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Learn How Print on Demand Benefits Inventory Control

Learn How Print on Demand Benefits Inventory Control

by | Printing, VDP

Learn How Print on Demand Benefits Inventory Control

Stacks of white paper

We have been asked dozens of times, “How Print on Demand Benefits Inventory Control.”  You will learn in the following article. Print marketing materials are still one of the best ways to raise awareness of your products and services. According to a survey from FedEx, four out of five small business owners say that print marketing helps them stand out among the competition. Our world may be increasingly digital, but there’s something about the feel of print that enhances trust and appeal. What you might not know is that you can get all the benefits of print marketing while keeping costs under control by using print on demand companies. Learn what print on demand is, how print on demand works, and the benefits of print on demand for inventory control.

What is Print on Demand?

Save on Inventory

Print on demand is a custom printing process. The need determines the print run size. Print orders are planned as they come in, rather than guaranteed before the print run is determined. Let’s say that you have a customer in another state that you have been supplying print material, in this case, it is informational healthcare books.  You normally would order the yearly quantity in this case 50,000 books. Now, with print on demand, you only order what is needed at the time maybe 2,000 books.

direct mail marketing estimate
In other words, if you normally print 50,000 books per year and these are kept in inventory until a quantity is needed but you end up throwing away 12,000 because you didn’t need them, it will be reflected in your budget. Not with print on demand! The print on demand model was developed after digital printing. Before then it would not have been economically feasible for a printer to set up for a job to print a small quantity. With print on demand, files can be printed as needed, when needed, and only in quantity required — even if it’s a small quantity. Since the file is saved, documents can be printed any time without extra work or costs on the part of the print shop or you, the business owner. Cutting back on print paper comes with financial and environmental incentives too.

Avoid order minimums

Another benefit of print on demand is you can get paper marketing materials for that important brochure or updated healthcare material without worrying about the need to meet traditional printing order minimums. It’s easier to maintain a print inventory with print on demand because you can see your existing print stock at a glance and order precisely what you need saving you money. Print-on-demand benefits all sorts of printed materials, not just marketing materials. For healthcare and medical fields, print on demand is practical for informational, and customer service-oriented print campaigns, such as pamphlets or books that explain the benefits of a given health insurance plan. Healthcare and insurance companies can also create customized printed documents for their customers, including EOBs.  Just be sure that your data is sent through a secure FTP site.

Reduce set up costs

With the traditional printing process, the setup costs represent a large portion of the total job costs. The cost is amortized over the total print run, so it’s a marginal cost per item printed. With digital printing, there’s not as much to set up, so it becomes cost-effective to do smaller jobs that would not be economically feasible with the traditional printing process. The benefits of a small print run carry over to inventory and management, as well. For example, consider a large print job, where your business must order dozens of boxes of material, which then sit around in storage until your company uses them. If you have enough storage space onsite, then you can store items in your building. If you don’t have enough storage space, your business will need to assume warehousing costs to pay for physical inventory. Switching to print on demand reduces inventory accounting, storage costs, handling costs, and waste.

Inventory Control

perfect bound book printing catalog

Inventory management may not be something you give much thought to, but print-on-demand offers significant inventory control benefits over the traditional print process. As mentioned above, the traditional print model comes with a high setup cost. For high-volume items, where you know the materials will move before they become dated, traditional printing may be the right choice. There’s another result from the traditional process, which is high amounts of waste. If you overestimate the number of copies you will need for a brochure or flyer; then you could be left with boxes of material that are soon outdated.

Companies often don’t question the drawbacks of the print model — or how the waste impacts their bottom line by tying up capital. The quality of digital printing has improved, where printed products now rival the quality of offset printed items. As a small business, whether you’re in the financial, health, or nonprofit sectors, it’s never been a better time to use print-on-demand services. The costs per unit comparable to traditional print jobs, but the financial savings and inventory control benefits exceed what regular printing offers. Inventory control shows you at a glance how many copies of print items you have. You can check how much stock you have and order additional copies either as often as you need or when you hit minimum stock levels. With inventory control, your business will always have the right number of copies in the right place when needed — say, for an upcoming brochure mailing. By ordering low quantities, you can keep costs affordable while reducing the expense of the item storage and disposal.

