We just received final written confirmation from the US Postal Service that any mailing that has not had addresses move-updated will be charged a $0.07 per piece more.
Scan of letter here
The Deadline is January 4th, 2010.
Move Updating is the process of comparing your database to all the change-of-address forms on file with the US Postal Service. This is done electronically by CSG Direct during the mailing process. However, we are not able to process it for you if you have not submitted the required PAF form to us.
We help our customers earn discounts all the way from .44 each down to .067 per piece. All Direct Mailers are now required to Move-Update their mailing list within 95 days of mailing to get these discounts. We can help you with that process!
We've been an National Change of Address vendor for over 5 years now. These requirements have been coming for a long time now and they are finally upon us.
From the text of the letter: "On January 4th, 2010, we will treat both First-Class and Standard Mail to the same assessment for non-compliance. Both classes will be assessed a $0.07 per piece additional charge on pieces determined at acceptance to have an error rate above a 30% tolerance level, based on sampling."
More NCOA information
even more NCOA information
We'll It looks like we are going to make it out of 2009 alive, 
kicking and screaming. From a mountaintop I want to yell out to the world that we made it. I have been in direct mail since about 1987 so to say that 2009 was the most interesting year for me is not to be taken lightly.
The economic downturn of 2009 was like a sucker punch to the entire business world so we were by no means alone. But after a record growth in 2008 it was a much sharper decline for us since our eyes were completely in investment mode at the time.
I feel Thankful and blessed for the whole experience but I'll get to that shortly.
You see we have a very unique direct mail business that has grown very rapidly due to our very distinct skillsets and driving passion. Not only do we have 6-10 very unique service offerings for our industry but we also just invented some of the first US Mail Tracking Systems in 2008 for Bulk Mail in America.
Between our new systems and our almost legendary variable data print driven database marketing; we have been booming for the last decade. We truly thought we were invincible.
We'll as I said in the opener, I am just happy to have survived this year. We are much more grounded thanks to the 2009.
That is a blessing actually! We have always been humble hardworking servants to our clients and smiled every day that a client gave us a goal or a technical challenge for us to beat and shine for them. We really have been thrown back to our roots this year. This is a very big blessing.
Actually I think that is the most interesting part of our entire business struggle and economic transition in 2009. Like a Laser we were forced to cut every wasted marketing dollar and every non-productive personnel. We were forced to decide what was working for us and our customers and what was pride and endulgence.
We were forced into becoming one of the most productive and cost effective muscle-bound bull dog, strong, tight, lean and fast companies we could ever hope to be. Our marketing has never been so dollar-wise and never has it been this effective either.
For this I am so very truly thankful.
So what's next?
I have to tell you I still have so many ideas and plans for 2010. My first and foremost goal is to show my employees and my customers how much we appreciate them. Not by giving free money and 12 months off; but by showing them I see their hard work and give raises to those that have proven they are truly part of my core team. A Blessing like this is to be shared. (wwjd).
I want to continue to invest in them as they have invested in "us".
Sure, I have equipment I want to buy and people I would like to hire for growth but that is not the most important thing. The most important thing to do is help my customers and employees reach their personal goals and help them get back on their feet. We have stopped the losses that plagued us in 2009. Now, our growth strategy is to invest in our teams and our customers.
If any of you reading this need help with your direct mail project to help get that extra bang or response; just let me know. Do you need someone to help you sponsor an event or an event mailer? Let me know! If you need someone to help you work your special event to keep your costs down... Let me know!
We are all here to help with every ounce of effort we can provide.
YOUR SUCCESS IS OUR SUCCESS and I live to prove that 365 days per year.
I'm writing this under the headline "Direct Mail Statistics" because I do think this represents a slice of statistics for us all in the direct mail field in 2009.
The US Postal Service has not officially locked down penalties for not processing NCOA yet, but we all know it's coming any day now. The original deadline was May 11, 2008. We have been an NCOA Licensee since 2005 so we were way ahead of the curve.
There is a new US Postal Service PAF Form now that allows for direct data entry into the form so handwritten errors are gone.
Everybody needs to fill out this new PAF FORM so we have it on file for the US Postal Service; it is good for 1 year.
National Change of Address (NCOA) has been a huge bump in response and accuracy with out customers direct marketing. We reduce the number of pieces you need to send to get the same results. That pleases the budget and everyone involved.
