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You've decided to make Direct Mail a part of your marketing strategy. Great choice! Direct mail has some of the highest engagement rates, open rates, and return-on-investment rates in the marketing industry. Now that you have chosen to run a Direct Mail campaign, what's next? Let's discuss everything you need to start your campaign. Specify your goal Create a call to action Choose your mailer Design the mail piece Determine and create or purchase a list Get started right away Specify Your Goal Specifying a goal keeps your content clear, concise, and effective. An effective goal includes: Specifying your audience Clearly state what you want them to do Identify how this brings value to your audience Detail the incentives or offers you will give your audience The more specific your goal, the more likely you are to receive effective results. Keeping the above in mind, stating that your goal is 'just to bring in sales' isn't going to be very helpful in narrowing down what you want to offer, your message, your design, or your direct mailing list. A much better goal would sound more like this: "Secure more spa bookings: alert young mothers nearby to our supervised, children's play area in our spa. Stress that this service is free for all customers, and provide a coupon that allows them to receive half off their spa treatment if they bring a buddy. ie: My goal is to encourage qualified, grade 12 students to apply to our university by alerting them to the services, classes, and facilities unique to our university. Create a call to action Now that we know what we want our audience to do, we can create a much clearer and impactful call to action. A call to action tells the customer what you want them to do with your mailer. Good calls to action are attention-grabbing, memorable, and include equally important, supporting information: what you want them to do and how you want them to do it. For example, you wouldn't just ask your audience to "Enter to Win", and leave the rest of the information out. Instead, you would fill in the details. ie: Enter to Win! Go to nuppprinting.com/EntertoWin or scan the QR code on the front of this mailer and fill out the online form to automatically be entered into our contest. Choose your mailer Knowing your audience, message, call to action, and offers, allows you to select an appropriate mailer. For example, if you're encouraging wealthier business owners to donate to a cause by offering them awards and badges for their generosity, a formal letter and form inside a self-addressed envelope would be better suited. Lastly, always contact the direct mail company of your choice before choosing a mailer to ensure you stay within budget. Postcards: Standard postcards (4 x 6 inches) are a common type of direct mail piece. They are a cost-effective way to mail. Oversized postcards (6 x 9 or 6 x 11 inches) are also an option. Letters: Letters are also known as “the classic package.” The mailer usually includes a letter and a response form with an envelope. Self-mailers: Self-mailers are similar to letters, but don’t have an envelope. The ad is folded before the address and postage are applied. Brochures and catalogs: Catalogs are a way for companies to showcase their entire or partial product lines. Inserts and wraps: Inserts and wraps are included within other mailers, such as catalogs and magazines. Dimensional mailers: Dimensional mailers are the most expensive and stand out the most. These mailers use pop-ups and other 3D elements in the design. Design the mail piece Design your mailer to be clear, focused, and easy to understand. This includes utilizing easy-to-read fonts, making your call to action the focal point, and proofreading your design multiple times. Also, tailor your message to your audience or personalize it for every individual using variable data. To maximize your exposure, you can design a digital version of your mailer and set it up in Informed Delivery. Informed delivery alerts users to mail that has arrived in their mailbox and even shows them a picture of it. Users can digitally interact with your mail piece by directly linking them to web pages if you submit a properly designed document to USPS. Once you send in your list and have your mailer designed, all that's left is to schedule your mailing and send out your mailer. As long as you have designed your mailer and chosen your audience for a specific goal and call to action, your mailer can reduce its campaign costs and target the desired audience more effectively. If you would like a complete checklist of all of these steps, click here. If you would like to get in touch with a direct mail company in Pennsylvania, click here. Please let us know if you have any questions. We are happy to help.

