One of the first questions businesses ask us about direct mail is: “How much is it going to cost?”
The answer depends on much more than simply the number of letters you want to send. Data, print specification, personalisation, envelopes, fulfilment and, most importantly, postage can all influence the final price.
Here are the answers our mailing specialist, Tom, would give to some of the most common questions about direct mail campaign costs.
Our first answer is usually: it depends on what you’re sending, how many you’re sending and where they’re going.
There isn’t one standard price for a direct mail campaign. A simple personalised letter mailed in a standard envelope could be relatively inexpensive, while a campaign containing multiple printed items, premium materials or larger envelopes will naturally cost more.
The good news is that there are often several ways to adjust the specification to meet a particular budget. At My Mailing Room, we can look at the complete campaign, from data and printing through to fulfilment and postage and identify where savings can be made, without affecting the quality.
The main factors are:
This is why we prefer to look at the total cost per mailed item, rather than considering print and postage separately.
That postage prices are fixed.
Many businesses assume they simply have to pay the standard stamp or franking price. Depending on the campaign, volume, data and preparation of the mail, there may be more economical postal services available.
Another misconception is that doing everything internally must be cheaper. Once staff time, printing, equipment, consumables, envelope stuffing and postage are taken into account, outsourcing can be considerably more efficient.
Not necessarily.
Many customers already have a database of customers, prospects, members or supporters they want to contact. If they do, we can work with their supplied data and help prepare it for mailing.
For customer acquisition campaigns, businesses can also explore appropriately sourced mailing data that matches their target audience. Any data used for a campaign should, of course, be handled appropriately and in accordance with applicable data protection and marketing requirements
In many cases, yes, particularly with larger or older databases.
Sending mail to duplicate records, incomplete addresses or people who have moved wastes print and postage before the campaign has even begun.
The cost of cleansing depends on the size and condition of the database and the level of checking required, so we would normally quote this individually.
Rather than seeing data cleansing purely as an additional expense, we recommend considering the potential saving from not producing and posting mail that is unlikely to reach the intended recipient.
Basic personalisation doesn’t necessarily add a significant amount to the cost of a digitally printed campaign.
Adding someone’s name, address, account information or other variable fields can be incorporated into the print process using mail merge and variable-data printing.
More complex campaigns, where images, offers, paragraphs or entire sections change according to the recipient, may require additional data preparation and artwork setup.
When it is based on useful, accurate data, it can be.
Personalisation should go beyond simply putting “Dear John” at the top of a letter. The real opportunity is to make the communication more relevant to the person receiving it.
A slightly more expensive campaign that generates a better response can ultimately provide greater value than a cheaper generic mailing.
Personalisation that makes the communication more relevant, rather than simply demonstrating that the sender knows someone’s name.
Depending on the campaign, this could include the recipient’s:
The important point is that the personalisation should have a purpose.
Not necessarily.
Modern digital printing has made full-colour printing much more accessible, and the difference may be smaller than businesses expect.
The exact cost will depend on factors such as quantity, number of pages, coverage and paper choice. For marketing campaigns, colour can also provide much greater creative flexibility, so it is worth comparing the price rather than automatically choosing black and white to save money.
It depends on the campaign.
For a premium invitation, high-value prospecting campaign or piece where presentation is particularly important, investing in a heavier or higher-quality stock can help create the right impression.
For a straightforward customer letter, statement or high-volume campaign, a good-quality standard paper may be perfectly adequate.
Our advice is to spend where it contributes to the recipient experience or campaign objective, rather than upgrading materials simply for the sake of it.
For very small quantities, it can.
If you’re sending 20 or 30 letters occasionally, manually folding and inserting them may be perfectly practical.
As volumes increase, however, staff time quickly becomes a significant hidden cost. Folding hundreds or thousands of documents, matching them to the correct envelopes, inserting them and preparing them for postage takes considerable time.
Automation can also reduce the risk of human errors, particularly with personalised or multi-page documents.
There isn’t one exact number because it depends on the complexity and frequency of the mailing.
Once a business is regularly processing hundreds of items, however, it is worth comparing the true internal cost with outsourcing.
Don’t just compare the supplier’s price with the cost of an envelope and stamp. Include staff time, printer costs, toner or ink, equipment, maintenance, wasted materials, data preparation and the time spent sorting and preparing the mail.
For regular or larger campaigns, outsourcing can remove a substantial administrative burden.
For businesses that regularly process mail internally, equipment can include:
Yes. My Mailing Room can help businesses that want to outsource their mailing, but we can also provide mailing equipment and solutions for organisations that prefer to keep their mailroom operation in-house.
We can help assess volumes and requirements to determine which approach makes the most commercial sense.
Generally, yes. A standard plain envelope is usually the most economical option.
However, branded envelopes can help with recognition and presentation, particularly for established organisations or campaigns where branding is important.
There are also occasions when an intentionally simple envelope is the better creative choice, so branding isn’t automatically necessary for every campaign.
Standard window envelopes are widely used and can be very cost-effective, particularly for personalised letters because the address printed on the document can show through the window.
Coloured, bespoke or specially printed envelopes are likely to cost more than standard stock.
The difference becomes more noticeable across large quantities, so we would normally compare the options when preparing the quotation.
They can.
The important consideration isn’t just the cost of the envelope itself. Changing the size, thickness or weight of the finished mailing can move it into a different postal format, potentially increasing postage across every item in the campaign.
For example, moving from a Letter-format mailing to a Large Letter can have a much greater impact on the total campaign cost than the difference in envelope price.
We therefore recommend considering postal format while the mailing is being designed – not after everything has already been printed.
Usually: “What are you sending, how many are you sending and when does it need to arrive?”
From there, we need to understand the complete specification.
That includes the quantity, data, number of pages, colour requirements, paper, envelope, personalisation, inserts, finished weight and dimensions, postage requirements and timescale.
Understanding the objective is useful too. Sometimes a small change to the specification can reduce the overall campaign cost without compromising what the customer is trying to achieve.
We would prioritise spending on the things that influence targeting, relevance and response.
Good-quality data, a strong message, an effective call to action and appropriate personalisation are generally more important than expensive paper or elaborate packaging.
Businesses can often save money by simplifying the physical specification, for example, using standard paper sizes, standard envelopes and keeping the mailing within the most appropriate postal format.
The cheapest campaign isn’t necessarily the campaign that provides the best return. Equally, spending more on every element doesn’t guarantee better results.
Staff time is probably the biggest one.
Printing documents, fixing printer problems, folding letters, stuffing envelopes, checking addresses, moving boxes and preparing mail for collection all take employees away from their normal work.
Other commonly overlooked costs include wasted prints, duplicate records, returned mail, printer consumables, equipment rental and maintenance, unnecessary inserts and choosing a postal service that isn’t the most economical option for the campaign.
Even small differences matter at volume. Saving just 5p per item on a 10,000-piece campaign represents £500, which is why reviewing the complete process rather than individual costs can make such a difference.
Every campaign is different, which is why we don’t believe in forcing customers into a standard package.
Whether you already have artwork and data ready to go or simply have an idea for a campaign, talk to the My Mailing Room team. We can look at your data, printing, personalisation, fulfilment and postage requirements and recommend a cost-effective way to get your campaign through the letterbox.
From print to send, we can manage the complete process, leaving your team free to concentrate on what happens when your customers respond.
