What requirements are needed to commingle mail?
Commingled Direct Mail offers you many cost and time-saving advantages and opportunities to connect with your target customers. That’s why it’s important to learn the ins-and-outs of commingling to enhance your marketing opportunities.
When it comes to managing your direct mail budget, you’re at the mercy of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Because USPS postal rate increases occur regularly, you’re often on the hook to stretch your budget.
Add a tight economy to the mix. You’re likely scratching your head to come up with the magic combination of reaching your target market and controlling costs.
Cost- and Time-Savings, Customer Relationship Wins
Commingled Direct Mail may just be the more affordable solution. With Commingled Direct Mail, your company’s mail is combined with the mailings of other companies to create one large or bulk mailing that meets the minimum USPS postage requirements.
The practice has many advantages. Your mail will get to your targeted customer faster because it goes directly to the Sectional Center Facility, the last step in the mail delivery process. This shortcut reduces the regular delivery process from two-weeks to eight to 10 days.
Smaller Mailings. Improved Response.
Sending out direct mail used to require you to send your mailers to a large audience to keep the price of direct marketing within your budget. With commingled mailings, you’re able to send out smaller mailings and get the smaller cost benefits.
Beyond cost, there’s another advantage: You can send out multiple commingled mailings to target customers that meet the demographic of your ideal customer. Getting you “in front of them” more times potentially gets you a better response rate. It even provides the chance to forge more and stronger customer relationships.
What’s Allowed. What’s Restricted?
Commingling affords you many mailing options: self-mailers, postcards (up to 6 in. x 9 in.), and non-profit envelope packages.
One restriction: Unlike regular mail or Every Door Direct Mail, you are limited in the size of each mail piece. You cannot send anything oversized.
A Resource That Simplifies the Mail Process
Commingling companies provide presorting services that group your company’s mail pieces with the mail from other companies going to the same zip code. These companies provide the pick-up, sorting, and delivery services, bypassing the many intermediate USPS processing steps, stops and sorting that is required for regular mail. Commingling is a volume business. Your rates can be influenced by your mail volume over a certain period, say for example six months. This gives you the opportunity to renegotiate rates after a certain timeframe.
Some commingling companies work with mailing list companies, letter shops, and printers, enabling you to benefit from one-stop services that will also impact price and convenience.
Pluses of an Agency Resource
While you can work with a commingling provider directly, negotiating rates and terms with them can be challenging. But when you work with an agency that uses a provider or providers to commingle mailings for many clients, you benefit from economies of scale.
Ballantine maintains these relationships and works to provide you with the option that will work best for your business.
Call us to explore the benefits of Commingled Direct Mail and get the most out of your direct mail marketing.
I'm the Director of Digital Services and Partner at Ballantine, a family-owned and operated direct mail & digital marketing company based in New Jersey. and started in 1966 by my great uncle!
