UK Mailing Preference Service

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What Is the DMA Mailing Preference Service and How Can It Benefit Businesses?

Do you repeatedly get items in your mailbox that you don’t want? It can be annoying to receive unsolicited mail for most people, primarily junk mail from businesses promoting themselves.

We cannot disregard the significance and popularity of direct mail. About 76% of the UK adult population opens all the mail pieces they get. Also, traditional mail drives nearly 70% of people to a digital engagement with the company sending it.

Hence, businesses can continue mailing to relevant prospects using the mailing preference service (MPS) file. It consists of all the names and delivery addresses of people that do not wish to get advertising mail.

This postal preference service safeguards recipients from unwanted items. And businesses can save money by not mailing people who aren’t interested.

In this blog, let’s discuss everything you need to know about the mail preference service and how you can benefit from it.

What Is the Mailing Preference Service?

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) UK runs the MPS service to enable people to opt-out of unwanted, personally addressed mail. Customers can register for this service for free, making it more convenient for anyone to stop getting unsolicited items.

It is also known as the ‘do not mail’ list that blocks junk mail by businesses. The primary concept behind this mail preference service is to respect your customers’ preferences and connect with them only when they want.

Thus, companies must check their mailing lists against the mailing preference service register to ensure they don’t mail to anyone who has already opted out. Moreover, all DMA members must follow this rule religiously to avoid getting into trouble.

The DMA set up the MPS register in 1983, but many businesses are still unaware of it. Often, people want to get their details removed from the postal mailing list because:

• Their mail has the name of a previous resident
• They are not interested in advertising mail items
• They want to temporarily avoid junk mail because they are sick or someone in their family passed away

Hence, try accessing the mailing preference service file before every campaign to avoid wastage. Also, it allows you to preserve your brand reputation and save company-customer relationships.

Please note that both Royal Mail and ICO support the postal preference service UK- which regulates advertising mail.

What Are the Benefits of Having a MPS Licence?

Businesses can buy a licence to access the MPS file now and then. It enables them to:

Reduce Marketing Expenses

Cross-checking your database against the mailing preference service register helps you filter out customers who are not likely to convert. Hence, you can save costs by not spending millions of dollars on printing and shipping items to people who despise promotional mail.

Keep Wastages Low

Recipients have the option to send back unsolicited mail to the sender. They don’t need to pay anything to mail your items back to you, but you would have to bear the postage. Thus, the postal preference service Royal Mail allows you to prevent wastage caused by mailing to people who have voluntarily opted out.

Showcases Your Brand In Good Light

By following the DMA guidelines and not sending anything to customers on the mailing preference service list, you showcase yourself as a responsible marketer. It allows you to boost your brand image and strengthen your marketing strategies.

These people might see your email or social media ad and contact you. But, you will be blowing your chances of getting conversions if you have already hurt your reputation by spam mailing.

What Is the Cost of an MPS Licence?

Many people are confused regarding- Can businesses use the mailing preference service, and the answer is yes!

You can purchase an annual mailing preference service licence for £1,150, excluding VAT. It gives you access to the DMA’s MPS register, and you can download it online from their website. This list includes the names and addresses of all the people who have registered for it in the UK.

Businesses that do not mail regularly have several more postal preference service options. Instead of getting a licence, they can buy a one-off data file that costs nearly £290. They can purchase it any number of times, making it an excellent option for non-frequent marketers.

Local businesses who want to conduct location-specific marketing to small neighbourhoods or areas also need not get a licence. They can purchase a small section of the MPS register for only £60.

But, using PostGrid’s direct mail services for your mailing campaigns allows you to cross-check your lists against this register for no added costs.

Is Sending Mail to the People on the Mailing Preference Service File Illegal?

It isn’t illegal to send mail to customers on the MPS register. But, the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 states that companies should avoid doing so repeatedly.

