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Make it automation friendly.
Another area where mailers can achieve significant postage savings is by designing automation-friendly mail pieces and prebarcoding mail. When designing an automation-friendly piece, remember that as well as meeting specific size limitations, letter-size mail must have an aspect ratio (length/height) between 1.3 and 2.5 to be compatible with automation equipment. Automation letters also must weigh 3 ounces or less and either be in an envelope or be closed with wafer seal tabs or spot glue.
Select premiums carefully.
In addition to the attributes noted above, automation-rate letter-size mail must be flexible enough to travel easily through Postal Service sorting equipment. A premium added to the mail piece often disqualifies the piece from being accepted at automation letter rates. Look for premiums that are thin and flexible. Reasonably flexible items such as promotional cards or return-address labels are permitted, but pencils, pens and other rigid premiums are not allowed in automation-rate letter-size mail. In fact, a premium that makes a mail piece too bulky (more than 0.75 of an inch thick) or too rigid can not only disqualify your mail for letter rates, but might also take your mail from the flats category to the even more expensive “non-flat machinable” classification.
The new world of Intelligent Mail®.
The Postal Service is in the process of introducing new Intelligent Mail® bar codes to enhance automation processing and provide additional services to mailers. The IMb can be used right now to claim automation discounts and to use OneCode ACS tracking services and OneCode ACS address correction services. The full Intelligent Mail® program will be launched in May 2009 with the introduction of basic and full-service IMb options. The full-service option, which requires additional electronic documentation for mailings and use of Intelligent Mail® tray and container bar codes, also will bring larger automation discounts (compared to basic service or use of POSTNET bar codes) beginning in fall 2009.
Use commingling to achieve greater presort discounts.
The Postal Service encourages more efficient mail handling by offering more price breaks for finer levels of mail sorting. However, to achieve the most advantageous five-digit presort discounts, you need a minimum of 150 mail pieces going to a single ZIP code. Often smaller mailing lists — especially test cells — don’t have much mail that crosses this threshold.
Ask your vendor about commingling your mail with other mail volume to improve postal presort qualification. The larger the commingle group, the more likely you’ll be able to meet the minimum requirements to claim the lowest rates.
Do your own trucking for drop-shipment discounts.
Still need to make your postage dollars go further? With rising costs for fuel and other transportation expenses, destination entry discounts provide significant incentives for mailers to drop-ship mail deeper into the postal network. Not only will an efficient postal logistics program provide meaningfully lower postage costs, it also will provide significantly faster in-home delivery and more precise targeting around your in-home date.
Kurt Ruppel is the marketing services manager at integrated direct-marketing services provider IWCO Direct. He can be reached at kurt.ruppel@iwco.com
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