Direct mail is a quick and effective way to send information and special offers to customers and prospects. However, if you're sending hundreds or thousands of postcards, letters, and mailers at once, you'll spend a considerable portion of your budget on postage. With bulk mailing, you can cut your postage expenses and use the savings towards a more effective direct mail campaign.

Bulk mailing involves processing your mail before it reaches the post office to receive discounted postage rates. Since processing mail is a time-consuming process for their workers, the United States Postal Service (USPS) would rather you do the work so they can pass the savings onto you.

Working with bulk mailing vendors
While you can realize bulk mailing discounts on your own, you can save even more by working with direct mail vendors. In addition to helping your conceptualize and plan your direct mail campaign, vendors secure special permits through the post office which qualifies them for the largest price breaks.

Vendors can perform a lot of the grunt work for processing bulk mail. This includes presorting mail by location, properly addressing each piece with as much information as possible, and delivering the completed mail to the post office for shipment. With the help of high-tech mailing equipment, reputable direct mail vendors can process and presort the mail far quicker than you could by hand.

Reputable direct mail vendors are also very mail savvy. Since they've worked in the industry for many years, they know which bulk mailing methods are most effective. For instance, if you target a mailing campaign to customers in your zip code, the vendors can get you the best deals since local mailings are quicker and easier for the post office to process.

Other bulk mailing considerations
It's important to find the best bulk mailing deals because postage is the most expensive component of your direct mail campaign – it could account for almost one-third of your total costs. By cutting your postage expenses, you help keep your direct mail costs in check.

However, don't let the postage costs be your only focus. Consider other aspects of your campaign such as the type of mail pieces, mailing lists, copywriting, and design. By submitting a free request for direct mail quotes with BuyerZone, you can get matched to 4 to 6 direct mail suppliers that will walk you through all the options of an effective campaign.