Preferred Direct’s Print-On-Demand Service

Now that you know the benefits of print on demand, you might be wondering how print on demand works. The process starts well before printing. At Preferred Direct we want to make sure that your graphic design and the finished product look great. Also, that it will meet your needs, and that the work is cost-effective. We offer a range of printing services with or without variable data. We offer binding and finishing solutions and we will always talk through the options with you so you know how to get the look you need for each print job. We are a very hands-on printing provider, so we work one-on-one with all of our clients through the design and fulfillment process. We’ll make sure you understand all of the factors that affect the print job, so you know what variables affect the quality of the product or our approach to keeping your sensitive information secure. When everything is ready, we’ll do the print job for you, using the highest standards of data security.

direct mail services

Some Preferred Direct Team Members in front of our HP Digital Printer for VDP

When you’re relying on print on demand to keep inventory levels low, you need a supplier who will be able to deliver orders efficiently and effectively. Inventory control will ensure the customer never runs out. Preferred Direct can complete a job in anywhere from one to three days, once you’ve done the initial setup work of creating and refining the order. At Preferred, we work with businesses in a range of industries, including education, nonprofit, medical, and insurance. To get a quote for printing services, or to learn more about what sets us apart from other printing companies, contact us today. Call Toll-Free: 1.844.719.1848.

Learn more about Print on Demand!
22 Direct Marketing Trends in 2022

22 Direct Marketing Trends in 2022

22 Direct Marketing Trends in 2022  Direct marketing is the discipline of communicating directly with your audience through one-to-one mediums such as email, direct mail, social media, and text....

About the authors

Bill Nee Jr. is the CEO of Preferred Direct Marketing, where he oversees all aspects of administration, operations and business development. He has guided the company’s overall strategic growth since he stepped into the leadership role in 2015. Bill has been with the company for nearly three decades, joining Preferred in 1996, shortly after it was started as a mail house by his parents, Patricia and Bill Nee Sr. Bill launched and developed the offset printing side of the business before moving into production management, marketing and other leadership positions. His emphasis has been on technological innovation to position Preferred as an industry-leading and customer-focused print, direct mail and digital communications partner.

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7 Tips to Increase Direct Mail ROI

7 Tips to Increase Direct Mail ROI

by | Direct Mail Marketing, Direct Marketing Solutions, VDP

7 Tips to Increase Your Direct Mail ROI

Direct mail ROI should always be a priority for companies choosing this direct marketing channel. Direct mail can be a very effective marketing tool to reach new customers as well as remind your current customers about your company. We’ve already discussed ways to create effective direct mail pieces. You can read that blog here. Now let’s talk about return on investment (ROI). There are things you can do to boost your response rate on direct mail, and that’s the ultimate goal, isn’t it? What are some extra steps you can take to attract a higher response rate?

Direct Mail ROI Tracking Tips

1. Create a Unique Offer. Unique offers drive responses. Unique offers can be a percentage off a product or service, a buy one get one free deal or anything else you can come up with. Make sure your offer is big enough to be enticing, to drive action, and that it’s not the same offer advertised using other mediums. This will give you the chance to provide a unique promo code on your direct mail pieces, which will help you track your responses and ROI.

2. Create a Unique Landing Page, Email Account, or Phone Number to Call for a Response. On your direct mail piece, you should refer a customer to respond in a convenient way, whether through a website, phone number, or email. The easier it is to redeem an offer from direct mail, the better. To track your ROI, you are going to want to use a unique landing page on your website, a google-campaign coded URL, a tracked QR code, a unique email account, or a unique phone number to measure responses.

3. Target. Finding the best target audience for your direct mail campaign is going to help you convert more sales. The more specific the audience, the better. Instead of casting a wide net and spending money on sending direct mail to customers unlikely to buy your product or service, you should send it to people more likely to respond. Is your product or service geared toward homeowners? Males? Females? Higher incomes? Certain zip codes? Create a targeted list of recipients to make your message count the most.

