Mailing House

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What is a Mailhouse and How Can It Help Your Business Grow?

70% of UK customers say that direct mail makes them feel appreciated and valued. Also, a survey stated that 56% of all mail pieces remain in the recipients’ houses even after 28 days.

These figures show that direct mail is the most popular marketing channel. It is also a commonly-used media for sending compliance and transactional items. Naturally, it gets more attention and generates higher responses.

However, some companies still believe that offline mailing is expensive, untrackable, and daunting. Yes, traditionally, conducting a mailing campaign posed several challenges. But, businesses can outsource their tasks to a mailhouse and get rid of these problems!

Thankfully, a mail house is fully-equipped to handle every mailing-related task. Ensure to choose the right vendor that works in close collaboration with your brand and meets your expectations. 

Mailing houses are also known as direct mail houses, mailing companies, or mailing service providers. They offer expert solutions to help you send any number of mail items to your customers or clients. Personalisation, inkjet printing, mailing, reporting, etc., are some popular features you should consider when choosing a mailhouse. 

This article throws light on the meaning and significance of mailing houses. Keep reading to know the features, benefits, use cases, etc., of such vendors.

Let’s dive in!

What is a Mailing House?

Mailhouses are companies or agencies that take over the offline mailing efforts of other organisations. They complete all the tasks involved in a mailing campaign, from design to despatch, on behalf of their clients.

If you are a company looking to send direct mail items but lacking the required experience and resources, hiring a mailhouse like PostGrid is your best bet. 

Earlier, mailhouse services were only used for shipping mail pieces locally, nationally, and internationally. But, now, the scope of their services has increased considerably. 

Hence, you don’t need to do anything—just draft a marketing plan, find a mailhouse, and let it complete all your jobs. 

What Features Does a Mailhouse Provide?

The features a mailing house offers vary from company to company. For instance, PostGrid’s direct mail fulfilment services provide end-to-end solutions covering every process from start to finish. Most vendors expect you to upload a mailing list of your own, but PostGrid helps you build them from scratch!

Below, we have put together some features that a mailhouse is likely to offer:

Personalisation

Direct mail personalisation contributes to a campaign’s success significantly. Nearly 50% of customers avoid brands that reach out to them with poorly personalised messages. 

A recipient may not pay heed to a generic marketing postcard. But, they would engage with a personalised item. Thus, incorporating variable data printing (VDP) into your mailing strategies is a must! 

Using VDP, you can print targeted messages on every mail piece without disrupting the printing process. Though it is hard to employ VDP in-house, direct mail houses can help you with it effortlessly. 

A mailhouse like PostGrid has an extensive network of print partners nationally. Hence, it already has the means to incorporate VDP into your direct mail advertising campaigns. 

Print Finishing

Print finishing refers to all the improvements made to printed items. It comprises folding, laminating, coating, laminating, die-cutting, overprinting, embossing, etc. 

You may be unable to set up such specialist print solutions in-house. But, a mailhouse can undertake any or all of the above tasks with ease. Like VDP, print finishing is also an integral step of the production process. 

Another step is to inkjet mailing addresses on the outer covers of your mail items. It replaces the traditional address labels and gives your mail a sophisticated look. 

Ensure to discuss your requirements with your mailhouse beforehand as it may or may not have the features you need. 

Stuffing and Assembling

Most direct mail houses also stuff letters and bills into envelopes. Hence, you don’t need to instruct your staff to complete such manual duties by dedicating days and weeks of their time. 

Plus, manual efforts are prone to mistakes that may result in your campaign failure. Imagine sending a postcard addressed to Mr Bailey to Mr Morgan. Such errors are more common than you may think and can lead to huge losses. 

Thankfully, a mailhouse takes care of jobs like stuffing and assembling envelopes. It helps you ensure accuracy at every stage of your campaign. 

Following Postal Guidelines

Businesses need to comply with the Royal Mail guidelines to send bulk mail. If you are a regular mailer, you should follow the postal size and weight specifications to qualify for the standard rates. This way, you can avoid paying any surcharges and ensure smooth deliveries. 

Furthermore, a mailhouse like PostGrid verifies your mailing addresses against the Royal Mail’s Postal Address File (PAF), allowing you to maximise savings. 

There are two benefits of cross-checking your mailing data:

• You can guarantee that your mail items reach the correct recipients with zero wastage. 
• You can presort your mail and grab bulk postage rates. 

