Where to Write a Return Address on Letter

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Where to Write a Return Address on Letter to Guarantee Accurate Mail Returns?

Have your customers ever complained that they didn’t receive their orders even though you packaged and shipped them?

There are many reasons Royal Mail cannot deliver your items, making it necessary to include a return address on letter or envelope!

In such cases, do you want your items back, or should the Post Office discard them?

Of course, you would expect Royal Mail to return your mail pieces and not just toss them into the rubbish bin! But, you must mention a return address on letter to help postal services know where to send your mail.

It is advisable to learn how to put a return address on a letter and use the correct format! This practice enables you to retrieve your mail from the Post Office and reship them instead of letting it go to waste.

In this blog, let us discusses where to write return address UK and the steps to mail something.

Writing a Return Address on Envelope

According to Royal Mail, including a return address on envelope UK is optional. But, it is always better to add it for securing your shipments! Also, some Royal Mail shipping services need you to insert a return address to fit their criteria.

If your addresses are invalid or unreachable, the return address allows postal workers to trace your location and send your items back! You must write the words- ‘Return Address’ on the first line and include your mailing details below. Alternatively, you may also write ‘If Undelivered, Return to.’

Also, some people mistakenly write a return address belonging to the destination country. Please remember that Royal Mail only returns mail pieces to addresses within the UK.

But where does return address go on letter?

The most popularly-used way to include a return address is to place it on the backside of your envelope towards the bottom right. Align the address to the left and ensure that it is visible. The primary benefit of including the return address on letter UK is that postal workers can distinguish it from the mailing address!

Some envelopes also carry the return address on the flap itself. It gives a professional look to your letters and makes mail returns simple!

If you want to learn more about where to put return address on envelope and get more options, you can place it on the front. Write or print it on the top-left corner of your envelope, but leave a minimum distance of 12 mm from the delivery address.

Also, your return address on letter should not appear lower than 28 mm from the top edge and less than 75 mm from the right side.

The Correct Return Address on Envelope UK Format

Here are the elements you must include in your UK return address:

Recipient’s Name

Write the recipient’s full name on the first line of your address, below the words- ‘return address.’ Spell the names correctly and add the appropriate titles, like Mr, Ms, Miss, Dr, Mrs, etc.

Remember to include only the concerned person’s name in your company as they know what to do with the items when they receive them.

Company Name

The second line of your return address on letter should be your company’s name. It helps Royal Mail locate you and deliver your mail returns faster.

Also, it helps inform recipients about the sender of the mail items, keeping them from treating the articles as junk mail.

Property Number and Street Name

The following line of your return address on envelope carries the house number and street name. If your office address has an official property name or building number like ‘Building N8,’ write it below your company’s name. Then, write the address number and street or thoroughfare name on the following line!

Locality Information

Typically, there are three locality lines in your return address on letter! And you can choose to write any one, two, or all three! Here are the details:

Line 1: A double-dependent locality, like a borough or neighbourhood: Ramsey Road.

Line 2: A dependent locality, like a civil parish or town: Warboys.

Line 3: Post town (mandatory): Huntingdon.

Postcode

The last line of your return address on envelope UK should always have the postcode. It should appear on the following line after you write the post town.

Postcodes help Royal Mail sort and deliver mail items systematically. Like the post town, you should write the postcodes in capital letters. The remaining elements should have title case letters.

Furthermore, the postcode in your return address on letter should have two parts, e.g., PE28 2SH. If you do not know your postcode, use Royal Mail’s postcode finder to find it!

Since your address belongs to the UK, you don’t need to mention the country name in the end.

Here are a few examples of a return address on letter UK for your reference:

Prof Harry Evans
University of Oxford 
Wellington Square
OXFORD
OX1 2JD

Miss WK Rowling
8 Alexander DR
Wirral
MERSEYSIDE
CH61 6XT

We understand that drafting and standardising a return address on letter can be hectic! Thus, our address verification solutions help you verify addresses in any number and format them according to the Royal Mail addressing guidelines.

