Direct Marketing Mail Price and Service Changes

Every year, Canada Post updates their rates and service offerings. They do so to both keep up with inflation and to stay ahead of industry best standards in the flyer and mail industries. This year, a lot of the 2018 Canada Post changes are to do with direct mail marketing.

On January 15, 2018, Canada Post will introduce service changes and price adjustments to the following

Direct Marketing services:

• Personalized MailTM
• Neighbourhood MailTM
• Postal Code Targeting
• Publications MailTM
• Business Reply MailTM Domestic and International
• LettermailTM (meter or postal indicia)
• Incentive LettermailTM

In addition to the above changes, Canada Post is adding service changes including size, weight and delivery cycle for Neighbourhood Mail.

Starting in January, Canada Post will be introducing a bigger, faster, better Neighbourhood Mail service.

The service enhancements will provide you with the flexibility to mail larger and heavier items, aligning to flyer industry standards and removing the need to fold your items!

Canada Post is introducing the following key service changes:

• Increase in maximum dimensions for Oversize items from 12” x 9” to 12” x 11”
• Increase to maximum weight from 230 g to 500 g (Standard and Oversize)
• Increase to maximum thickness from 0.75” to 1.0” (Standard and Oversize)

More importantly, this update brings changes to delivery cycles. This means that direct marketing campaigns will reach their intended markets faster!

Some of the key changes include:

• Reduction in delivery from 5 days to 3 days for Oversize items up to 200 g
• Reduction in delivery of Standard items over 115 g (from 5 days to 3 days)
• Introduction of new delivery cycles for items over 200 g (Standard and Oversize)

Finally, Canada Post will also remove the maximum number of items per bundle that was previously standard for Neighbourhood Mail campaigns. This is part of an ongoing simplification process to their services.

Fitting with the changes to their Neighbourhood Mail services, Canada post has also updated their Personalized Mail services.

To better meet the needs of their customers, Canada Post has increased the maximum thickness for Dimensional items. The maximum thickness for Personalized Mail Dimensional items will be increased from 55 mm to 60 mm.

This will give customers greater creative flexibility when mailing bulkier items.

As a Smartmail Marketing EXPERT Partner, Mail-O-Matic is committed to keeping up with industry best practices and providing the best customer service experience for all our clients. Whether you need help sending out promotional flyers, want to test out neighbourhood mail, or have a list of prospective customers to reach via personalized mail services, we’re here for you!

When sending direct mail to potential customers, sending them high-quality digital printing solutions creates a positive and lasting impression. The quality and type of material you choose to send reflects your brand and company. You want to ensure that you use high-quality printing solutions so that your direct mail advertising efforts are legitimate.

Having your logo and return address printed in colour and high-quality material conveys legitimacy and lets people know that you are a reputable business. People know that companies that put in the extra effort into the small details will put in that same amount of care into the work they produce for customers.

Printing your customer’s names and addresses with ink jetting or lasering is more professional and will create a positive impression and positive response. Creating positive impressions leads to higher brand recall and customer loyalty and this helps legitimize your direct mail advertising efforts.

Our brains are hard-wired to pay more attention to direct mail, especially high-quality direct mail. High-quality mail is less likely to be perceived as spam mail and more likely to be perceived as legitimate mail from a reputable company. People are mailed so much spam mail these days; imagine their surprise when they receive a high-quality printed mail mailed to them. The more attention people pay to your direct mail, the higher your brand awareness becomes and more likely they are to convert.

When running a direct mail advertising campaign, you want to ensure that it works and meets your ROI. When you use high-quality printing solutions for your direct mail advertising, your mail will get noticed. Whether you want to increase brand awareness, acquire new customers or are looking for conversions, high-quality printing solutions will legitimize your direct mail advertising efforts.

At Mail-O-Matic, we provide high-quality printing solutions that include black and white laser printing, colour laser printing, and variable data printing services that enhance and personalize your mailouts.

Get your direct mail noticed and contact us to see how our high-quality printing solutions will legitimize your direct mail advertising efforts!