Despatch

An efficient mailhouse prepares and despatches your mail systematically. It completes all tasks, like affixing stamps and posting items at the Post Office. Manually, this process would require you to calculate postage and stand in the Post Office queues. 

But, direct mail houses ensure that everything is done without you having to go anywhere. Thus, you can print and mail your items at the convenience of your home or office. There are also no limits to the number of mail pieces you need to send out to your customers. Isn’t that the best solution to your requirements?

Reporting

Real-time reporting of your sent mail helps you plan your next steps accordingly. It also allows you to stay updated and draft accurate insights. If you send items in-house, it is nearly impossible to gather all the information you need. 

Even if you succeed, it can cost you a lot of your precious time and resources. Thus, PostGrid’s print and mail house helps you track your mail pieces altogether. You can log into your PostGrid account and access the mail statuses through your dashboard. 

It gives you a consolidated view of every sent mail piece. This step is especially advantageous for businesses conducting a multi-channel marketing strategy. For example, if your plan dictates that you need to launch an email campaign after delivering your offline mail, you need to stay informed. Otherwise, your efforts would be misguided and lead to your campaign failure. useful 

Direct mail houses help you know about your campaign performance in-depth. Thus, you can access precise reports and plan your future campaigns more effectively. 

Design

Design is the foremost step in launching a direct mail campaign. But, we didn’t mention it as the first feature because most mailhouses don’t offer it. 

This step includes the creation of an artwork, customisation, branding, etc. PostGrid’s mailhouse offers pre-built design templates to allow you to save on design costs. It also enables you to edit as many times as you need and save templates for future uses. 

Unlike designers that charge hourly, PostGrid offers these templates free of cost. It is part of our all-inclusive automated solutions to help you forego the trouble of hiring designers. 

Data Management

Data management is another uncommon feature that a few direct mail houses offer their clients. Undoubtedly, customer data is your most valuable asset, and you would like to keep it updated. But, updating databases from time to time is hectic and time-consuming. It can restrict you from launching effective direct mail campaigns. 

Here are some stages of data management that you should look for in a mailhouse:

Data Compilation

Imagine you want to launch a different line of products for a specific age group. Or, suppose you want to connect with a particular group of people, say, interior designers. In such cases, you need custom mailing lists that only some mail houses like PostGrid provide. 

PostGrid helps you compile targeted mailing lists to boost your campaign results. Also, our Zapier integration enables you to connect with 1600+ apps and expand your database. 

Deduplicating

It is advisable to select direct mail houses that can de-duplicate your mailing lists regularly. We are sure you know how it can be chaotic for your sales staff to manage customer data files. Sometimes, they may have a list filled with hundreds of duplicate entries. 

If you proceed to send mail to an outdated list, there are chances that you will send mail pieces to the same people again and again. It can annoy your recipients and cause wastage. 

Therefore, PostGrid’s bulk mailing house processes your lists and eliminates all duplicate entries. It also checks whether your list contains more than one prospect living at the same address. This practice lets you optimise your mailings and save costs!

Address Verification

Perhaps, address verification is a crucial stage of a mailing campaign. You need to confirm the accuracy of every delivery address. Otherwise, your mail items might be lost, delayed, misplaced, or returned to you. 

If your mailhouse does not provide address validation, you may need to cross-check your lists yourself. Luckily, PostGrid’s address verification API allows you to standardise and validate your mailing lists—ensuring accurate deliveries. You can also avail of this feature with our print and mail solutions. 

Who Needs to Employ Mailhouse Services?

Usually, those who realise they require expert logistics, mailing processes, additional capacity, print and mail fulfilment machinery, etc., approach a mailhouse. Perhaps, they cannot manage their mailing tasks internally because of budget, timescale, and authorisation constraints. 

However, some businesses need a mailing house simply because they wish to save money and increase efficiency. Here are some examples:

Marketing Agencies

Marketing companies are experts in helping businesses drive more visibility and conversions. They do so using numerous ways, like direct mail, email marketing, PPC, display ads, etc. 

Most of their operations are completed by their full-time employees, but they also outsource other activities. For example, they can prepare a social media calendar for their clients in-house. But, they cannot print a thousand postcards for their campaigns. 

Thus, they hire a mailhouse to do the heavy lifting on their behalf. This way, they can spend more time completing tasks that require their direct intervention. 

Internal Marketing Departments

Most medium and large-sized businesses have an internal marketing team. This department is committed to increasing brand awareness and helping the sales staff convert more leads. Again, remember that they are not experts in direct mailing. 