Royal Mail Guidelines on Writing Return Address on Envelope

Below, we have listed some points you should consider while drafting your return address for better clarity and effective mailing:

• Left aligns all the elements to make your address look neat.
• Write your return address on letter UK using Royal Mail-approved fonts like Lucida Console and Letter Gothic.
• Your address must be in English or Welsh only. You can add Welsh addresses only if they are available in Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File (PAF). 
• Avoid including UK counties or country names within the return address on envelope block.
• You have the option to print the post town and postcode on the same line with one or two spaces, but it is not advisable.
• Use black ink to create a positive contrast on the letter and make your return address on letter UK visible.
• Write using legible handwriting and space out your words to improve readability. Prevent using pencils for drafting your return addresses as it gets easy to rub or smudge off during transit.
• Your text size should be between 10 to 15. Anything smaller than this size is hard to read, preventing Royal Mail from returning your mail pieces.
• Try printing your return address on letter instead of writing it.

Steps to Mail a Letter or Package in the UK

Here are the steps you must undertake to mail something through Royal Mail after you understand where to put the return address on a letter correctly!

Prepare Your Mail Items

Before you write the return address on letter, your first step is to draft your items. It is time-consuming and daunting, but you must do it correctly and avoid manual errors!

If you don’t want to do extra legwork, try integrating PostGrid’s print and mail API into your system. It helps you draft your mailers quickly using pre-built templates and auto-fill the address details.

Print and Assemble

The printing process is another complicated yet crucial task! You must mail your items with a return address on envelope in high resolution. Additionally, depending on your payment method, you may need to print the postage information onto your mailers.

You may also require to sort your direct mail advertising and transactional items by postcodes if you want to qualify for bulk discounts!

Insert the Mailing Address

It is mandatory to add a mailing address, unlike the return address on envelope UK which is unnecessary. This step is also a part of the printing procedure, but there is more to it! You need to validate your mailing lists to check if your delivery addresses are updated and valid.

Please use the same format as the return address on letter for your delivery address. Follow the same guidelines for alignment and address elements. However, you must place the mailing address in the centre of your envelopes towards the bottom if you want to insert your return address in the top-left corner. Otherwise, you can place it along the left side, parallel to the longest side!

If you want to mail a package, you can use address labels to mention the return address on letter UK and the mailing address. Stick the delivery address label in the centre and the return address label towards its top-left corner.

BFPO Addresses

You already know how to put a return address on a letter, making writing mailing addresses easier! But what if you need to mail to the British Forces Post Office (BFPO) addresses?

The address format for BFPO addresses is:

Recipient’s Service Number, Rank, and Name

Regiment or Unit

Location or Operation Name (if applicable)

BFPO Number

You may write your return address on envelope for BFPO addresses. But, try to confirm the same by calling or visiting your local Post Office.

There are a few things to remember while you send mail to BFPO addresses, and they are:

• Refrain from using AIR MAIL stickers.
• Seal the edges of your packages and envelopes with adhesive tape.
• Do not include the town or country name. Royal Mail may reject your envelopes or packages going to the BFPO if you mention more details than you need to, leading to several problems.
• You can choose between options, including HM Forces Royal Mail 1st Class, 1st Class Signed For, and Special Delivery Guaranteed.

BFPO cannot guarantee the delivery time, but it can help you get a status report!

International Addresses

Knowing where to write return address UK is more significant when mailing something internationally. International mailing is expensive, and you trust postal services to deliver your items safely!

Mentioning a valid UK address ensures that Royal Mail delivers your items to the intended destinations or returns them to you!

The way you format international addresses differs for every country. Try looking up country-wise rules and guidelines to draft your address correctly for accurate mailing. Don’t forget that you still need to write a national return address on envelope to protect your items against non-delivery.