Databases come in various formats, and mailing lists may not always align precisely with our recommendations. Lists that do not conform to our layout may incur additional fees due to the need for extensive manipulation to process the list per USPS requirements. BEFORE YOU BEGIN Valid mailing addresses cannot be created from incomplete, inaccurate, or incorrectly formatted data. Even when put together carefully, it's typical to encounter a return rate or undeliverable pieces ranging from 8% to 10% per mailing. However, the USPS only allows 0.5% of an entire list to be undeliverable. The USPS reserves the right to assess the cost of disposing of undeliverable mail pieces. Furthermore, international addresses are not eligible for marketing mail. MAILING LIST FORMATTING Typically, your mailing list will include four to nine categories. However, if you plan on utilizing variable data to customize your mailer, ask us what additional categories your list will require. However, if you are planning on using variable data, please ensure the columns of your mailing list are entitled as follows: Name (optional) Title (optional) Company (optional) Department (optional) Address1 (required) Address2 (if applicable) City (required) State (required) Zip Code (required) There are some formatting errors that will make your list unworkable. To avoid this, ensure that your list does not include any of the following: No merged fields No centered fields No hidden fields Ensure all of your headers are on one line only Once you have labeled your columns, organize your mailing list information in the appropriate columns. There are a few items to remember when you are filling out your mailing list information. Remove all punctuation (e.g., MR. CHAD SMITH, JR. will become MR CHAD SMITH JR). Apply appropriate abbreviations (e.g., STREET to ST, AVENUE to AVE, etc.). Reduce lengthy job titles if applicable with concise alternatives (e.g. Shorten VICE PRESIDENT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS to VP OF PR ) There can be a maximum of 50 characters per field, including spaces for addressing. Anything exceeding this limit will be truncated as per USPS requirements. Ensure all spelling is correct, as the computer cannot understand MIAN STREET as opposed to MAIN STREET. Due to this, all misspelled addresses automatically become undeliverable, or the mail piece will be sent to the wrong address. The computer cannot deduce what you meant to say. Instead, they can only read exactly what is provided to them. When exporting your file, it's always a good idea to ask your direct mail company how you should export it best for their software. However, if your direct mailer is us as Nupp Printing, we accept Excel documents, .txt documents, and .csv. If you cannot access Excel, you can always use Google Sheets and we can download it as an Excel spreadsheet. FILE TYPE Once you are ready to save or export your mailing list, please make sure that your list is one of the following file types: .csv .txt .xls .xlsx Other formats than those listed may add time and fees if adjustments or manipulations to your data are necessary. If you're uncertain about whether your mailing list meets our specifications, please reach out to Nupp Printing. We are here to help and hope that you found this description of preparing a mailing list helpful.

The wake of COVID has left many problems, including notable price increases for many industries. The printing industry was not immune to this effect either. Paper, glue, ink, special coatings, and the shipping/service costs involved in transportation all increased in price. However, there are tools to reduce your printing costs such as bulk purchasing. WHAT IS BULK PURCHASING? Bulk purchasing simply means purchasing enough items that the price of those items goes down. These types of purchases work in industries where there's pricing at scale. Essentially, the individual item's cost goes down, even though you are paying for more items in total. Typically, one can only afford bulk purchasing through a commercial printing company. IS IT FOR ME? There are two reasons why buying in bulk is more cost-effective. The first is that the individual item cost matters if you reorder. It would be wise to purchase as much printing as you have reasonable storage for. Yes, the initial order will cost more since you purchased more printed items. However, the excess eventually would have been purchased anyway. By purchasing them now, you get them at a significantly cheaper price. This saves you money after the first purchase. The second reason is: that bulk ordering is more affordable if your printed items are subject to high inflation. By submitting a larger order, you essentially freeze the price of your extra-printed items. You don't have to pay for the additional inflation on each item as the price rises. Also, avoiding expensive periods of print shortages is easier when you order less frequently. WHAT ELSE CAN I DO TO LOWER MY PRINTING COSTS? If you find that you are ordering at the last minute, you should know that this often comes at a higher expense. Rush-printing a large bulk order can be incredibly expensive. Ordering a small, rushed quantity and pairing it with a bulk, non-rushed quantity is more cost-effective to avoid excessive charges. Also, you will find that adding the following increases your printing costs significantly: bleed (color that comes within a 1/4 inch of the edge of your page on any side) printing in color printing on higher-quality materials requesting design service or not providing print-ready art (see other posts about this) EXCEPTIONS When ordering envelopes, it is important to note how soon you will use them. Even properly stored envelopes can draw moisture from the air and cause the glue to stick, partially sealing the envelopes before you even use them. When ordering checks, it is best to be more careful about how many you order. Sometimes, accounts can be compromised, your bank can be bought out, your logo changed, your company name changed, or you can switch accounts. All these changes would necessitate purchasing new checks. For this reason, it is better to order an amount that you would be comfortable with having to reorder if any of those circumstances should occur. Enjoy the price breaks that bulk ordering can give you and begin ordering more. It is well worth it.

