What are the Top Direct Mailing Services for Small Business?

Direct mail provides a great way to connect with your customers. Whether you’re looking to send postcards to make local neighbors aware of your new business or letters to all existing customers informing them of a change, direct mailing services provide fast, helpful means for reaching people.

Sometimes, sending information through the mail is necessary for compliance purposes. Other times, it’s just another way to get your marketing information into the hands of your customers and prospects. Learn what services direct mail companies offer, the benefits of using such services and the top 5 direct mail services available. 

What are Direct Mailing Services?

In its simplest form, direct mail services provide support for delivering promotional or transactional content to customers at a home or a business address. You can choose what services to purchase with your direct mail marketing partner. Some optional services include:

• Design and production of direct mail materials
• Printing
• Envelope stuffing
• Address targeting
• Contact list purchasing
• Stamping
• Mailing
• E-commerce fulfillment

The services these companies provide will vary based on your needs and the type of mailing you’re preparing. But if you’re new to direct mail or have limited in-house resources, you might want to look for a more inclusive direct mail marketing service.

Benefits of Direct Mailing Services

Collaborating with another company for direct mail support is wise because handling such a mailing on your own might mean wasted resources and poor customer experience. You want experts who know how to oversee the process and ensure your message reaches your customers. 

Here’s a look at some of the most impactful benefits you’ll experience from using direct mailing services.

In-depth audience targeting

If you’re looking for assistance with building a list of prospects to send your direct mail marketing to, an outside company can be an enormous help on this front. Direct mail companies offer addresses that match certain geographic requirements to help new businesses spread the word about their services.

You can target a ZIP code, businesses within a specific industry or specific customer demographic. Exclude individuals who don’t match your target household income levels, family size or homeowner type. 

The cost of collaborating with a direct mailing service will depend on how complicated your audience targeting is. The more complicated, the more expensive your list purchase could be. But discuss your options with the direct mail service to learn more.

Effective deliverability

Handling direct mail on your own can mean poor deliverability rates. That means you pay large fees to print and ship the direct mail pieces but see limited results from the process because of so many not making it to the intended recipient. 

Direct mailing services have up-to-date lists that cross-reference U.S. Postal Service lists and other databases for the most accurate addresses and contact information available for a person. 

Lower competition rates compared to digital options

As companies turn their attention to digital marketing efforts, such as email marketing and social media, a customer’s mailbox has become an area with less competition. The number of marketing pieces the average person gets has fallen over the last several years, making it easier for you to get your message into the hands of your customers.

While you can’t ignore digital marketing efforts, adding direct mail can provide a great way to connect with customers differently and break through the noise they might experience from digital ads.

Improves brand loyalty

There’s something more personal about direct mail compared to other marketing channels. The ability to hold the marketing piece in your hand can help customers and prospective customers connect with your business on a deeper level.

Giving customers a tangible piece of information about you can also improve brand recall so that when given an option for where to make a purchase, they think of your business first.

Simple, enjoyable process

Direct mail companies are incredibly easy to work with. They’re experts at getting mail into the hands of the intended recipients. You won’t have to worry about the minor details for your direct mailing because your mail house will handle it for you.

You focus on making sure that the material in your direct marketing will resonate with your target audience while the direct mail service focuses on getting the information into the right hands.

The Top 5 Direct Mailing Services

Direct mail is far from dead, and these top services will make it simple for you to reach your target audience. Here’s a look at 5 of the best direct mailing services that can help you with your next direct mail marketing campaign.

Print Bind Ship

Print Bind Ship makes it simple for companies to fulfill online orders to support e-commerce businesses. But its services extend far beyond that. The company provides packaging design, storefront integration, inventory management and worldwide shipping. You won’t have to worry about packaging, labeling and shipping your products when you partner with Print Bind Ship.

Pros

• Warehouse pickup for new orders
• Items ship within 24 hours of customer orders
• Worldwide shipping capabilities

Cons

• Focused solely on e-commerce fulfillment
• You can’t view pricing on the company’s website

Great for:

Best overall direct mailing service.

Rating: 5 stars

Gunderson Direct

Gunderson Direct is more than just a mail house that can help you distribute your marketing pieces. It offers full-service direct mail campaign support and has nearly 2 decades of experience in the industry. Plus, the company can provide support for both local and international campaigns and ensure strong deliverability rates.

Pros

• Full-service marketing agency
• Ability to customize your services based on your needs
• Total campaign customization options
• ROI-focused campaign support

Cons

• Premier service costs a great deal
• Not great for simple or entry-level direct mail campaigns

Great for:

Total direct mailing campaign management.

Rating: 5 stars

PostcardMania 

PostcardMania provides high-volume postcard services with outstanding bulk discounts for large mailings. It also offers design services, mailing lists, email follow-up, management for pay-per-click campaigns and more. This allows your business to place its marketing needs with one convenient company to integrate your marketing efforts.

Pros

• Effective printing services for a variety of marketing materials
• Option to use its custom graphic design services
• Included analytics and tracking on marketing campaigns

Cons

• Breadth of services offered can make interactions complicated
• Not ideal for smaller direct mail campaigns because pricing favors bulk discounts

Great for:

Marketing campaigns that engage multiple channels – including digital and print aspects.

Rating: 4 stars

PrintingForLess

PrintingForLess is a well-established direct mailing service. And as new marketing options have become available, the company has adapted and added additional services to offer best-in-class options to its customers. In addition to mailing services, the company also offers fulfillment to make e-commerce operations simple. 

Pros

• Company manages the process from start to finish
• Diverse direct mail options
• Can either provide a mailing list or work with you to ensure deliverability of your list through correcting addresses or removing duplicate entries

Cons

• Set packages make it challenging for customers to make changes to their services
• The company provides limited analytics to show the effectiveness of campaigns

Great for:

Targeting specific neighborhoods, especially for new local brick-and-mortar businesses.

Rating: 4 stars

Cactus Mailing

Cactus Mailing offers a unique integration of direct mail and Google advertising. This helps improve brand recall and campaign results thanks to integration between print and digital marketing efforts. The company still offers all the services you would expect from a direct mailing service but with the added benefit of deep Google ad expertise.

Pros

• Call tracking option so you know the effectiveness of your direct marketing campaigns
• Dual-channel marketing approach to integrate print and digital efforts, namely Google advertising
• Optional add-ons for direct mail campaigns, such as mailing lists and tracking

Cons

• Limited options when it comes to direct mailing types – only supports postcards and brochures

Great for:

Integrating direct mail with Google ad efforts.

Rating: 4 stars

Reach the Mailbox of Your Ideal Customers

Direct mail offers an outstanding opportunity to reach your customers differently. Many direct mailing services now integrate print efforts with digital ones so you can take a multichannel approach. And for e-Commerce businesses, you can even integrate fulfillment services to get the most out of your direct mail services. 

Reach out to some of the premier providers listed above to get started in reaching your customers through their mailboxes.

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