We have compiled a standard international address format you can use:

Recipient’s name

Apartment or house number and street address

City, municipality, or town

State or province, and the postal code

Country

Please print the country name in capital letters on the last line. Also, it should always be in English for Royal Mail to understand and process your mail efficiently!

Your return address on letter UK should also be in English, and it doesn’t change with the language of the destination countries.

Below are a few international address formats for different countries –

The US:
Rachael Hopper
521 114th ST
California City CA 93505
USA

Canada:
Will Gillies
Gilbert Association
18-423 MAIN STREET SW
MONTREAL QC H3Z 2Y7
Canada

Portugal:
J Fernandez
Cu Marinho
Monte Trigo
7110 Portel
Portugal

It is worth learning the address formats of the countries you mail to often and how to write the return address on letter and package!

Here are some tips for you to mail internationally:

• Attach your AIR MAIL stickers to your mail items, except for the International Economy option.
• Write the correct international postcode.
• Remember to write your return address on letter UK on the front side of the envelopes for international shipping.
• If you need to ship items to Europe, write the postal code before the town name as we did in the Portuguese address above!

Include the Correct Postage

Your postage stamps should always appear on the front side of the envelope in the top-right corner. It must start on the same line as your return address. Thus, understanding where do you put the return address on a letter also helps you affix your stamps properly!

If one stamp isn’t enough to cover the postage for your letter or package, you can affix more stamps. But, paying the correct postage is crucial for smooth deliveries. Otherwise, Royal Mail can hold back your mail items for non-payment of postage, irrespective of whether you have a return address on letter or not.

There are several options you can use for mailing within the UK, including:

• Royal Mail 1st Class
• Royal Mail 2nd Class
• Royal Mail Sameday
• Royal Mail Signed For 1st Class
• Royal Mail Signed For 2nd Class
• Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9 AM
• Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1 PM
• Royal Mail Tracked 24
• Royal Mail Tracked 48

Try to always write the return address on envelope, irrespective of which option you select! Sometimes, there can be a mishap, and you may need your items back.

Most of these options offer same-day to next-day delivery to help you send urgent items. But, they are a little expensive, so try to use them only for emergencies. Other services like Royal Mail 1st Class and 2nd Class are cheaper and offer doorstep deliveries within one to three business days.

How Can PostGrid’s Address Verification Services Help You Mention a Correct Return Address on Letter?

As said above, there are many guidelines you must follow while writing a return address on envelope UK and a mailing address. It decides whether your mail items reach the intended recipients on time or get lost during the journey!

Our address verification API helps you get a 99.99% deliverability ratio! It allows you to autocomplete, parse, standardise, and validate your addresses in one go…

Also, PostGrid provides numerous features to help improve the quality of your mailing lists. You can update your addresses using our solutions at any time or just before a campaign! PostGrid enables you to verify national and international addresses affordably and flexibly.

Furthermore, our bulk address verification capabilities help you validate lists in large volumes. So, you don’t need to worry about where to put the return address on a letter or how!

One of our clients recently wanted to verify 5,000 records to conduct an effective mailing campaign! PostGrid enabled them to do so within minutes! They downloaded our address verification software on their device and uploaded the lists they wanted to check.

Our solutions use Royal Mail’s PAF and NCOA database to update and cleanse mailing lists. The client no longer has to think about where to put return address on envelope or how to verify addresses.

They also integrated our address verification API into their website. Now, PostGrid helps them use rooftop geocoding and capture the addresses of all the customers who shop online using their eCommerce website.

Final Thoughts

Royal Mail does an excellent job of delivering items all over the country and abroad. But, there might be some unpreventable problems leading to mail returns. Thus, you should be prepared to face such situations and write a return address on letter correctly!

PostGrid’s address verification API helps you validate your addresses beforehand, helping Royal Mail complete deliveries accurately. Also, it allows you to access an updated and reliable database, letting you make crucial decisions and conduct successful marketing campaigns!