4. Personalize. Personalize your offer or message to your target audiences. Always address the recipient by name for courtesy and professionalism. Target your special offers for each one of your audiences. For instance, if you are a jewelry retailer you might send a direct mail piece for earrings to a female and cufflinks to a male. Variable data allows different messages and offers to go to different customers.

direct mail marketing estimate

5. Send Follow-up Direct Mail Pieces. One and done, as the saying goes, has been shown to not be as effective in driving conversions. Make sure you are following up on direct mail campaigns with additional direct mail campaigns. The more times a customer is introduced to your brand and messaging, the more credible your company and offer become and the higher likelihood there is for a response. It’s also a great reminder in case they meant to respond and forgot.

6. Consider Postage and Mailing. One of the ways to increase ROI is simply to reduce cost. Save on postage by using bulk rates. Direct mail companies can help you determine ways to save money through mailing. Keep in mind, different size direct mail pieces cost different amounts to mail. You will want to balance cost with an appeal. For instance, a smaller postcard will cost less to mail but may get lost in the shuffle. Find a balance of appeal to customers and budget, and utilize direct mail companies’ postage discounts.

7. Retarget. If your direct mail campaign led the potential customer to type in your website URL but did not lead to a buy or conversion, you can retarget them. Using online ad campaigns such as Google Adwords remarketing or Facebook ad retargeting, you can reach the customers who have shown interest in your product or service but did not buy. This gives you an even better target group of customers to address in your advertising because they’ve already shown interest in your company but perhaps they weren’t ready to buy at that particular time. You can also retarget with follow-up direct mail campaigns.

These are just a few options, but there are many other ways to drive conversions and improve response. Work closely with a direct mail company to find individual ways to improve your campaign’s performance.

business marketingCalculating Your Direct Mail ROI

#1 Figure out how much money was generated from the campaign. You will have needed to track your leads with special promo codes or phone numbers.

#2 Add up the costs of your direct mail campaign including graphic design, printing, and postage.

#3 Subtract the total spent from the total sales made to see how much money you made. Keep in mind that repetition will help to brand your company and achieve better results over time. Make sure to leave a long enough window for tracking response. For instance, tracking 30 days after a campaign ends will give you a better picture of an impact than 7 days after a campaign.

Preferred Direct is a commercial printer and direct mail marketing company providing design, print, targeting, and mailing services. To speak to a project manager call 1-833-425-7007, or click here for an online quote.

 At Preferred Direct, we make sure to keep your cost down. You will have a project manager who keeps your print jobs on track. Our project managers stay on top of your print jobs and can answer any questions you have along the way. We even provide emergency print services for those fast approaching deadlines. We also provide tracking so you can be assured that your shipment is arriving in a timely manner. Our Xerox Impika® and HP-T240 printers are top-of-the-line machines that print quality materials fast, ultimately saving you time and money. When choosing a commercial printing company, you can count on Preferred Direct to be cost-effective, speedy, and customer-friendly.

Call us toll-free today at 1-833-425-7007 or click here for an online quote.

Sources: ballantine.com, dmedelivers.com, under30ceo.com

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About the authors

As President, Chris Nee is responsible for connecting the many aspects of PDM’s operational organization. His focus is on bringing together people, processes, and products to drive performance. Chris facilitates the key drivers for PDM’s success as a print and direct mail company, including engaging and retaining employees, and perpetually innovating to drive top-line revenue, and enhancing productivity across the company. Chris brings a wealth of experience to this role, previously driving sales, leading teams, and negotiating deals with some of the largest companies/brands in the US, including The Hershey Company, Clorox, and Dole Foods.

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Supporting Charities Using Your Company’s Print Marketing

Supporting Charities Using Your Company’s Print Marketing

by | Direct Mail Marketing, Not-For-Profit, Printing

Supporting Charities Using Your Company’s Print Marketing

Looking for ways to raise money for your chosen charities? Are you wanting to brand your business as a philanthropic organization? Direct mail print marketing creates one of the best fundraising opportunities for charities. You can work with charitable organizations to promote both the charity and your business at the same time.

Supporting charities doesn’t have to be restricted to monetary donations. You can also support your choice charities by tying them into your current marketing campaigns or creating new campaigns based on the charity. It is very beneficial for companies to support charities. Here’s why: 

Benefits of Supporting a Charity

Charitable image – Your company shows commitment and interest in your community and in the well-being of humanity when it sponsors a charitable organization.

Increased visibility – By sponsoring charitable organizations and their events, your company’s name and logo appear in more places, increasing your visibility to potential customers.

