Direct Mail is the Solution to Cold Texting
November 27, 2023Stop What-If ing
April 29, 2024
If you are paying attention, you know postage rates have increased three times in the last two years. The USPS is likely going to raise rates again in January 2024. The rapid increases have prompted many of our clients to look into cheaper methods of getting mail to their prospect's mailbox. This article will discuss postage costs and expected postal delivery times.
For real estate investors, there are two primary ways mail gets sent. First Class Mail and Marketing Mail. In simple terms, First Class Mail is handled on a priority basis by the post office and will arrive between one and five working days to most destinations in the United States. Marketing Mail, which used to be called "bulk mail" years ago, takes three to ten working days. We are located in St. Louis, Missouri, a great distribution point in the country's center. That means 90% of the time, the mail does arrive as promised by the USPS.
Note that the time estimate for Marketing Mail is now faster than it used to be. New technology and mail sorting equipment have improved the delivery time of mail.
It is essential to know that neither of these types of services is guaranteed. Yes, First Class Mail tends to be pretty consistent, but they still do not guarantee anything. Marketing Mail is cheaper because the post office handles that as a secondary priority. They trade a discount on postage to allow them to take more time to deliver the mail. But again no guarantee of 3-10 days. It could take 15 days.
The type of postage used also varies depending on the type of mailer you want to mail. There are three basic types of mail we see for Real Estate Investors. Postcards, letters and flats. Generally speaking, the price goes up as the mailer gets bigger. Postcards are typically the smallest, so they are the cheapest. Then letters, then flats. But the USPS never makes it simple, so some nuances must be considered.
The definition of a postcard is as follows:
Rectangular
At least 3-1/2 inches high x 5 inches long x 0.007 inches thick.
No more than 6 inches high x 9 inches long x 0.016 inches thick.
Now, here is the crazy part. First Class Postage for postcards is similar and sometimes cheaper than Marketing Mail, so there is no reason to mail a postcard using Marketing Mail.
If a mailer is a letter of any kind or larger than the maximum postcard size, then it is considered a letter in terms of postage even if it is still just a single card.
The letter specifications are as follows:
Rectangular
At least 3-1/2 inches high x 5 inches long x 0.007 inch thick.
No more than 6-1/8 inches high x 11-1/2 inches long x 1/4 inch thick.
Anything bigger than that is considered a flat, and the postage for flats is considerably higher than letters. Investors rarely use flats just because they are more expensive, but some effective mailers do fall into that size category.
Another consideration is returned mail. First Class Mail returns all undeliverable mailers to you. Marketing Mail does not. So, if you're interested in skip-tracing the undeliverable addresses, you need First Class Mail. If you have multiple mail drops to the same list, a great strategy is to mail the first drop First Class and use the returned letters or postcards to clean up your list before you mail again to the same list. Then, you can use Marketing Mail for all subsequent drops. One caution here is that the post office is not all that fast in returning undeliverable mail. You probably need to wait at least six weeks between the first drop and the second drop to give you enough time to get the undeliverables back, clean up the list, and provide the mail house time to get the second mailer printed and mailed. This might make sense if you have a large list. But for a small list, the hassle is probably not worth the savings in cost.
One last point about undeliverables. We run all lists through CASS (Certification and Accreditation Support System - USPS List standardization software) and NCOA (National Change of Address). This does clean up the list as best we can, but there will still be mail that comes back to you if you use First Class postage. Even the cleanest lists can still get up to 5% of mail returned, although it is usually under 2%.
Add all this up, and it is complicated. That is why you need someone like us to help you navigate these waters. The bottom line is if you want speed and want to clean your list or skip trace undeliverables, pay for First Class Mail. (Unless it is postcards, and then always use First Class mail.) If you are not in a hurry, and don't care about undeliverables, then go with Marketing Mail.