Request a demo to see how you can use PostGrid to write a proper return address on letter and verify mailing lists!

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How to Address An Envelope UK

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A Comprehensive Guide on How to Address An Envelope UK Royal Mail Correctly

Did you ever wonder how the Post Office manages your mail items? Think of it as a highly-regulated and central system that helps Royal Mail deliver your mail to the correct recipients! But is there a way you can help the postal employees deliver on time?

The answer is yes! You can do your bit to help them get your items to the destination without issues by using the prescribed address format.

Sounds easy-peasy? However, in reality, there are a series of Royal Mail address format rules you must follow. And this blog covers these guidelines to enable you to send your mail items affordably, speedily, and efficiently!

Let’s begin!

How to Address an Envelope UK?

Do you add the sauce first to the pizza base or the toppings? Of course, the sauce comes first, right? It’s a no-brainer!

Even a postal address needs you to layer the different elements in a well-defined order.

You may think how hard it is to write the correct address on an envelope or package! However, remember that Royal Mail returns hundreds of thousands of items to senders because of incorrect addressing. Hence, you must follow the prescribed address format to ensure that the Post Office delivers your mail accurately.

There are several elements within an address, and they are:

Premise Elements

They help the carrier deliver mail to the correct location within a premise. For example, suppose you want to mail to an industrial area with several wings. In such cases, it may get complicated to find the intended recipient. Thus, Royal Mail urges customers to mention at least one premise element to reduce delivery failures.

Here are some premise elements you can use for your UK address format and their examples:

• Organisation’s name (if applicable): ABC Pvt. Ltd.
• Sub-building: Wing G
• Building name: Tulip House
• Building number: A 50 The Flower Valley

You don’t need to add all these elements to your address on letter UK even if you have them all. Insert the premise details below the Mailer Defined Information (MDI), recipient’s name, and designation (while mailing to a commercial address).

Thoroughfare Elements

Next, you must include a thoroughfare to help postal workers get to the destination premises. It reduces unnecessary delivery delays and leaves no room for address format misinterpretation.

Royal Mail has made it optional to add the thoroughfare details below the premise elements in your letter address format UK. But, it is better to add this additional data for better deliverability, and here’s an example:

• Dependent thoroughfare: 1st Street
• Thoroughfare: Stanley Avenue

If you have the name of the dependent thoroughfare, you can skip mentioning the primary street.

Locality Elements

You should at least include one locality element while writing address on envelope UK. It could be a post town or locality where the Royal Mail workers can redirect your mail items for delivery. Always write the first characters of your post town in capital letters, like Milton Keynes, Hedge End, etc.

You may also add the county name with the post town on the second last line of your Royal Mail address format. But don’t leave more than two character spaces between these two elements.

Here are a few more combinations you may use:

• Add the county name and postcode on the same line with one or two character spaces between them.
• Add the postcode and post town on the same line with one or two spaces—provided the post town comes first.

Postcode

The next element in your UK envelope address format is the postcode that ranges between five to seven numbers. They are alphanumeric and help Royal Mail decide the delivery routes accurately.

Always insert the postcode in capital letters on the last line of your address format. Add one or two spaces between the outward and inward codes.

The outward code represents the post town or some internal district, whereas the inward code helps identify the street. See an example below:

• Post town: Abergele
• Postcode: LL22 7AA

So, here’s the full-fledged address format example you needed:

Olivia Fernsby

Junior Account Manager

Welfare Group of Industries

North Wing

504 Griffith Road

Llanddulas

Abergele 

LL22 8ET

Find below another example of the London address format:

Steffie Sallow

17 Portobello Road

London

SW1A 1AA

Please note: Don’t add “Great Britain,” “London,” or “United Kingdom” if you are mailing from the UK.

PostGrid’s address verification API can help you standardise and validate your addresses in seconds. Thus, you don’t need to remember these address format guidelines whenever you want to mail something. Also, you can skip wasting hours and days of your staff’s precious time in checking whether the addresses are deliverable.

