For anyone else trying to decide, they can multiply 5 cents times the number of pieces that they send per mailing or per year, and then compare that to the cost of either purchasing automation software, or working with a third party to have their mailings processed. For those paying first class because of slow delivery, the savings can be much greater than 5 cents a piece. As the size of the mailing list gets larger, it gets easier and easier to justify automation. In fact, there is a break-even point, and once that's crossed, it actually costs LESS to automate a mailing than it does to pay a higher postage rate to the U.S. Post Master.
Please share this post with anyone you know who's pulling their hair out because of slow bulk mail delivery.
In the comments section below, please share links to other vendors that assist with bulk mail automation. I'd also love to hear testimonials from anyone who's switched from non-automated to automated bulk mail and seen an improvement with delivery time.