As our means of communication become increasingly digital, the printed business card retains its position as a staple of the business world, and it’s easy to see why. After all, it’s a quick and cost-effective way of handing out information. And at the same time, it also forms a tangible memory of you and your business in the hands of potential leads. A business card is a small piece of paper that holds your contact information. It conveniently rounds up all of the essentials in one place, including your name, brand logo, and contact details like your website, phone number, and social media handles. It serves as a nonintrusive and friendly invitation to reach out at any time. Creating a business card can be done with the help of a professional designer, or independently using a business card maker. Here’s everything you need to learn how to design a business card on your own, explained in a few simple steps: Business card size The standard business card sizes vary from country to country. While the following dimensions are the most commonly used ones, note that they are not mandatory and can be changed to best fit your vision and ideas: US and Canada Standard: 3.5” × 2” (89mm × 51mm) With bleed: 3.75” × 2.25” (95.25mm × 57.15 mm) Western Europe Standard: 3.35” × 2.17” (85mm × 55mm) With bleed: 3.58” × 2.40” (91mm × 61mm) Eastern Europe Standard: 3.5” × 1.9” (90mm × 50mm) Oceania Standard: 3.54” × 2.165” (90mm × 55mm) Japan Standard: 3.582” × 2.165” (91mm × 55mm) Alongside the standard business card sizes, there are a few important printing terms to keep in mind before approaching the design of your business card: Bleed area: This refers to the design elements (such as colors and lines) that extend beyond the edge of where the card will be trimmed once printed. The bleed ensures that the card will not have any unprinted areas, despite minor offsets in the cutting process. Bleed sizes range from 0.125" to 0.25", so it’s best to check the required size with your printer. Trim line: These are lines that mark the edges of the card, signaling where the blade cut should be made. Safety margins: These mark the lines beyond which no important design elements (such as text or logos) should be placed. The safety margins are usually around 0.19” from the trim line. This practice is meant to prevent the design from being cut off, as the blade cut can be made anywhere between the bleed and the safety margins. Get your branding assets in order Your business card should capture the essence of your brand and brand identity. Before approaching the design of your business card, make sure you have everything you need to get it right: Logo: A logo is one of the most important elements to appear on a business card. If you don’t already have one, you can hire a professional designer, or do it yourself using tools such as the Wix Logo Maker. This logo design guide can also help steer you in the right direction. Business name: The name of your business should clearly explain what it is that you’re all about. For inspiration and catchy ideas, check out this Business Name Generator. Brand color scheme: Colors can evoke emotions and set the right mood for your brand. Make sure your business card maintains the same brand colors as your website and all other branding assets. The tone of voice: Is your brand professional and trustworthy, or is it fun and dynamic? If you haven’t already done so, decide what your business stands for. These brand values should then be reflected in your business card, both in its design and written text. Decide on the direction your card will take While a business card places just a small canvas at your disposal, there are many decisions to be made before approaching its design: Shape: Business cards are most commonly rectangular, but you could also opt for more unique shapes instead. Some examples include a square, a circle, or simply a rectangle with rounded corners. And while most business cards are designed horizontally, a vertical orientation could be another interesting option to consider. Element placement: Most business cards are double-sided, but there are also fold-over cards (a.k.a. tent cards). Either way, decide which elements you’d like to put on each side. For example, the logo can go on the front, with your name and contact details on the back. Style: Taking into account the branding assets from the previous section, make sure that your business card exudes your brand’s style. Check out competitors’ business cards that share a look similar to yours and browse inspiration, ranging from the minimalist to the bold and from the timeless to the trendy. You can also browse some business card ideas to find a little inspiration. Avoid common mistakes Design with a bleed: Be sure to include a bleed in your design (as explained above). Additionally, don’t place any important information outside of the safety margins, so that it isn’t cut off. CMYK color mode: Set your color mode to CMYK, which is the color model used in printing (and not RGB, which is used for screen displays). Work in high resolution: To ensure