In the past 17% of your database would expire per year as your customers moved. Keeping up on customers moving was extemely expensive or just plain impossible. Now this new service keeps you database accurate and helps you market smart. It truly is the best service the US Postal Service has created in decades.
Let us show you all the benefits of a CSG-cleaned database by getting a direct mail quote from us.
At least with CSG Direct is it !!
Even as new forms of direct marketing emerge in this new era, direct mailing is still setting the bar in response, results and accountability in marketing. Most every other media cannot get you out of the most expensive parts of marketing - prospecting. In Fact, most advertising dollars wasted on broad shotgun prospecting.
Direct Mail is very focused on sales and generating revenue.
Experience will tell you that there are 2 levels of marketing.
The first level is the most expensive and that is to find out who is interested in your product or services. Prospecting or acquisition marketing is where you spend money to broadcast who you are to the public and see who responds with interest in your product or service. This is commonly done with Television, Radio, Newspaper, Billboards, Websites, Yellow pages, Magazine ads, Telemarketing and sure Direct Mail of course too (however it is more direct, personal and accountable in prospecting).
The second level of marketing is what you do with all the customers and prospects that contacted you with any level of interest. This is where all your long-term income is made. You see, once you have a list of people who like what you do you can build long-term relationships with a direct sales approach. This includes direct in-person sales, tele-sales, direct mail and email. (I will save social networking for a later topic - it follows email)
That is the proper order for results too:
1) In-Person sales cost the most and sell the most.
2) Tele-Sales still utilizes personality and relationship but you are easily pushed into voicemail hell.
3) Direct Mail is something they have to see and touch and they can save it and share it with others in the home or office. They can keep it for later too. Direct mail costs much less than in-person or tele-sales but you can sell a proportionally less amount too.
4) E-mail, currently the lowest form of marketing. Sure, if you have a relationship and are working on projects with a client it is great. But for sales and marketing it is the easiest to avoid, delete and annoy.
So the main point is that long-term SALES happen in a DIRECT approach not in broadcast prospecting or print ads. So decades of experience say you build a comprehensive database (or many) with as much detail as you can. Then you send very specific offers to very specific people. You then follow that up in-person, via telephone and personal emails too. IN THAT ORDER FOR BEST SUCCESS!!
Only go back to prospecting when you have maximized your current list of interested customers and prospects. Why would you go talk to 1000 people that are not interested when you have 100 that are and you haven't sold them anything yet?
We can help you build a business plan for successful marketing too! Your first step is to contact us or let us give you a direct mail quote to start.
Well the much-awaited September 8, 2009 direct mail changes are finally here. This set of changes has been very convoluted and harder to follow than many changes in the past. We made every effort to stay ahead of the curve but the final rulings happened in the final days. The document explains this unique process further.
Here is the full document
THE FINAL RULE:
Basically, when it all comes down to it; there are changes in the
requirements on booklets.
Don't yawn yet; this is bigger
than you might think.
1st) The maximum size is now 6"x10.5" long (smaller now)
2nd) The minimum thickness is .009 (not changed)
3rd) The maximum thickness is .25 inch (not changed)
4th) Cannot use perforated tabs ( changed )
5th) Now requires 3 1-1/2" tabs (changed - damn)
on heavier booklets they 'recommend' 1-inch paper tabs.
The upcharge for not meeting these standards can be considerable. Mailpieces would be upcharded to nonmachinable rates. The most common would be for Standard mail which would go up at least .20 cents per piece (almost double).
It is this kind of details that makes our services and expertise more valuable. Avoid spending more than you need by working with USPS certified reps like all of us at CSG Direct, Inc
We are here to keep your postage low and guide your mail to its destination quickly and inexpensively. You don't get that kind of guidance from a quick-printer.
Of course with our new US Mail Tracking systems, you can also track every single piece.
We sure do have a lot of fun friends on Facebook. I bet you didn't know direct mail could be so fun! Try our fun facebook direct mail quiz and see if YOU know direct mail.
When you've created as much success for your customers as we have, you are bound to enjoy yourself.
After creating some of our Countries greatest personalized database marketing, we hang out with our friends on Facebook and share our joy.
Why don't you join us
for a while, you might just learn a few things that help you grow your business and increase your companies sales. Direct Marketing is.. well.. very DIRECT, so I am asking you to become friends with CSG Direct and bring us all your direct mail questions and projects.