However, following the mail preference service regulation is mandatory under the DMA’s code of practice. Also, the organisation has the right to investigate the matter and pass it on to the Advertising Standards Authority if someone files a complaint against you.

Having an MPS licence protects you against such claims that tarnish your image and lead to negative publicity. Therefore, you must screen your mailing lists against the postal preference service UK before launching every advertising campaign.

What Are the Other Options for Customers to Subscribe Out of Unsolicited Mail?

There are many other ways in which your customers can register themselves in the do not mail list, including:

Put Up a ‘No Junk Mail’ Sign on the Letterbox

If a customer has this sign on their door or letterbox, the postal carrier does not drop off junk mail there. However, it isn’t the best option as some delivery people might ignore the sign.

Instead, they should use the mailing preference service for free to take a firmer step towards not getting junk mail.

Contact the Post Office

Royal Mail does not deliver unaddressed mail to people who have opted out of junk mail using the mail preference service. All the customers need to do is fill out a form or drop an email to the Post Office. Royal Mail stops sending unaddressed advertising to them within six weeks for up to two years.

You can mail items to such customers if they don’t renew their subscription to the mailing preference service after two years.

Register with the DMA’s ‘Your Choice’ Program

DMA also lets people get the marketing mail of their choice. It limits the number of items they receive by enabling them to select the categories of mail they want.

Again, customers must fill out a form or call the DMA office to register under this free scheme. The duration of every registration lasts from 12 weeks to two years.

However, the mailing preference service takes up to four months to come into effect. Companies can mail their promotional pieces to customers until their registrations are approved and active.

Stop Charity Mail

Contact the Fundraising Mailing Preference Service if you don’t want to get charity solicitation mail items. Keep the charity organisation’s name or registration number handy while making a call or filing a request on their website.

Then, the Fundraising Preference Service would ask the organisation to delete your contact details from their database within 28 working days.

Along with these methods, customers can also contact the electoral registration office or reach out to the mail senders directly. The good news is that you only need to run a check against the DMA mail preference service file as it is updated monthly.

How Can PostGrid’s Direct Mail Services Help You Send Mail to Relevant Prospects?

As discussed above, sending mail items to people who aren’t interested makes no sense and can lead to wastage. It can hamper all areas of your marketing and sales operations for a long time.

Thus, accessing the mailing preference service register and filtering out contacts is your best bet. But, you may not want to buy the files or get a licence. It is when PostGrid can help you out!

Our direct mail API helps businesses from all sectors, like healthcare, real estate, insurance, etc., send advertising items effortlessly. They don’t need to do anything manually or manage campaigns themselves.

Also, PostGrid verifies addresses and checks them against the mail preference service register to avoid returns.

Thus, companies can only mail to a laser-targeted audience and optimise their marketing budget.

Conclusion

Being socially responsible and not indulging in spam mailing help companies attract genuine customers. They can save their precious time and effort by not trying to connect with people who made it clear they weren’t interested.

Using the DMA’s mailing preference service lists, you can channel your marketing plans toward a relevant audience and reach your goals easily.

PostGrid’s direct mail services can help you send mail to PAF-certified addresses that assure deliverability. Along with the mail preference service register, it processes your addresses against the NCOA file to update any recent changes.

Thus, it is your all-in-one solution to create, print, and mail items to deliverable addresses, helping you improve your ROI.

Request a demo to learn more of our features that help you use the mailing preference service to conduct accurate mailings!

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Why Use Flyers as a Marketing Tool

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Marketing Flyer: Why Is It An Effective Marketing Tool For Your Business?

Marketing your business in the online world is becoming increasingly difficult. It is a fact that no business organisation can deny. Cutting through the clutter in the digital world is not easy, and we may have an easy solution for this problem.

Have you considered how effective is flyer marketing for your business organisation? If not, now would be an excellent time to consider this. But don’t worry. We will help you understand the scope of using marketing flyers as a marketing tool for your business.

