With climbing marketing costs and direct mail prices, every amount saved counts. However, you don’t want to sacrifice the effectiveness of your marketing efforts with a cheap print partner or skip the printing entirely because it’s more affordable to do without.
When the businesses that need print marketing most decide to cut it out due to a lack of budget, they’re the first ones to feel the effects. The universal truth is that while digital marketing is extremely effective, it can only go so far. Print marketing helps fill in the gaps.
If you’re trying to stick to a budget this year but still want to make high-volume print work, we have some solutions. Here are 5 ways to reduce direct mail costs in high-volume print campaigns.
If you’re on a budget, your first line of thinking should not be to remove print marketing from the budget or never try it in the first place. Instead, try to consider other ways you can save money in the process. An easy way to shave off some of your marketing spend is by designing reusable print templates that you can keep utilizing between multiple locations and various campaigns.
With a basic design, you can personalize it by location based on what your audience personas want to see most. Starting off with a reusable print template gives you an easy place to start while still getting the direct mail out the door that you require for more leads. The best part is that you can adjust this template based on seasonality, location and more.
Related Content: How to Manage Print Campaigns Across Multiple Locations
The second tip you can utilize to reduce direct mail costs is cleaning up your mailing list or trying every door direct mail (EDDM). While more personalized, targeted direct mail is more effective overall, EDDM offers a more affordable way to send out mail because it skips the mailing list entirely.
If more personalized direct mail works best for you, cleaning up your mailing list can help save on costs—especially if you haven’t done it in a while. By going through and removing duplicate addresses and names, removing undeliverable locations and opt-out requests, you can reduce the amount of mail you’ll send and save money per piece. Having a narrower contact list can also improve the efficacy of your campaign because you’ll be sending to a more interested audience.
Related Content: Why High-Volume Print Projects Fail (and How to Prevent Mistakes)
Another way to reduce direct mail costs in high-volume print campaigns is to switch from premium paper options and envelope mailings to more standardized postcards and shared mail options. Sometimes, being budget-friendly is as simple as choosing a different paper type or weight in print marketing. Small changes add up quickly in savings when you’re utilizing high-volume print.
If more standardized printing options still don’t get you in the ballpark you need for your campaign, there’s always shared mail. Because multiple companies are showcased on the same advertisement, the costs are shared. This can often be an extremely affordable way to start out in direct mail or save money when your marketing budget requires it.
One of the best ways to save money in your campaigns and on USPS stamp pricing is by utilizing bulk order savings and discounts for high-volume printing. Basically, there are two primary places to increase savings: by utilizing bulk discounts with your print partner and using USPS mailing incentives and ongoing promotions for further shipping discounts.
One of the main ways to save money is by checking in to see if your print partner offers any discounts for high-volume prints. Some of the best print companies understand that print is expensive and offer discounts for higher quantity purchases. This is incredibly useful for multi-location companies who need to send out higher volumes of mail or someone keen on doing larger seasonal campaigns, especially.
Another way to find savings is by checking to see if there are any current USPS mailing incentives and discounts happening. Oftentimes, the USPS has seasonal promotions happening to increase mailing while saving businesses money on stamp and mailing costs in the process.
Here at Signature Graphics, our team stays updated on these events and communicates with the USPS as needed to handle these discounts and get you the best deal so you don’t have to worry about it.
Related Content: How to Use USPS Mailing Incentives to Lower Direct Mail Costs
Some businesses assume all-in-one services are extremely expensive because you’re paying for every step and a convenience fee, rather than shopping around and getting the lowest price for each service.
However, what companies often forget about is that the extra shipping fees to get prints delivered to each stage of the process can often cancel out the savings. On top of this, extra time is spent shipping the materials, resulting in businesses needing to figure out their messaging well in advance to get campaigns out in time.
Oftentimes, the convenience of utilizing turnkey print services and professional knowledge in every step of the process is worth the price for companies when they see the positive campaign results. For some, it’s worth it to find the best deal, and for others, they realize that the higher costs equate to an easier, more efficient process and more professional messaging. Ultimately, many realize that the all-in-one services serve them better by saving time and money and reducing errors in the long-term.
Related Content: The Hidden Benefits of a Turnkey Print Partner
After seeing the 5 ways to reduce direct mail costs in your high-volume campaigns, you might be ready to try some of the techniques in your next mailing. If you’re hoping to work with an expert printing partner who specializes in high-volume commercial print, our team at Signature Graphics offers all the services you need from start to finish. Ready to get started?
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