At least with Facebook you get to hang out and get to know us first.
If you would like you can also skip all that fun and get your direct mail quote right now. But we'd sure like to get to know you better! The more we know about you and your goals, the more we can provide you the same high level care and support all our best customers have grown their businesses with.
That is the best way to get success with direct mailing companies like CSG Direct, Inc. You have to get us in the game and put us shoulder to shoulder with the rest of your staff so we can get you the big gains. It is never best practice to keep us in a corner as an outside vendor only.
Nobody wins by putting direct mail in a corner. lol
You asked for it and at CSG Direct you get it. Now with every single mailing you do, First-Class or Standard mail postage; US Mail Tracking is included at no additional costs.
What that means to you is you can now lookup and track every mailpiece you send and see where it is in the Postal Service at any time, day or night, 24/7. Just like Fedex and UPS!!
You see, this is such a new service that so very few people in the country have this opportunity to track bulk mail at all. Those people that do are paying fees and going through 3rd-party vendors to come even close. So, only CSG Direct customers get this NATIONWIDE!! Fortunately we process direct mail for customers all over the USA so everyone can try this.
Have you ever been told by a mailshop "It's in the mail" only to get the feeling it really never was? This is not possible at CSG Direct and we are probably the most accountable direct mailing services company in the country. Track your print and mail project as it happens through our website, get an email notice as it goes to the Bulk Mail center, then track the pieces as they travel to your customers.
You deserve this kind of honest, hardworking and accountable Direct Marketing and it is only available at CSG Direct, Inc.
Call us for a print and mail quote 800-881-2150 x12 or use this direct mail quotes form.
As someone that has been in database marketing for over 2 decades I have had my share of deep experience in both direct mail and email variable data driven forms of direct marketing.
Email is a dying service and is going to go away in it's current form.
We started by building our own email broadcast and link tracking tools back in the late 90's. We were in email marketing from 1995 to 2005 as an add-on to our direct mail services. Back then it was HOT and NEW and everyone wanted in, but so few people knew what they were doing so we enjoyed a decade of great prosperity.
But then in 2005 we got out all together just as a swarm of vendors and competitors were getting in. There was still a lot of money to be made in email after we got out but we recognized the fight those vendors were entering into.
There is a real ugly truth about email marketing that the companys buying the service do not know that definitely hurts them. When you send even 1 message it has to go through multiple firewalls, mutliple virus scans, multiple email processing rules and multiple spam filters.
If it makes it past all those gatekeepers and lands in your prospects in-box they can tag you as SPAM that very second. That action affects all those same gateways and spam filters for each message that follows it.
Then, 10 minutes later you send an email to your customer to ask them about an order you are working on and your email message gets blocked by their spam filters. All because now you have been recorded as a spamming company. I guess the rule of thumb is if you don't want to be treated like garbage marketing, don't put your message next to the garbage in someones inbox.
We saw this coming, it was getting bad years ago and the writing was clearly on the wall. Email results are also at historical record lows too. Low responses and a technical nightmare are not a recipe for success.
I have been talking about this for months with my peers but I guess I decided to blog about it today because I spent 3 hours removing an email virus from someones computer. What a pain in the ass and an uneccessary use of everyones time. There are so many other ways to communicate that don't risk your entire it investments.
As someone who manages a firewall, one of the biggest security breaches we deal with on any given day is EMAIL. Email my friends, will not be around in it's current form and I would not invest any current dollars moving in that direction. For real electronic success you should chase SEO combined with social media like facebook marketing as well as others growing in popularity.
Then, really get to know your direct mail program. Direct mail is the most courteous of all forms of non-electronic marketing. It is still also the most focused, trackable, adjustable, shareable, savable, copyable, calcuable form of marketing.
But beware, there are spammers in direct mail too. There are more spam marketers in direct mail than there are true direct mail marketing companys. These vendors will make you look bad and get your message thrown away just like email can be.
Nothing makes me sadder for a company then when I lose a bid by $100 to a printer and that company loses thousand$ in response and the direct mail information that comes with it. Lowering their prices is the only tool in a printers bag compared to a real direct mail company that offers full service and full results.
Find out where your vendors core focus is. If they are primarily a printer or a print broker, forget about it. Find database junkies, variable data printing and response pros. That is our niche, that's where real direct mail lives and breathes. Experienced direct mail people know it and their businesses thrive off their direct mail results.