Punctuation Instructions

Now that you know how to write address on envelope UK, you must also understand how to punctuate your addresses.

Not surprisingly, you need to add the correct punctuation for the Royal Mail processing equipment to read your addresses precisely! Otherwise, the machines may pick up an invalid or incorrect location and cause faulty delivery or lost mail.

Thus, follow these punctuation rules in your address format to avoid such problems:

• You may add punctuation marks to addresses on Barcoded mailings or which don’t enjoy other such machineable discounts.
• Royal Mail restricts the use of underline formatting for any address element.
• You can use non-alphanumeric symbols and punctuation for Optical Character Recognition (OCR) mailings if they appear in their corresponding PAF* records.
• Alternatively, the Royal Mail address format allows you to eliminate all punctuation marks, even if they appear in the PAF. 
• Senders can add graphical symbols and punctuation to the MDI or other addressee elements.

Editor’s Note: If you don’t want to follow the UK envelope format punctuation rules, you can stick with no punctuation and block letters throughout your addresses. This trick can help you save a lot of trouble differentiating between address data and adding the correct marks or symbols.

*PAF stands for Postcode Address File. It is a Royal Mail address database having nearly 28 million UK addresses with 1.8 million postcodes and 1.4 million commercial addresses. Royal Mail constantly updates this data to maintain validity and accuracy.

How to Format British Forces Post Office (BFPO) Addresses?

BFPO addresses have a different Royal Mail address format than the other UK addresses. The most commonly-used layout has four lines and includes the following aspects:

Service Number, Rank, Recipient’s name 

Regiment or Unit

Location or Operation name (if applicable)

BFPO Number

Ensure that you don’t add the county or post town. Also, skip writing the destination country as part of your address on letter UK.

Furthermore, Royal Mail asks you to avoid using AIR MAIL stickers for BFPO mailings and seal the edges of your items with adhesive tape.

Additional Royal Mail Address Format Guidelines You Must Follow

Below, we have enlisted the most crucial requirements to keep in mind while writing address on envelope UK:

• Only mention one delivery address on your envelope or parcel. If there is a forwarding address, Royal Mail automatically takes care of it.
• The MDI should not consist of more than 64 characters. Also, it should only take one line above the mailing address.
• The font size of your addresses must either match the return address or be broader. It helps Royal Mail distinguish between the two addresses effectively.
• Avoid using bold and italic fonts for your letter address format UK.
• Try using one of the Royal Mail-preferred fonts, like Arial, Geneva, Verdana, Tunga, Lucida Console, Courier, etc. Moreover, they should be within the 10 to 12-point size range.
• You cannot use some of these recommended fonts for Business Mail (Advanced) and Response Services. Thus, read the relevant user guides for specific products before preparing your items and writing address on envelope UK.
• Please ensure that your address appears on the mail item as a block. Avoid spreading out the elements to avoid confusion.
• Don’t use more than one line for the exact address elements. For instance, the words ‘Princess Street’ should be on the same line.
• You can shift between different fonts and point sizes for varied address elements.
• There should be vertical gaps of 0.255 mm or more between every line of the address format. Also, the character pitch must only be 10 to 12 characters every 25.44 mm.
• The spacing between two words must be more than 5 mm.
• Refrain from leaving blank lines within your address format.
• Try writing or printing your delivery addresses in black or other dark colours. There should be adequate contrast between the envelope and text colours.
• Avoid splashing ink around or over your addresses. Furthermore, ensure your text isn’t blurry or deformed, or incomplete. Thus, it is better to print addresses than write them on parcels or envelopes.

The Royal Mail Address Format for Return Addresses

You may choose not to provide a return address to Royal Mail. It means you won’t get any mail returns, and the Post Office would probably discard them. Therefore, it can result in losses and wastage.