As you read, you will learn why having a marketing channel like direct marketing flyers is crucial and how you can benefit from them. In addition to that, we will even explain how you can create effective marketing flyers for your business.

What Are Flyers?

Flyers are paper advertisements often printed in bulk for large-scale distribution via post or direct handout. Business organisations use marketing flyers to promote their products, services or events. 

Flyers come in all sizes, so you can choose a business flyer that suits your marketing message and budget better. More and more companies are now gravitating towards direct marketing flyers because it enables them to target wider audiences than direct handouts. 

You can classify the direct marketing flyer you use for your business organisation into two groups.

• Door Drop Flyers: You send flyers to a specific locality without specifying addresses.
• Addresses Mail Flyers: These are flyers you send to specific or individual postal addresses.

However, this is just a broad classification of direct mail flyers. You may find different and more diverse categories of direct mail flyers based on numerous aspects, including dimensions and a number of folds.

Do Flyers Work As a Marketing Tool?

Before asking whether marketing flyers still work, remember that it is one of the oldest marketing tools. And despite so many years, numerous companies continue to use them. Now ask yourself, would a marketing tool survive in this cut-throat world unless it’s effective?

That question should answer itself. But if you are not satisfied with that answer, let us explain why direct marketing flyers are still an effective marketing tool. However, it does not mean implementing a marketing campaign with direct mail flyers is easy.

Some of the reasons why direct marketing flyers still work so well for your business are listed below.

Grabbing Customer Attention Online Is Becoming Increasingly Difficult

The online world offers much more chances for you to interact with your target audience. But on the other hand, grabbing the audience’s attention online is much more complicated than using a printed medium like marketing flyers.

Think of all the times you deleted an email without even bothering to open it. That’s not all. There are also situations where the online algorithm dilutes your audience and the excessive bounce rate due to slow internet. Luckily, such limitations do not apply to print media, including direct mail.

With a direct marketing flyer, the audience will, at the very least, glance through it. Not to mention, every company now focuses their marketing efforts on online platforms using the same tools. In other words, companies are pitting against each other to grab the audience’s attention, even if it’s for a second.

Statistics Supporting Direct Marketing Flyers

Below are some statistics from Data & Marketing Association that reveal how beneficial direct marketing flyers can be for your business.

• 57% of people who received an addressed flyer opened it just as it arrived
• 8% of people who received an addressed flyer opened it within 28 days
• 5% of people checked out an unaddressed or Door Drop flyer they received
• 16% of people put aside an unaddressed or Door Drop flyer they received to check it out later

As you can see from the above statistics, the likeliness of your target audience opening a marketing flyer is significantly high. You can also notice that addressed mailers tend to generate a higher open rate than unaddressed mail.

Why Should You Use Marketing Flyer As a Marketing Tool?

Above, we discussed the scope of the flyer as a marketing tool and how it is superior to digital marketing. But that doesn’t quite explain why are flyers an effective marketing tool for your business. Below are some compelling reasons why you should use a marketing tool for your business.

Marketing Flyers Are Cost-Effective

We agree that printing and delivering flyers may give you the idea that implementing direct mail marketing is expensive. But, there are two things that you probably forget here. One is the significantly higher open and response rate direct marketing flyers offer you.

The other thing you are forgetting is the significantly lower printing and delivery charges for bulk mail. Furthermore, there are also automation tools like PostGrid that optimise your bulk mail campaigns. PostGrid minimises the wastage of resources and allows you to use special services like Royal Mail Door-to-Door.

Marketing Flyers Offer Hight Impact For Low Effort

Before you get any ideas, we are not saying that preparing and sending direct marketing flyers is effortless. However, you can make the process streamlined and painless if you use the right tools. But, let’s talk about the high impact first.

As we discussed its open rate, we saw how impactful direct marketing flyers could be for your business. It is much easier to make the recipient open a postal mail because they will do it out of curiosity. In an email campaign, you have to rack your brain to develop an attractive subject line.