Real direct mail marketing isn't broadcast print, it is made up of multiple data sources, multiple data-relevant messages, calls to action, results tracking and offer adjusting based on results.
You don't get that from a printer, that's direct mail baby.
I often have people ask "What is the best Casino Marketing Direct Mail Campaign?".
There really is no easy secret formula or special tricks for getting the most impact out of a mailing. The best direct mail campaign is simply the one that gets maximum results for the lowest cost. In determining what will work best for each customer, the marketing professional must ascertain what the customer wishes to accomplish, whom the customer wants to communicate with, what the incentive is for the recipient to respond, determining a strong call to action, and producing the project in a cost-effective and efficient manner. It is crucial that the mailer takes advantage of the lowest postage rates available - as postage is often the most expensive aspect of the project.
The next question is: "How do I know I am maximizing my direct marketing efforts?"
This is where the experience pays off. Seasoned marketing professionals will seek out the mail marketers who are innovative, versed on postal rules and regulations, and focused on getting maximum results for their customers. Companies such as CSG Direct are in high demand due to the experience and innovation that they bring to the direct marketing industry.
While many printers and small mail shops may have the ability to put an address on a mail-piece, they do not have the ability to track delivery. They cannot ascertain the "in-home" timelines, analyze the market penetration, or track results in a comprehensive manner. Less experienced mailers do not have strong quality control systems in place, MQC Certified employees, expert data programmers on staff or the systems to expedite the projects efficiently.
This is nearly always followed by: "What type of direct mail piece is most effective?"
Once again: This is determined by the type of results that the customer expects, the type of offer that is being presented, and the demographic that is being pursued. One wouldn't send a postcard as a high-end wedding invitation….however, they might send a "save-the-date" card prior to sending out the formal invitations.
This is the type of strategy that often increases results. Sometimes a postcard with coupons is the most effective, low cost medium for specific campaigns. Sometimes a personalized letter makes more sense, and can easily be tailored to the individual's interests or purchasing traits. Self-mailers are often a great alternative, especially if one desires a lot of "real-estate" to get their message across. The type of mail-piece will vary with each project, and should be determined by demographic, content and end strategy.
Marketers should realize that a direct mail campaign is exactly as it sounds: a campaign. A single mailing is not a true campaign. In most cases, it makes more sense to mail to one-third of your top prospects three times than to mail to all of your prospects a single time. Repetition is the key to any campaign. With proper planning and implementation, the cost for a multi-tiered mailing campaign is very reasonable. With a strong offer, proper incentive and an effective call to action…your customers and prospects will react in a positive and timely manner.
In summation: Too often individuals plan, ponder, partially develop and ponder some more about their marketing campaigns. It is a "ready - set - wait" scenario. As the event or promotion draws closer, they are forced to react. At this point the campaign is pushed out late and valuable time is lost. Early planning and implementation will make for a smoother campaign. It is no coincidence that in most cases, the well planned campaigns are the most effective campaigns.
By approaching the objective ahead of time and applying a plan - develop - implement" strategy, your mailings will be received by your potential customers in a much more timely and effective manner. By working with an experienced, competent mail shop - you will have the proper tools to analyze your campaign (and you will sleep better at night).
Effective direct mail marketing….it's as easy as C-S-G!
It has been over a year now since we designed our first tools for US Mail Tracking using the US Postal Services Confirm Services. The US Postal Service got the ball rolling with the new Intelligent Mail Barcodes and we ran with it to create some of the nations most innovative US Mail Tracking Tools to-date.
Today we launched a website that takes this innovation even futher. www.trackdirectmail.com is the launch of what will become the nations most publicly accessible US Mail Tracking tools in the nation.
At Trackdirectmail.com you can demo the live mapping tools that are incorporated into CSG Direct's Direct Mail Portal for live project tracking. You can also directly track any Live tracking numbers that CSG Direct has assigned for your mailpieces.
Last but not least, We have also launched our 3rd and most impressive US Mail Tracking Widget.
With this US Mail Tracking widget you can have IMB based direct mail tracking embedded into any website in the country. This takes direct mail tracking to the next level.
If you would like US Mail Tracking embedded into your website or if you would like to be one of our additional beta sites just contact me and we can arrange it.