that your business card isn’t pixelated, work on a 300 dpi resolution file. All files used in your design (such as your logo, icons, and images) should be of equally high quality. Maintain legibility: Make sure that your text is written in a font that’s no smaller than 8 points so that it’s clear and legible. For the same reason, retain good color contrast in your design (there are many online color palette tools for checking color legibility). What to put on a business card The best business cards communicate important information quickly and easily without trying to cram in too many unnecessary details. To help you narrow it down, here’s the most relevant information that should be included when deciding how to design a business card: Logo: A company logo is an absolute must on any business card, adding to your professionalism and credibility. Place your logo in a prominent position on the card, allowing it to stand out. Your name: Your business card is about connecting to you as a person, which makes your name an unequivocally essential asset. Your job title: Help jog people’s memory with a word or two about your role in the company, such as ‘Founder and Manager’ or ‘Designer.’ Company name: Be sure to mention your business name, unless it’s already clearly stated in the logo or if it’s the same name as your own (there’s no need to repeat it twice). Tagline: This one is optional, but you can add a concise explanation of what you do with a catchy slogan of around three to five words. Website: Add your website’s domain name, meaning your web address. There’s no need to include the ‘https://’ bit, and you can even drop the ‘www’ if you like. Contact details: This includes your phone number and email address. If you operate from a brick-and-mortar location, add your street address as well. Add your social media handles too, if they’re relevant to your line of work. Add eye-catching imagery A business card’s visual language can enhance the ideas it wishes to communicate. This can be done using design basics such as a color palette, font pairings, composition, and hierarchy. Another element that adds much visual value is the use of imagery. An image can be an illustration, a photograph, an icon, or a pattern. While each of those serves a slightly different purpose, they can all be used to draw attention to your brand. For example, a baker's business card can include a stylish illustration of berry-scattered macaroons or a black-and-white photograph of hands skillfully kneading dough. However, avoid using images that are too literal and don’t contribute to the card’s overall mood and vibe. If you’re an artist, for example, showing one of your pieces is a better option than going for a more generic icon of a paintbrush. Use unique touches to stand out Applying special finishes can make for a truly bespoke business card. While these are significantly more costly, they can also add a luxurious feel and subtle tactility. Be sure not to add too many special techniques on one card, however, as the result can appear chaotic. Foil stamping or metallic inks: Metallic colors such as silver, copper, and gold, cannot be achieved using the CMYK printing method. They can, however, be created using foil stamping or metallic inks. Embossing or letter pressing: These two printing techniques press select elements of the design into or out of the page so that they rise off the paper and create a three-dimensional effect. Spot UV coating: This technique applies a clear coat over certain elements of the printed matter, such as the logo, adding gloss to the design. Laser cuts: This method creates intricate cuts in the design using a laser. It serves to cut out elements of a business card for a more intriguing result. Special materials: Business cards are most commonly printed on cardstock, but they can also be printed on other materials, from wood to metal or magnets. Finalize before you print You’re almost done! You’ll soon have these beauties printed out and ready to hand out to colleagues and clients. But before calling it a day, make sure to finalize your work so that there’s no room for error. Once you’ve sent the file to print, any last-minute changes will be much more complicated and pricey. Proofread: Triple-check that everything on your card is spelled correctly, that the information is up-to-date and accurate, and that it all looks exactly as you intend it to. Look over the visuals: Make sure that the images are in high resolution, and that you have the legal rights to use them. Research printing options: Look into available printing options in your area, and compare prices and services. Once you choose your printers, discuss cardstock options and printing methods with your contact person. You might also want to visit the shop in person, to browse paper options in real life. Lastly, ask for directions on the type of files that the printers would like you (or your designer) to export. Now, all that’s left is to export your working files, send them to the printers - and enjoy the fresh smell of print when the finished product arrives!