But, if you add a return address, you can follow the guidelines we discussed above. However, there are some other things you should consider, like:

• Only use block letters for your return address format.
• Use left formatting for the entire address.
• You can only use Letter Gothic or Lucida Console fonts for return addresses.
• Print them in either English or Welsh if the PAF has the address record in the same language.
• Add the phrase “Return Address” on the first line to distinguish the address clearly from the mailing details.
• Don’t mention any UK countries or counties within the return address format.
• Print the return address in the title case, except for the postcodes (which always appear in the upper case).
• Print the postcode on the last line of the UK address format or the same line as the post town.

Royal Mail has changed the layout of an envelope recently. You can now place the return address on the centre of the flap or the top-left corner of the item’s front cover.

Here’s an example of a return address:

JOSEPH LOGHTY

Lifecare Services PVT LTD

Anderson Close

Dorcan 

Swindon 

SN3 5TQ 

Why Is It Crucial to Use the Correct Address Format for Mailing Items?

Apart from deliverability, there are many reasons for prioritising the use of a correct Royal Mail address format, and they are:

Improved Customer Satisfaction

We are sure you must have received several customers’ calls over delivery delays at some point! But did you try digging into why there are delays in the mailing process? Though the issue is from the Post Office’s end sometimes, you cannot overlook how poorly formatted addresses can affect your order processing.

Royal Mail can’t guarantee accurate delivery on time if you do not use the prescribed UK envelope format. Hence, the postal employees would have to sort your items by hand, wasting time and manual effort. These delays can anger your customers and tarnish your brand reputation.

More Mailing Discounts

The Post Office offers several shipping discounts on presorting and bulk mailing. But, you must know how to address an envelope UK Royal Mail correctly to avail of these benefits.

You can use automated address verification software or API like PostGrid to prepare your mail pieces and add valid addresses. The process is simple, time-efficient, and affordable. Also, you don’t need technical expertise to integrate our API into your CRM and start validating addresses in a few minutes.

Fewer Mail Returns

Imagine printing personalised marketing items for your customers only for the Post Office to return them. You can either reship these items and spend on postage once more or discard them. In either case, it hampers your growth and restricts you from marketing your brand. Thus, not following the Royal Mail address format can lead to severe campaign failures.

How Can PostGrid’s Address Verification Services Help You Mail Efficiently?

You may have thousands of customer entries in your database already! But are they correct and helpful? Can you launch a well-designed marketing campaign using this data? Probably, not!

Perhaps, you didn’t standardise your records according to the UK envelope format. Also, you didn’t update your mailing lists from time to time.

The truth is that—data management and using the proper letter address format UK is far from easy… You must access the Royal Mail PAF to check whether your addresses are deliverable. Also, you need to compare your database with the National Change of Address (NCOA) file as millions of people move yearly.

Hence, it can be hard to learn how to write an address on a letter and follow it religiously! Luckily, it is when PostGrid comes in. Our address verification services are PAF-certified and help you make your delivery addresses mail-ready.

But that’s not it! We also help you filter out outdated entries to save you from investing in sending mail to them. More of our features include international address verification, bulk processing, autocomplete, fuzzy matching, etc.

Thus, you don’t need to think twice about using the Royal Mail address format because PostGrid has you covered. Also, our affordable pricing plans make PostGrid the first choice for address verification and direct mailing services for thousands of clients.

“Address verification is very tricky. You must combine several resources to get it right! Some addresses are under construction, while some are vacant. And it is impossible to tell which addresses are apt for mailing. We worried about these things for too long before we started using PostGrid. Now, we simply upload the addresses we want to check, and PostGrid returns accurate results in the blink of an eye.”

“PostGrid’s address verification services help us access a cleansed database. So, whenever we want to launch a campaign or even make an operational decision, we rely on PostGrid.”

These are some reviews from our long-term clients who believe in PostGrid’s advanced address verification capabilities. You can also request a demo now to see how to employ the correct address format for your mailing lists without doing anything manually.