Networking – Attending charitable organization events introduces your company to others that support the charity and can lead to networking opportunities.

Tax deductions – Your business receives tax deductions when supporting a charity. You can deduct up to 50 percent of your Adjusted Gross Income, but be sure to check with a tax professional for regulations.

Build stronger relationships with your customers – Your customers will like that your business is charitable and therefore will feel better about supporting your company.

At Preferred Direct, we have a full line of services available to help you design, print, and deliver your next project.  Contact us to receive expert advise and to learn which product is best for you.

direct mail marketing estimate

Ways to Tie Charities Into Your Marketing

You can make your charitable organization partnership beneficial to both the charity and your business through cross-promotional marketing.

Here are a few cross-promotional marketing ideas:

Promotional months – Does your company support a breast cancer charity, diabetes charity, or a pet charity? There are months in the year that are specifically designated for these types of charities. Breast Cancer Awareness Month, American Diabetes Month, and National Dog Adoption Month are examples of months designed for charities. Find ways to promote your business and theirs by tying marketing campaigns to these promotional months.

Give back on every sale – You can advertise a product or service and pledge giving back x amount of dollars to the charity.

Sell tickets for charitable events – To increase your business’s online and/or physical traffic, sell tickets for your chosen charity’s events.

Coupons – Give the charity coupons for your business’s products or services to distribute as added value for their donors. Added value can help the charity keep or entice new donors while giving your business exposure through print marketing. 

Types of Print Marketing to Support Charities

Whether you are tying in a charitable organization to a current promotion you have, or sending out information on your own products or services and mentioning the charity, direct marketing is a great way to benefit both the charity and your business.

Here are ways to use print marketing to support your choice charities:

Direct Mail Print Marketing – Let your customers or potential customers know about your cross-promotional charitable events, campaigns, products, or services through direct mail. Direct mail print marketing is one of the top ways charities fundraise, and your company can attract business and/or build your company’s reputation by using the same means.

Transpromo Marketing – Are you sending out statements to your customers? You can generously add an advertisement for the charities you support on your statements without spending additional money on postage. You can also promote cross-promotional charitable events or campaigns.

Newsletters –  Mention the charities you support in your newsletters. Whether you send out e-newsletters or mail out newsletters, you can support your chosen charity, or let your customers know about cross-promotional events or marketing campaigns.

Coupons and/or Tickets – Print coupons and or tickets for charitable or cross-promotional events.

 Preferred Direct provides print marketing and direct marketing opportunities for businesses and charities. Find a list of services here. For a quick online quote, click here or call toll-free 1-833-425-7007. 

 At Preferred Direct, we make sure to keep your cost down. You will have a project manager who keeps your print jobs on track. Our project managers stay on top of your print jobs and can answer any questions you have along the way. We even provide emergency print services for those fast-approaching deadlines. We also provide tracking so you can be assured that your shipment is arriving in a timely manner. One of our printers is the Xerox Impika®, a top-of-the-line machine that prints quality materials fast, ultimately saving you time and money. When choosing a commercial printing company, you can count on Preferred Direct to be cost-effective, speedy, and customer-friendly.

Call us toll-free today at 1-833-425-7007 or click here for an online quote.

 

Sources: smallbusiness.chron.com, kabbage.com, frugalmarketing.com

Request a Direct Mail Marketing estimate!
22 Direct Marketing Trends in 2022

22 Direct Marketing Trends in 2022

22 Direct Marketing Trends in 2022  Direct marketing is the discipline of communicating directly with your audience through one-to-one mediums such as email, direct mail, social media, and text....

What to Look for in a Direct Mail Printer

What to Look for in a Direct Mail Printer

What to Look for in a Direct Mail Printer When choosing a direct mail printer for your organization’s communication projects, there’s much to consider. Not all printing providers have the expertise...

21 Ways to Add Flair to Your Direct Mail Campaign

21 Ways to Add Flair to Your Direct Mail Campaign

21 Ways to Add Flair to your Direct Mail Campaign Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “Learn from the mistakes of others... You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself!” How do you attract,...

The Ultimate Guide to a Direct Mail Campaign

The Ultimate Guide to a Direct Mail Campaign

The Ultimate Guide to a Direct Mail Campaign What Is Direct Mail? Direct mail campaign refers to the act of sending a physical medium to potential prospects, current clients, or existing members of...