Their duties include planning and overlooking a campaign. But, they cannot indulge in specialised tasks like ink-jetting and large-scale despatch. 

Hence, they use the services of direct mail houses to get things done properly. It also helps them expand their capabilities and send any number of mail pieces simultaneously. 

Small Businesses

Small businesses might not hire a marketing agency or create an internal marketing team. But, they can outsource their offline marketing tasks to a print and mail house like PostGrid. Thus, they can connect with their target audience and strengthen customer relationships without draining their budgets. 

The good news is that most direct mail houses have flexible price plans. So, small businesses can select a plan that best fits their requirements. 

Benefits of Incorporating a Mailhouse Into Your Marketing Plans?

A mailing house allows you to convert rough marketing drafts to result-driving mail items. It ensures that this intricate process falls into place and you can avail of the expected results. 

Below, we have mentioned the prime advantages of using mail house services:

1. Mailing Expertise

Quality mailing houses have years of mailing experience and expertise, which they can share with you. It allows you to expand your knowledge of how direct mail campaigns work and methods to boost performance. 

Furthermore, a mailhouse also helps you gather insights into what can work best for your business. It can also suggest you modify a few aspects resulting in better campaign execution. 

So, direct mail houses can be of great help if you want to explore more possibilities and launch a well-curated campaign. 

Along with that, they also have expertise in several print and mail processes. Hence, they can better guide you on factors like tracking barcodes, labelling options, mail enclosing, etc. 

2. Reduce Overheads and Save Time

Mailing processes are complicated and technical. They also cost a lot of investment and time. One of the main reasons businesses outsource their duties to a mailhouse is to control costs and save time. 

A bulk mailing house like PostGrid can help you revise your direct mail design or use other postal processes—allowing you to save overhead costs. Also, it lets you conduct successful mail marketing campaigns without bringing about crucial structural changes in your organisation. 

3. Avoid Buying Latest Equipment

If you want to print and mail internally, you need to buy and maintain several types of equipment. Poly wrappers, binders, sorting machines, cutters, etc., are a few examples of the necessary equipment that you need for completing mailing processes. 

Moreover, you need to purchase insurance, complete leasing formalities, and deal with safety agreements. You would agree that it is unreasonable to go through so much trouble when you can outsource all the tasks to a mailhouse. PostGrid helps you save up to 75% of your mailing costs and get everything done five times more efficiently!

4. Prevent Hiring Additional Staff

There are many individuals involved in launching a mail campaign. An in-house campaign needs you to hire additional staff members to fulfil the extra duties. 

But, you can avoid that by outsourcing to a mailhouse and using the services of an extended team. Hence, you get all the benefits without the inconvenience of managing employee contracts and paying extra. 

5. Sign a Service Level Agreement (SLA)

Always choose direct mail houses that sign an SLA with your company. It guarantees that your direct mail tasks get completed within a specified time. 

Thus, you can rely on your mailhouse and conduct flexible campaigns. It lets you launch on-demand and bulk campaigns with the same speed and accuracy. 

PostGrid offers a two-business day SLA—helping you make faster business decisions and conduct campaigns promptly. 

How to Assess Whether a Mailhouse is Right For You?

A quality mailhouse would offer all the features we discussed above. From data management to personalisation, it should provide everything you need. 

Obviously, prices play a huge role in determining the effectiveness of a print and mail house. Always check whether their prices are all-inclusive or vary according to the features you use.

If a vendor does not offer list compilation and design services, enquire how you can proceed with the process.

PostGrid’s direct mail API provides many useful benefits, like:

• Per-piece tracking
• API integration
• Easy to navigate dashboard
• Industry-best pricing
• Timely analytics
• A vast range of collateral options, etc.

Thus, you can integrate our API into your CRM and start mailing from your system. Unlike most direct mail houses, PostGrid allows you to be in control of your mailing efforts. You can send any type of direct mail to any address as needed. 

Conclusion

We hope this blog helps you know the meaning and functions of a mailhouse. There are several factors in this article to help you choose the correct vendor that lets you achieve your mailing objectives. Therefore, you can better decide whether to outsource your mailing tasks or complete them in-house.

As said earlier, our automated solutions allow you to enjoy the benefits of a mailhouse at the most affordable costs. PostGrid strives to help its clients send transactional, compliance, and marketing mail smoothly.

Using our API, you can send:

• Postcards
• Letters
• Invoices
• Flyers
• Statements
• Cheques
• Newsletters, etc.

Talk to our sales team now to know more about how our mailhouse can help you increase mailing efficiency!

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