To Summarise

Addressing a letter is not hard, but doing it right is! Remember, Royal Mail deals with billions of mail items almost daily. Hence, you cannot expect the Post Office to go out of its way to fix an error in your UK envelope format. 

It is your job to rectify the mistakes and understand how to address an envelope UK. Also, don’t forget to follow the simple things, like using legible handwriting and leaving enough margin areas. Try being as neat as possible and helping the postal workers deliver your mail without problems! 

PostGrid’s address verification API and software help you cross-confirm any number of addresses simultaneously. The integrations allow you to check address validity at every point of your daily operations. Thus, you can use PostGrid for marketing, finance, compliance, and other purposes. 

Sign up now to know more about PostGrid’s automated solutions to help you send items with the correct Royal Mail address format!

Ready to Get Started?

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The post How to Address An Envelope UK appeared first on PostGrid UK.

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source https://postgridunitedkingdom.weebly.com/blog/how-to-address-an-envelope-uk

Variable Data Printing Services

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How to Use Variable Data Printing to Improve Marketing Campaigns?

Did you ever open your door and see a flyer on the knob? If yes, how much time did you spend with it before dismissing or throwing it away? We are sure not much! And the reason is that one significant aspect is absent in traditional printing—the ability to keep the reader hooked!

Direct mail marketing strategies are always highly-successful if you implement them rightly. And one crucial element you need to consider is variable data printing.

It is a digital printing method to help you personalise your marketing items to better resonate with your audience.

In this blog, let us discuss variable data printing in more depth and learn how it can benefit your marketing campaigns!

What is Variable Data Printing?

It enables the insertion of variable data into a print run. These variations may apply to individual mail items or specific batches.

You may have already used the mail merge feature to personalise your recipients’ names and addresses. Earlier, personalisation was limited to only adding a few variables, while the visual design was the same for all items.

Luckily, variable data printing services like PostGrid offer more advanced technology to customise your printed materials. You may add as many variables as you want without putting in any effort.

You can grab your audience’s attention using variable colours, images, and texts. It allows you to create unique marketing items that appeal to prospective and existing customers.

Let us consider our earlier example to understand variable data printing better. If the flyer on your doorknob had your name, you would have spent more time with it. Perhaps, you may have saved and shared it with your family and friends. And there would be better chances that you used the coupon to make a purchase.

The same thing happens in a large-scale marketing campaign. Instead of shipping the same marketing postcard or marketing letter to prospects, use variable data printing to send items unique to every individual.

In a study, 90% of marketers stated that personalisation has a measurable positive influence on their promotional efforts. Thus, variable data print solutions help you add value to your campaigns and increase engagement.

There are many benefits of employing variable data printing, like:

• Higher returns: The face cost of personalised printing may be expensive but only on a marginal level. It is well worth paying a little extra and guaranteeing your campaign’s success than sending generic mailers and hoping to hear from prospects.
• Stand out from the crowd: Using variable data printing, you can send eye-catching mailers that sets you apart from the competition. Whether or not you use personalisation decides if your items would be a part of the ‘save’ or junk mail pile.
• Unlimited options: Once you start customising your marketing materials, you get numerous options to experiment with your campaigns, like adding dedicated phone numbers and coupons.

Examples of Variable Data Printing Opportunities

This printing technique opens a new world of marketing opportunities for businesses. They can use variable data printing services for promoting events, making announcements, advertising new products, retaining customers, etc.

Below are some examples you can use for reference:

• Printing address labels: Typically, address labels consist of variable data—the delivery addresses of your recipients. Thankfully, variable data printing capabilities can insert a unique address to every mailer for your direct mail marketing campaign. Thus, you don’t need to spend tons of hours preparing labels manually.
• QR code printing: QR code marketing is gaining immense popularity because of its responsiveness and high ROI. Using PostGrid’s variable data print solutions, you can print custom QR codes that allow you to track respondents. Similarly, you may add discounts or voucher codes to record your campaign’s performance.
• PURLs: Personalised URLs let you track every response to individual customers, and variable data printing helps add them to your mailers. However, as said above, people dislike typing links, so make them short and sweet. For example, www.postgrid.co.uk/anthony-brown/. Using the recipients’ names in your links is the best way to get their attention and persuade them to respond.