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How to Save Money on Your Commercial Printing

How to Save Money on Your Commercial Printing

by | Direct Mail Marketing, Printing, VDP

How to Save Money on Your Commercial Printing

There are many ways to save money on commercial printing, but you want to make sure you’re not sacrificing quality over cost. To make sure you have a quality-finished piece that fits your budget, you need a printer with the most up-to-date equipment and technology.

You want:

  • The best-in-class high-resolution print quality
  • To print anything from transactional print jobs to graphic art quality prints.
  • Your choice in paper from uncoated, inkjet matte and silk papers and glossy inkjet coated.
  • Maximum uptime, reduced waste, and reduce production costs.
  • To save money!

Finding ways to save money is at the forefront of many business administrators, so is it really possible for commercial printing to save your company money? The Xerox Impika® (seen below) can, but why should you care about one printer over another? You should when it gives you high quality, at fast speeds and lower costs. That saves you money on your commercial printing!

direct mail marketing estimate

What does this mean to your company?

 

A Streamlined Process: It means the best possible return on your investment, you. The entire process of printing transactional statements, A4 booklets, or variable data mail pieces is completely streamlined with maximum uptime, reduce production costs, and reduced waste. Those savings are transferred to your company when the Xerox Impika® is utilized.

 

Drop On Demand Technology: This further enhances cost savings by only using the amount of ink needed for the commercial print job, no more and no less. This cost saving process does not mean that print quality suffers as a result. Instead, it uses only what is necessary to create the finished product that is needed by the commercial printing customer. Click here to learn how Preferred Direct can reduce your print costs. 

 

 

Various Printing Applications: This printer is fast and can handle any transactional, TransPromo, direct mail, or book printing applications.

 

Personalized, Custom Printing: Variable data has been shown to increase open rates and will set your company apart from your competition. Mailings are personalized from your company’s database and target only the customers desired by your company. Specialized texts and graphics can also be included, and let’s not forget the option for full-color printing. All of these make it easier to read and get your company’s message to your customer base.

 To sum it all up, you want

  • Lower costs
  • Quick turnaround
  • Terrific digital print quality
  • Duplex printing
  • Paper choices
  • And you want it at the best price.

With the Xerox Impika®, you can save money on your commercial printing. It is truly the best choice when it comes to a large print job that your company needs completed quickly, accurately but with excellent print quality.

Preferred Direct was the first to have the Xerox Impika® in the United States. It is important to us that we have the up-to-date technology and equipment to handle your printing needs.  

 At Preferred Direct, we make sure to keep your cost down. You will have a project manager who keeps your print jobs on track. Our project managers stay on top of your print jobs and can answer any questions you have along the way. We even provide emergency print services for those fast approaching deadlines. We also provide tracking so you can be assured that your shipment is arriving in a timely manner. One of our printers is the Xerox Impika®, a top-of-the-line machine that prints quality materials fast, ultimately saving you time and money. When choosing a commercial printing company, you can count on Preferred Direct to be cost-effective, speedy, and customer-friendly.

Call us toll-free today at 1-833-425-7007 or click here for an online quote.

Request a Commercial Printing Estimate Today!
Remaining HIPAA Compliant with Third Party Printers

Remaining HIPAA Compliant with Third Party Printers

Remaining HIPAA Compliant with Third Party Printers Are you truly HIPAA compliant? Maybe you’ve set up certain measures of data security and protected your processes internally, but what about your...

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Your Top 3 Concerns When It Comes to Choosing a Commercial Printing Company

Your Top 3 Concerns When It Comes to Choosing a Commercial Printing Company

by | Printing

Top 3 Concerns When Choosing a Commercial Printing Company

Outsourcing any job can be nerve-racking, especially working with a commercial printing company for your sensitive and engaging print needs. The finished product reflects your company’s brand and message. The time it saves you is worth it, if you pick the right company.

When you send a job to a commercial printer, you are counting on them to make a quality product that reflects your company and meets your important deadline. Preferred Direct is known for its reputation and expertise. With an A rating and as one of the top commercial printers we can be trusted with any job, big or small. In this blog, we’ll discuss the top 3 concerns when it comes to choosing commercial printing, and what commercial printing companies should be doing to meet and exceed your expectations. 

direct mail marketing estimate

Top 3 Concerns

#1 Cost

When selecting a commercial printing company, one of the first things you need to consider is cost. Is the printer affordable? Does the company offer different printing options to cater to your budget? Is the quality of the print material compromised because of cost?

