When you are trying to sell your cause (business or political) there are lots of tools that you can use these days. You should definitely have a website, a Facebook page, and some additional keyword rich content posted on both, that are is optimized for search results. You can/should post relevant videos, boost your Facebook posts, and run some ads on Facebook and/or Google.

This is just the baseline for digital media in the world we live in. Still, we can/should do much more.

In particular, we need to pay attention to the offline world – that is the world that people “live” in.

Working on a recent campaign for a school bond measure, we used a whole compliment of digital tools, just as described above. We also used (old school) yard signs, posters, public appearance, social events, and yes, direct mail. In fact, direct mail was one of our single largest budget items – it was also one of our most effective promotions we used.

Here is why direct mail is still such an effective tool in the digital age.

Reach/Deliverability

The mail can reach every household and business in America. We do not need to worry about firewalls or SPAM filters. If we have a valid address, and we send a message in the mail, it will get there.

Based on extensive customer experience at Zairmail (www.zairmail.com), delivery times for First-Class mail appear to be pretty consistent right now. We are seeing three day delivery anywhere in the US – sometimes faster. This gives us the opportunity to deliver messages exactly when they are required.

In Oregon, all elections are conducted securely by mail, as they have been for over 20 years now. The ability to predict and track delivery, allows campaigns to deliver a compelling message, in the same week voters receive their ballot in the mail. This allows us to influence even early voters who will not wait until election day to submit their ballot. We can also reach-out days before the deadline to help influence any stragglers.

Demographics/Targeting

The demographics for mailing lists are very well developed. We can target recipients based on age, income, ethnicity, presence of children, home ownership (or not), credit score, debt/income ratio, and hundreds or other demographic or psychographic variables.

One thing that turned out to be important for our campaign, is that research from the state, showed that less than 25% of school district residents voted in the last major election. That told us that we didn’t need to reach every resident (or carrier route), we just needed to reach those who were most likely to vote. The County Clerk was able to generate a mailing list of all registered voters in the county – this type of list can also be ordered based on party affiliation when needed. This allowed our campaign to focus our message on those who would decide the outcome of the bond measure.

In Union County, Oregon, where this bond measure was offered to voters, school bonds are paid for using property tax proceeds. In this case, based on shrewd debt management by district administration, a pre-existing (2014) bond was refinanced at a much lower rate, reducing the debt service of the current bond. The district also secured a matching grant of $4 million from the state, which was contingent on voters approving the new bond measure. The net result is that the new bond would not cost voters more – although the district was asking voters to forego a slight decrease in tax rate per thousand.
Based on a combination census data and information from the consumer count estimates on Zairmail, we

Direct Mail Delivers for Candidates & Causes

When you are trying to sell your cause (business or political) there are lots of tools that you can use these days. You should definitely have a website, a FaceBook page, and some additional keyword rich content posted on both, that are is optimized for search results. You can/should post relevant videos, boost your FaceBook posts, and run some ads on FaceBook and/or Google.

This is just the baseline for digital media in the world we live in. Still, we can/should do much more.

In particular, we need to pay attention to the offline world – that is the world that people “live” in.

Working on a recent campaign for a school bond measure, we used a whole compliment of digital tools, just as described above. We also used (old school) yard signs, posters, public appearance, social events, and yes, direct mail. In fact, direct mail was one of our single largest budget items – it was also one of our most effective promotions we used.

Here is why direct mail is still such an effective tool in the digital age.

Reach/Deliverability

The mail can reach every household and business in America. We do not need to worry about firewalls or SPAM filters. If we have a valid address, and we send a message in the mail, it will get there.

Based on extensive customer experience at Zairmail (www.zairmail.com), delivery times for First-Class mail appear to be pretty consistent right now. We are seeing three day delivery anywhere in the US – sometimes faster. This gives us the opportunity to deliver messages exactly when they are required.

In Oregon, all elections are conducted securely by mail, as they have been for over 20 years now. The ability to predict and track delivery, allows campaigns to deliver a compelling message, in the same week voters receive their ballot in the mail. This allows us to influence even early voters who will not wait until election day to submit their ballot. We can also reach-out days before the deadline to help influence any stragglers.