Sending your design work to the printer can cost you hundreds of dollars if you don't understand what you are doing. However, if you properly optimize your design, you can avoid these costly surcharges. COLOR Remember to export your design in CMYK or Pantone colors and avoid using RGB. RGB stands for red, green, and blue, the three color nodes determining color on digital screens. CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, the four ink colors utilized in most printers. For this reason, printing machines don't understand how to use RGB properly. If your design is in RGB, HSB, HEX, or LAB the print-machine has to convert it to a print-friendly color profile: CYMK or Pantone. Pantone refers to exact ink colors that can be recreated with CMYK, or the Pantone color can be purchased as an ink. It is also important to note that if you use images and graphics in your design that do not have a print-friendly color profile, it doesn't matter if you ask your software to export the document with the proper color profile; these graphics will not adjust. Avoid using the following graphic files in your design: .png .jpeg .svg .webp However, we do encourage the use of vector formats such as: .eps .pdf (print) .tif If you would like instructions on how to export your document in CMYK, we have them linked below: InDesign Illustrator PhotoShop Canva BLEED If your document has any graphics or colors within a 1/4 inch of the edge of the page, printers require that you export your design with a bleed. Since printers use rollers to move paper through the print machine, there are white, inkless strips of white along the paper's edge. So, a larger document is printed and cut down to size. However, you must provide a document with extended edges so the printer can make this trim. Each edge should have a further 0.125 inches added. In total, this adds 0.25 inches to your document's width and 0.25 inches to your document's height. It is important to note, that if you are using illustrations or photos in your background, you should not stretch your design to fit the new bleed. This can cause resolution issues to your design, making it blurry. Instead, we recommend you use a larger illustration and crop it to the bleed requirements. Also, while you extend the background graphics and colors, you should not allow your text to get closer than 1/4 inch to the edge of the document. This ensures that if the cut is slightly off, your text will remain clear and well-spaced from the edge. If you would like instructions to export your document with bleed, we have them linked below: InDesign Illustrator PhotoShop Canva RESOLUTION Resolution is the difference between your document looking clear or fuzzy, and it is incredibly important. However, it can also be the hardest to notice before you send it to a printer. The resolution in print refers to the dots per square inch (dpi). Designs exported at 300 dpi or more result in a clear image. However, digital screens only render images at 72 pixels per inch (ppi). So, while your artwork may look clear on your screen, that doesn't necessarily mean it will be clear once printed. You can double-check that your artwork has a good resolution by printing it on your home printer at-size. It is important to note that if you do not print it at full size, the design will shrink or expand the image and change the dpi (producing an inaccurate result). If the printed image looks blurry, the resolution is too low. (If you do not have a printer at home, you can always request the print company perform a test print and alert you if the resolution needs to be readjusted.) If specific graphics within the document look unclear, this alerts you that those graphics do not have a high enough dpi and need to be replaced. If you would like instructions to export your document at the appropriate resolution, we have them linked below: InDesign Illustrator PhotoShop Canva FILE TYPES All the features required for your file to be print-ready depend on the file type you export your documents as. While you may have been painstakingly careful, exporting your document as the incorrect file type could convert all your colors, bleeds, and resolutions to unprintable settings. We encourage the use of vector formats such as: .eps .pdf (print) .tif