You should select a commercial printer that keeps its cost low due to the efficiency of the printing process. This means selecting a printer that uses the latest in printing, sorting, and finishing technology. When the cost of print projects is low due to efficiency, the quality of your print materials is not compromised. You receive the best product for the best price, and as a bonus, you receive your items faster.

 

#2 Late Deliveries

Companies rely on commercial printing for many different reasons, including marketing, billing, and print materials for the day-to-day functioning of your business. Therefore, it is crucial that it is done effectively and efficiently. If a marketing item goes out late it could mean the difference between a successful campaign and an unsuccessful campaign. If bills go out late, you don’t get paid in a timely fashion.

A reputable commercial printing company will always deliver your materials promptly. They will keep in touch, so you know the status of your order. It is important that a commercial printer allows you to track your order, and updates you on each stage of the printing and delivery process.

 

#3 Poor Customer Service

Commercial PrintingAre you struggling to get someone on the phone? Do you have questions regarding your project? Do you need help selecting materials and the best printing method for your project? Some online printing companies will communicate via email or chat, but they don’t always have someone available over the phone. Poor customer service makes it more difficult for you, their customer. When selecting a commercial printing company, you need to find a company that has a project manager assigned to your company and project. A project manager can help you select what methods of printing are best for each project, and they can help you find the most cost-effective way to print and deliver your job. Project managers can offer updates on the status of your project and communicate any issues that arise to keep your project moving forward in a timely fashion.

Choosing the Right Commercial Printing Company

direct mail servicesAt Preferred Direct, we make sure to keep your cost down. You will have a project manager who keeps your print jobs on track. Our project managers stay on top of your print jobs and can answer any questions you have along the way. We even provide emergency print services for those fast approaching deadlines. We also provide tracking so you can be assured that your shipment is arriving in a timely manner. Our digital and offset printing technology are top-of-the-line and print quality materials fast, ultimately saving you time and money. When choosing a commercial printing company, you can count on Preferred Direct to be cost-effective, speedy, and customer-friendly. 

Call us toll-free today at 1-833-425-7007 or click here for an online quote.

Let's get started! Contact us today!
Remaining HIPAA Compliant with Third Party Printers

Remaining HIPAA Compliant with Third Party Printers

Remaining HIPAA Compliant with Third Party Printers Are you truly HIPAA compliant? Maybe you’ve set up certain measures of data security and protected your processes internally, but what about your...

About the authors

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12 Tips for Creating Effective Direct Mail Print

12 Tips for Creating Effective Direct Mail Print

by | Direct Mail Marketing, Direct Marketing Solutions, Printing

12 Tips for Creating Effective Direct Mail Print

Direct mail print can be an effective way to reach potential customers. Getting your business to stand out from your competition is an ongoing battle in the world of marketing and advertising. With direct mail and postcard marketing, you also are in competition with all the junk mail that the average person receives every day.

We have created a list of the top 12 Tips for Creating Effective Direct Mail Print Pieces that will make your company stand out and be noticed.

magazine printing pagination

1. Choose the right size piece and paper that reflects your business. Ask yourself the following to make sure your direct mail piece matches your message.
• Does your business cater to high-end customers? Perhaps you would like nicer stock paper and an envelope.
• Maybe something smaller with a quick message? Perhaps you would like to send a postcard?
• Do you have many items to sell? A catalog might be the right piece for your business.

2. Be innovative. Build stories and images relating to your business instead of just telling customers the name of your company and what you do. Think about the joyful feeling you want your product or service to create and then paint that picture through photos and words to use on your direct mail piece. 

direct mail marketing estimate

3. Don’t use sales gimmicks in your type like all caps, bold with italics, and multiple exclamation marks. Keep your direct mail piece looking professional and keep the writing legible. Do not use hard to read scroll fonts.

4. Target your direct mail print. Think about your target audience’s demographics when you create your piece. Are you trying to relate your piece to 30-45 year old females or 60 year old males? This should affect how you plan your design. What do you know about your customers purchasing habits and likes? Cater your piece to what you know about your customers.