Variable Data Printing and Marketing Strategies

Direct mail produces an average response rate of 11.6%. But, you must ensure that you use tailored content to suit the recipient’s needs. You can do much more than adding the person’s first name in the greeting or using a personalised signature to maximise profits and expand your brand publicity.

Here are some ideas on how to incorporate variable data printing into your marketing programs:

• You could use customer data regarding the items they viewed on your website. Or you can print related products to induce sales. If the recipient already has the product on their mind, a tailored offer can help you convert them.
• Collect data from various sources, like social media, telemarketing, past invoices, CRM, etc., to compile effective variable databases. It enables you to understand customer preferences better and offer them what they need.
• Use variable data printing services to send shopping cart abandonment reminders. Sending these personalised reminders may help you convince customers to return to their carts and finish the transaction. Remember to add a link or QR code to redirect them to their online accounts on your website, speeding up the procedure.
• Companies can also benefit from variable data printing by adding custom maps to their mailers. These maps help display the nearest store’s address where customers can visit and buy products at a discount.

Employing Variable Data Printing Services for Transactional Tasks

Another advantage of variable data printing is that you can also use it for transactional mailing. Transactional print and mail don’t come under marketing. But, these tasks form an essential part of a company’s operational activities.

Hence, you need it to communicate with customers smoothly and establish trustworthy business relationships.

Transactional mail includes:

• Sending onboarding letters to customers
• Thanking them for their business
• Sending collection letters, invoices, cheques, and bills
• Confirming orders or payments
• Notifying employees of a policy change
• Mailing legal and tax documents, etc.

You require efficient variable data print solutions like PostGrid to prepare such documents without doing anything yourselves.

How Can PostGrid’s Print and Mail Services Help You With Variable Data Printing?

Our print and mail API helps you from start to end in launching a direct marketing campaign. Also, PostGrid offers variable data printing for numerous items, like:

• Postcards
• Brochures
• Newsletters and surveys
• Welcome packs
• Corporate mail items
• Special offers and coupons
• Envelopes and labels
• Marketing letters
• Thank-you cards
• Flyers, etc.

Our boutique solutions help you plan personalised campaigns fueled with variable data printing. You can integrate our direct mail API into your CRM and design appealing mailers with our pre-built templates. The integrations help you fetch customer data in no time to auto-fill content for printing on your marketing materials.

PostGrid’s clients primarily use our services for customer acquisition and retention. However, they also employ our automated solutions to build valuable customer-company bonds and increase brand awareness. Here’s one of our client conversations that depict how PostGrid works:

The CEO of a retail company wanted to employ variable data printing to increase the number of RSVPs for an upcoming product launch. He thought of offering a discount for customers who book orders during the event. The company inquired if we could help them mail 5,000 personalised event invitations on short notice.

One of PostGrid’s dedicated account managers reached out to the client and explained the process in detail over a demo. They highlighted how our dedicated -business day SLA is ideal for launching such speedy campaigns effortlessly. Also, our variable data printing services help clients:

• Create, print, and mail appealing and eye-catching items
• Insert unique content to make readers feel special and push them to respond
• Add upfront CTAs and offers to guide them on what to do next
• Track individual and total campaign responses
• Access analytics and detailed reports to determine results, etc.

The best part is that our variable data print solutions are diverse to fit the requirements of all industries, including healthcare, financial services, insurance, etc. Furthermore, you can avail of our automation services at affordable rates with access to a 24 x 7 customer support team to help you.

Talk to our sales team now to learn how you can take advantage of variable data printing using PostGrid!

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