If you’re looking to grow your business, direct mail is one of the most effective marketing tools available. By targeting a specific audience, you can send personalized messages and create an emotional connection with customers, resulting in higher sales and better customer loyalty. Let’s take a closer look at why direct mail is so effective. Personalization Direct Mail allows businesses to target customers with specific messages tailored to their interests. For example, if you own a clothing boutique, you could send out postcards featuring a new line of dresses to customers who have previously purchased similar items from you. This kind of personalization is much more effective than sending out generic emails or ads that don’t speak directly to the customers' needs or interests. Using Variable Data, Nupp Printing can change every mail piece's text and graphics to personally appeal to each of your customers on your mailing list. However, we do require you to book a consultation to set up your variable data job correctly. This consultation ensures that your marketing mail goes smoothly and easily every time you run door to door mail campaign job at Nupp Printing. Cost-Effective Direct mail is also incredibly cost-effective compared to other forms of advertising such as TV, radio, and print ads. You can target a specific audience and track how many people are responding to your campaigns, allowing you to adjust your strategy based on the results. Additionally, direct mail campaigns are up to five times more likely to generate leads than digital advertising alone. Of course, a part of analyzing the cost behind a strategy is the Return on Investment (ROI) you can anticipate from it. Direct mail has one of the highest ROIs you could anticipate from a marketing campaign. According to JWM Business Services, a .5 to 2% average return rate for a direct mail marketing campaign. This is a comparatively great return rate when compared to other return-rate-based platforms and campaigns such as email. The Association of National Advertisers found email has a 1% response rate. (They also estimated marketing mail campaigns to have a response rate of 9%). Customer Engagement The physical nature of direct mail also helps create an emotional connection between businesses and their customers that digital methods cannot match. People are more likely to remember something they have held in their hand rather than seen online or heard on the radio. Furthermore, studies have shown that people are more likely to respond positively when presented with physical materials rather than digital ones. A study from the USPS & Temple University in 2019 shows the effectiveness of direct mail's influence on consumers across all demographics: measuring visual attention, emotional engagement, and brain activity when participants were confronted with both digital and print advertising. While both mediums have their advantages, the print was proven to elicit a stronger emotional response from the consumer. Print advertising also proved more comprehensible and memorable, allowing participants to retain more information about the advertisement. Lastly, print advertisements made the products or services feel more desirable and valuable to the recipient than digital advertising. The study found this response was likely because tangible objects automatically have more value attached to them subconsciously. This effect is amplified when a customer gets to physically handle the tangible object as opposed to only looking at it (which makes direct mail even more effective). Many marketers are also using a new feature that makes the connection between physical mail pieces and the digital world: Informed Delivery. Informed Delivery digitally alerts users that their mail has arrived, provides a picture of the mail piece, and can even link that picture to digital landing pages. Companies are linking different text and graphics in their mailers to drive traffic to their digital sale funnels through the power of Informed Delivery. According to Suttle-Strauss Branding, over 25% of America is already utilizing this free service from USPS and it's an advantage you don't want to miss out on as it grows in popularity. As a business owner, using Direct Mail for your marketing efforts can help drive sales and build relationships with customers. Direct Mail provides the personalization that allows you to target specific audiences and tailored messaging and graphics. On average, it is incredibly cost-effective and lucrative when compared to other forms of advertising, making it a safer option for even inexperienced marketers. However, the most invaluable attribute of direct mail is that it can create an emotional connection between customers and your brand that remains unmatched by digital methods. With all these benefits combined, it’s no wonder why Direct Mail is one of the most powerful marketing tools available today! If you have enjoyed this article, please share it! If you're ready to get your brand into customers' hands via direct mail today, you can get started on your direct mailing campaign today with a single click here. If you would like to see our associated video on how direct mail competes with digital marketing, click here.