5. Use color and white space to your advantage. Hire a graphic designer who knows how to use color and white space. Keep your information concise. White space can catch the eye in a way a crowded piece can’t.

6. Make sure you have a call-to-action. On your direct mail piece, tell your potential customer to call you or visit your website and list your information. Without a call-to-action, you are simply branding your business. Be sure to tell your customers exactly what you want them to do next. Offering a special discount or a prize drawing on the piece can also lead to better conversion rates.

7. Include essential information about your business on your postcard or direct mail piece. Aside from your catchy headline, make sure you explain enough about your business on your direct mail piece. Don’t expect a potential customer to go the extra mile and visit your website for basic information. Give the basic information.

8. Personalize your direct mail print. There are different options for personalizing a direct mail piece. You can just personalize an envelope or postcard, or you can personalize the letter inside an envelope. Personalization, using variable data printing, adds a more friendly touch to your piece to help you connect with new or existing customers.

direct mail print9. Do not try to trick your potential customer. Gimmicky wording like “Amazing offer” or “Free” when something is far from free doesn’t help a potential customer trust you. In fact, it does quite the opposite. Be honest in what sets your product and services apart. Are you the lowest price competitor? Say so. If you aren’t don’t say you have the lowest prices. Instead, you can highlight that you carry top brands that your competitor doesn’t.

10. Keep your direct mail message focused. Do not overwhelm your potential customer with too much information. While you need to include basic information, do not flood a potential customer with unnecessary details or try and squeeze in multiple messages.

11. Create a campaign. Sending direct mail print with a cohesive theme is advantageous for many reasons. It shows new and existing customers your brand, makes your company memorable, and keeps your messaging focused. Take a look at our Ultimate Guide to a Direct Mail Campaign to learn more. 

12. Repeat. Customers who see the message multiple times are more likely to respond. Some businesses make the mistake of sending direct mail once or twice, and their response rate is usually not as significant as businesses that keep their company and messages in the hands of potential customers by sending out direct mail marketing pieces frequently.

Choosing the Right Direct Mail Print Partner

When choosing a direct mail print provider for your organization’s communications, there’s much to consider. Not all print providers have the expertise or equipment to handle the security, quality, deadline and volume demands of your direct mail campaigns.

Below are some key characteristics to look for in your provider:

  • direct mail servicesAbility to handle a wide array of printing applications
  • Flexibility in how they can receive your data
  • Compliance with HITRUST and HIPAA
  • Advanced printing technology to ensure the utmost accuracy and print quality
  • Services beyond printing

A direct mail print provider should have all of the technology and measures in place to ensure that your customer data stays safe at all times.

To ensure you get the best quality outcomes and efficient pricing from direct mail production runs, make sure your direct mail printer has the latest equipment and software. Preferred Direct has cutting-edge digital and inkjet printing technology. Our HP T240 HD and Xerox® Impika®, presses deliver optimal production speed and cost-effectiveness for continuous feed inkjet printing. We specialize in accurate, high-speed lasering and ink-jetting, with the flexibility to communicate custom, personalized messages, thanks to our state-of-the-art equipment, software applications, and skilled team. 

With over 35 years of experience in commercial printing and mailing fulfillment, Preferred Direct is the preferred direct mail print provider for many companies nationwide. We have the technology, capacity and drive to assist you in your communications efforts. From design to delivery, we handle your data with care, delivering your direct mail on time and on budget. Contact us today to request a project estimate and let’s get started! 

Call or click for a quote. (757) 461-2730 or Toll Free 1-833-425-7007

Sources: entrepreneur.com, design-first.com

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About the authors

Bill Nee Jr. is the CEO of Preferred Direct Marketing, where he oversees all aspects of administration, operations and business development. He has guided the company’s overall strategic growth since he stepped into the leadership role in 2015. Bill has been with the company for nearly three decades, joining Preferred in 1996, shortly after it was started as a mail house by his parents, Patricia and Bill Nee Sr. Bill launched and developed the offset printing side of the business before moving into production management, marketing and other leadership positions. His emphasis has been on technological innovation to position Preferred as an industry-leading and customer-focused print, direct mail and digital communications partner.

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