Even then, the customer may overlook your mail, which will remain unopened forever. As for low effort, you practically have to do nothing if you use an automated direct mail solution like PostGrid. Once you set it up, PostGrid automatically prints and delivers marketing flyers for your business.

Marketing Flyers Are Tangible

We all know someone excited about receiving and opening their daily postal mail. We have also experienced the same feeling when receiving a Christmas card from our loved ones. Receiving direct marketing flyers somewhat recreates that feeling, and we are ever so slightly happy to open them.

In general, people love things that they can touch and feel. We are so used to digital ads that we have learned to ignore them almost subconsciously. On the other hand, it is relatively rare to receive a marketing flyer. Of course, you still need to put effort into targeting and designing your mailer, so it doesn’t become another junk mail.

Marketing Flyers Add a Personal Touch

Your direct marketing flyers will not deliver the desired results simply because it is tangible. Sure, the substantial nature of your marketing mailer makes it more likely that the recipient will read it. However, you still need to present the relevant information or promote a new offer to the target audience.

Personalisation is not just limited to using the prospect’s name in your marketing material. It is also about personalising your marketing flyer with relevant information about products, services, and offers that the target audience needs.

Even physically handing out flyers has specific personal touches to it. After all, physically handing over marketing flyers facilitates personal interaction. And even if you only manage to convince them to take the marketing flyers back home with them, there is still a good chance that they’ll check them out later.

Marketing Flyers Are Eye-Catching

Another great thing about flyers as a marketing tool is that they are eye-catching. Of course, exactly how eye-catching it has to be will depend on your chosen design. Another advantage of direct marketing flyers is that, unlike digital ads, there is no clutter or distractions.

We have all come across that page online with multiple ads on every corner and edge of the page. Then there is also the problem of the user navigating away from the page after getting a notification. Once they receive a message, the user forgets about the ad altogether. No such problem arises when you are using a marketing flyer.

Furthermore, you can also place your flyers inside shops, arcades, and other places your target audience is likely to visit. With an eye-catching design, it is easy for the audience to notice the marketing flyer and check it out.

How To Create An Effective Marketing Flyer For Your Business?

Automated print and mail tools like PostGrid can help you streamline your direct mail campaigns. But, the system still needs you to do the initial setup where you choose an apt design and content for your direct marketing flyers.

In other words, you may not need help with printing and mailing your marketing flyers using an automated tool. Most Advanced systems like PostGrid use a simple interface that you can easily understand. However, you may need help designing a marketing flyer to capture the audience’s attention and convey your marketing message.

Here is how you can create effective marketing flyers for your business

Step 1: Select Your Priority Points

Did you know that the standard size of a marketing flyer can be anywhere between A7 and A4? As you can guess, you can choose the flyer size depending on its purpose and budget. But no matter how you look at it, the room for your ad is limited. There is no endless scrolling here like in a digital ad.

But, more importantly, your audience does not have the time to read large-format content. It means you can’t tell your whole brand story on direct marketing flyers and must prioritise the points you wish to convey.

Hence, you must narrow down the most critical points you want to convey to the target audience. It would be best if you also defined what you wish to accomplish with the marketing flyer, such as

• Pushing a new product or service
• Offering a special discount
• Informing of special events
• And more

Step 2: Keep It Simple

As you know, the message and design are the two most crucial aspects of your marketing mailers. You must ensure that the message and the design of your direct marketing flyers are simple. There are also templates online if you don’t have an in-house designer and don’t want to hire one.

Some online tools let you design and modify existing marketing flyer templates. Here are some quick pointers to help create an effective direct mail flyer for your business.

• Print flyers in full colour
• Don’t use more than two fonts
• Always align your content
• Separate the message into heading and body copy
• Ensure easy readability
• Don’t overcomplicate the flyer with too many images and texts

Step 3: Give The Audience Something Worthwhile

People or your audience can easily forget the name of your business. To some, this might be a hard pill to swallow. Nonetheless, it’s the truth, and the sooner you accept it, the sooner you can make your next move. Using direct marketing flyers is a great way to promote special offers.