Demographics/Targeting

The demographics for mailing lists are very well developed. We can target recipients based on age, income, ethnicity, presence of children, home ownership (or not), credit score, debt/income ratio, and hundreds or other demographic or psychographic variables.

One thing that turned out to be important for our campaign, is that research from the state, showed that less than 25% of school district residents voted in the last major election. That told us that we didn’t need to reach every resident (or carrier route), we just needed to reach those who were most likely to vote. The County Clerk was able to generate a mailing list of all registered voters in the county – this type of list can also be ordered based on party affiliation when needed. This allowed our campaign to focus our message on those who would decide the outcome of the bond measure.

In Union County, Oregon, where this bond measure was offered to voters, school bonds are paid for using property tax proceeds. In this case, based on shrewd debt management by district administration, a pre-existing (2014) bond was refinanced at a much lower rate, reducing the debt service of the current bond. The district also secured a matching grant of $4 million from the state, which was contingent on voters approving the new bond measure. The net result is that the new bond would not cost voters more – although the district was asking voters to forego a slight decrease in tax rate per thousand.

The holidays are here everyone.

This is a busy time for most – a time to give, a time to celebrate, a time to reflect.

This has been a break-through year at Zairmail. We added to the team to better serve you. We released a new responsive interface, a desktop application, and lots of powerful new features. We set records for volume, turn-around, and reliability.

We have lots more in store for you in 2022 as well.

The thing we are most grateful about is that we get to serve you.

Thank you for the opportunity.

Please accept a big holiday hug from the whole Zairmail team!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU AND YOURS. The Zairmail Team

Zairmail is the fastest, easiest, and most reliable way to send (postal) mail.

Planning for a Bright New Year

Holiday decorations are out on display, there is cheer in the air, and very soon over one billion people will tune-in to see the ball drop in Times Square. There are lots of distractions for business owners over the holidays – personal and professional. If your business is B to B, then December can be […]

Crate Escape from NYC

Charles McKinley stood penniless, hopeless, and in limbo in New York City. He had come to the northeast from Texas to experience the big city. His job in retail wouldn’t pay the bills, he was living beyond his means, and his girlfriend maxed out his credit cards. Charles was done with NYC and just wanted to go home – now. Still, how could he make the trip without money to travel. He was much too proud to ask others for a handout […]

Easy Ways to Integrate Digital & Direct Mail Marketing

Determining the right balance between digital and direct marketing can be a challenge for a lot of organizations. Issues can arise, when one form is seen as superior to the other, and half of the mix gets neglected. Businesses are now engaged in a very digital world – digital has become very comfortable.
It’s easy […]

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

Elspeth Douglas McClelland (1879–1920) was an architect and a member of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) also known as the Women’s Suffrage Movement. In the late 1800’s women did not have the right to vote in countries like the United Kingdom and the United States. The goal of the Suffrage Movement was to win the right to vote for woman using peaceful, and at times, even violent means.

Elspeth is most notorious for her creative efforts to grab attention during Suffrage. In 1909, after unsuccessfully trying to schedule a meeting with the Prime Minister of England, Elspeth, and fellow activist Daisy Solomon, mailed themselves to him. The postal service guidelines had been severely eased to allow people to be “mailed” by express courier. Elspeth and her companion leveraged these new rules to secure a covert audience with the Prime Minister.

Elspeth and Daisy were addressed to “The Right Hon H. H. Asquith, 10 Downing Street, SW” (London). The stamp for this journey cost only 3 cents at the time. A.S. Palmer, a postal boy, transferred the pair to Downing Street, where on-duty police officers permitted them through to number 10. However, a government official arrived and protested the delivery. The official told the delivery boy that the pair cannot be presented and must be returned to sender – “these are dead letters”.

Elspeth and Daisy were taken back to the office of the Women’s Social and Political Union. The delivery arrived at the office of the Prime Minister as planned and the public relations stunt won even greater attention for their cause. An image of this eventful day is in the British museum and the Prime Minister is said to have been “amused” by the occasion.

