Mailing houses: streamlining your direct mail campaigns

If your business has marketing goals you’re looking to achieve via the medium of direct mail, a mailing house will be able to help.

In this blog, we take a close look at:

What mailing houses do
The benefits they can offer
How to find the right partner for your business

What is a mailing house?

A mailing house is a service provider that can offer all the support and solutions you need to plan, produce and deliver a direct mail marketing campaign.

That might include:

Printing your promotional materials as cost-efficiently as possible
Providing a range of fulfilment options, depending on the details of your mailings, budget and marketing goals
Helping you to save money on postage
Checking the accuracy of your data

The mailing house you choose to partner with should be able to assist with a range of different campaign types, from straightforward mailshots and postcards to items requiring more complex fulfilment and distribution.

Key services offered by mailing houses

Design and personalisation

Eye-catching and memorable design is a key factor in the success of any direct mail campaign.

It’s worth bearing in mind that your design decisions should be based not only on what looks good, but what will fit comfortably inside the dimensions you have available.

This is where an experienced mailing house can provide value by advising on how to design your campaign and explaining the pros and cons of different printing and enclosing options.

You can also add to the impact of your design by incorporating a level of personalisation into your direct mail. There are various ways to approach this, such as tailoring written content to be more relevant to individual customers based on what you already know about them. Images can also be adapted, taking into account what will be most useful and appropriate for recipients in certain locations, for example.

Printing and production

Working with a mailing house can unlock various options when it comes to printing your direct marketing materials.

Litho printing, for instance, offers excellent colour quality and can be a cost-efficient choice for larger runs, while digital printing could be the way to go if you’re prioritising speed and personalisation.

Envelope printing is a good option if you’re looking to grab your audience’s attention from the moment your letter comes through their door.

Having a knowledgeable partner on-hand can be a big help when you have specific questions about printing options, such as what types of litho paper stock are suitable for digital printing.

Data management and processing

The return on investment (ROI) you get from direct mail campaigns depends partly on the quality of your data. That means it’s important to think about the accuracy of the information you hold on your customers and how it can be improved.

A mailing house can audit and cleanse your data, to ensure you’re avoiding pitfalls such as sending direct mail to recently deceased individuals or people who have opted out from unsolicited marketing.

Mail fulfilment and distribution

When it comes to the mail fulfilment stage of your direct marketing campaigns, a mailing house can help by offering a range of solutions for you to choose from, based on the particular requirements of individual projects.

Your partner will also be able to guide you through the distribution stage of the process, including potentially securing postage discounts.

Find out more about direct mail fulfilment.

The benefits of partnering with a mailing house

Building a strong partnership with a mailing house can unlock all sorts of advantages for your business and your direct mail marketing.

For example, it could give you access to:

Time savings: Spending less time on the details of your direct mail campaigns gives you more time to focus on other priorities, such as planning your strategy and measuring ROI.
Cost efficiency: Mailing houses have established partnerships with Royal Mail and other delivery providers, which puts them in a better position to secure discounts and cheaper postage rates.
Greater simplicity: Working with a mailing house that handles everything in-house removes the complexity of dealing with multiple vendors.
More choice and inspiration: Specialist providers of mailing services can supply the resources, expertise and ideas to expand your direct mail campaigns beyond what you might be able to do yourself. This could help to set your marketing apart from the competition.
Insights and intelligence: An experienced mailing house can share their industry knowledge with you and answer questions that have had you scratching your head for some time. They might be able to tell you why past campaigns haven’t worked, for instance.

Choosing the right mailing house for your business

When the time comes to choose your mailing house partner, it’s a good idea to follow a clear process that will help you get the information you need and ultimately make the right decision.

Be clear in your needs and goals: This will help you establish whether a potential partner can deliver exactly what you’re looking for.
Consider your budget: Knowing how much you’re prepared to spend means you can assess the viability of different providers and pricing models.
Look for experience in your industry: You might find it reassuring to work with a mailing house that has been there and done it before for businesses similar to your own.
Ask for case studies: It’s often useful to look at real-world examples of how providers have delivered results for clients in the past.
Get a quote: This will give you an idea of the sorts of services and solutions you can expect to receive from a mailing house and at what price.

The Mailing People: your trusted partner in direct mail

We deliver everything you need to take advantage of direct mail’s potential to engage and get a positive response from your audience.

That includes printing all of your campaign materials in-house, sharing our expert recommendations on fulfilment options and finding ways to save you money on postage. We can also give your data a free health check to wipe out inefficiencies and improve response rates.

But you don’t have to take our word for it. The results we’ve delivered for past clients speak for themselves.

Our success stories

Bibliophile: We helped this online book retailer cut costs with services including efficient laser printing and data cleansing to remove duplicates.
Adoption UK: We’ve been working with this charity since 2016 and have helped them save the equivalent of £2,430 per year on postage.
Combined Academic Publishers: This company uses us regularly due to our value for money, excellent print quality and quick turnaround times.
Corcentric: We’ve worked with Corcentric since 2017, supporting the business with accurate stock control, printing and same-day mailing.