There are two reasons or benefits of incorporating a special offer in your marketing flyers, and they are

• Encourage your target audience to engage with your brand.
• Accurately measure how effective is flyer marketing for your business.

However, that does not mean you always have to include a discount or sales offer in your direct mail flyers. But, it is just one of the many ways you can use flyers for marketing your business.

Step 4: Link It Back To Your Business

The ultimate goal of using direct marketing flyers for your business is to impact the target audience. Unlike what some might think, the impact is not always new sales. Sometimes the goal of the marketing flyers is to

• Generate more website traffic
• Generate more social media enquiries
• Data collection
• And more

Suppose you want to measure how effective are flyers for marketing. In that case, you need to link the marketing flyers right back to your business. In other words, you need to present a way for the audience to get in touch with your whenever they want. Hence, you need to include the contact information of your business on flyers, such as

• Website address
• Social media handles
• Phone number
• And other contact details

Step 5: Use Quality Papers And Printers

Companies often get careless during the production stage of sending their direct marketing flyers. The worst way to mess up your direct mail flyer campaign is by using cheap or low-quality printers and papers. Remember, your flyer’s quality will also reflect your brand’s quality.

We know what you are thinking right now. You are probably wondering how expensive such marketing could be for your business organisation. Well, it might surprise you that you can cost-effectively produce marketing flyers using automated services like PostGrid.

The fully automated print and mail system of PostGrid uses quality paper and printers for your business flyers. Furthermore, PostGrid has an error-free process that ensures zero wastage of your resources, including paper, ink, and even time. As a result, you save more money on marketing flyer printing and delivery.

Step 6: Ensure That Your Flyers Reach The Right Place

Proper targeting is the last thing you need to ensure your marketing flyer brings in the desired results. When it comes to distributing your marketing flyers, you need to think about your target audience. Consider aspects such as

• Where does your target audience live?
• How does your target audience shop?
• What does your target audience read?

These questions will reveal how, when, and where you need to deliver your marketing message. You can also use address verification tools like the one offered by PostGrid for targeting specific localities. It provides a geocoding feature which allows you to target your audience using their location.

Conclusion

Companies often waste their valuable time wondering how effective is flyer marketing for their business. The fact is that if executed tastefully, direct mail flyers can create a significant impact on your target audience. Above, we have already discussed the many benefits of marketing flyers.

There is hardly any need for more convincing for your company to implement flyer marketing. We also saw how you could create an effective marketing flyer for your business. One thing is clear. It would be best to have an advanced print and mail tool like PostGrid to make the most out of flyer marketing.

A fully automated print and mail solution like PostGrid optimises your direct mail campaigns holistically. You get to save money by saving resources for your marketing flyers because PostGrid offers a zero-error process.

Furthermore, PostGrid can automatically send your direct marketing flyers to your audience after the initial setup. It even includes advanced capabilities like triggered and scheduled direct mails. Hence, businesses must invest in a robust solution like PostGrid for their marketing needs.

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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 which 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 an 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 underlined 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.

Via https://www.postgrid.co.uk/how-to-address-an-envelope/

source https://postgridunitedkingdom.weebly.com/blog/how-to-address-an-envelope-uk4278398

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 the 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 the return address go on the 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 the 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 the return address on the 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 the 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 the 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 the 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 the 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 the 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 a 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 the 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 the 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 the 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 the 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 the 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 the 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 the 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 letters and packages!

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 the 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 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 the 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!

Ready to Get Started?

Start transforming and automating your offline communications with PostGrid

SIGN UPREQUEST A DEMO

The post Where to Write a Return Address on Letter appeared first on PostGrid UK.

Via https://www.postgrid.co.uk/where-to-write-return-address-on-letter/

source https://postgridunitedkingdom.weebly.com/blog/where-to-write-a-return-address-on-letter3544196