Based on the efforts of activists like Elspeth, woman made steady progress and won the right to vote in the British colony of New Zealand in 1893. Australia granted this right to non-Aboriginal woman in 1902. Voting rights were extended to woman in most western powers after the First World War. In particular, Canada (1917), Britain and Germany (1918), Austria, the Netherlands (1919) and the United States (1920). It is hard to imagine, but the mail also had a role in this process.

On Thanksgiving we want to say thank you to ALL who have fought so hard for the rights and liberties that we all enjoy today!

Daisy Solomon and Elspeth McClelland with a post boy, police and an
official outside 10 Downing Street, attempting to get themselves delivered as letters

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

Whether you’re a designer who’s been tasked with the challenge of designing a postcard for a mailing campaign, or you’re the business owner who wants some creative input in the design, these tips are for you!

Striking Images

If you’re going to use a photograph on the visual side of your postcard it’s absolutely vital that the photo stands out. Often, it pays to invest in a high-quality image rather than taking your own photos. You can find a brilliant variety of professional photos from many online sources. Sometimes a professional photo bought from an online source can be a better way to go.

Choose something bold and striking rather than something that’s going to fade into the background. Just because one photo is more relevant to the offer or your company, doesn’t make it right for a postcard campaign. Try thinking outside the box; if you sell real estate could you use a dog and kennel or even a hot air balloon to creatively deliver the same message? Which brings us on to our next point….

Provoke Emotion

To grab immediate attention you need something that’s going to create an emotional response. Does the design or imagery do this successfully? It doesn’t matter what that emotional response is (within reason) as long as it fits with your message and gets their attention! It could be humour, it could be excitement or even empathy. We can all think of an advert that uses a ‘cute’ animal such as a puppy or kitten. The very reason for this is to create that emotional connection; no one can resist looking at a puppy!

Simple Message

If you’re going to include wording on the image side of the postcard, keep it very short and simple. It’s about finding the right balance; you don’t want to reduce the impact of the message by reducing the words, but you also don’t want to jeopardize that immediate attention.

There should only be one central message, even if you have several offers you want to shout about. A postcard does not leave a lot of space for providing buckets of information. Instead, try to choose one central theme or offer and stick to this.

Give Priority to the Printing

All that hard work will be for nothing if you don’t work with a high-quality printing company. It’s useful to know what type of material the postcard will be printed on and what finish will be applied. This can make all the difference to colors within the design and the overall quality of any photos used. Printing on paper will appear different to seeing those same images on a screen. A 96dpi image will look fine on the screen; however, it can look grainy when printed. Always try to use high-resolution images (300 dpi+) when possible for printing.

With a color digital postcard that goes in the mail, it is essential that it is UV coated. This is a plastic coating that protects the card and gives it a high-quality professional feel. If cards are not coated they often get scuffed in the mail leaving unprofessional and unattractive streak marks. Zairmail offers UV coating at no extra charge.

Test Your Design

Before investing in a mailing campaign, run your design by some unsuspecting participants. Lay out your postcard amongst several other designs (either from competitors or from earlier options in the design process) and ask individuals which one they connect with the most. This sounds very simple, but often designs are only seen by the designer and the business owner before being mailed out.

At Zairmail, we like to keep everything streamlined, so we offer in-house postcard design services to our clients as well as customizable templates. This means we can handle everything from design, printing and mailing! Alternatively, if you’ve worked with your own designer already, you can upload your design directly into our system. Zairmail also provides a free tracking service for your postcards, so you can tell exactly when they are delivered.

Finally, if you don’t have your own mailing list but are keen to try direct mail campaigns, we’ve taken the hassle out of that too. You can purchase a targeted consumer or business list directly from us using our online list targeting.

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

There are various different types of direct mail you can select to deliver your campaign. We’re going to run through some of them and talk about the different scenarios in which you might select each one.

The Postcard

Postcards are ideal if you’re looking for an immediate impact. This type of campaign is designed to grab attention from the minute it’s received and deliver a powerful message through visuals. One of the benefits of a postcard is that is doesn’t need to be opened; this means you can get your business in front of people quicker and more effectively. Think of a postcard campaign like a mini-billboard in the mailbox.

A postcard does need to pop and stand out from the crowd, so great design is key. Zairmail offers custom postcard design if you’re looking for a cost-effective way to create the best postcard.

The only real limitation of a postcard is if you require the inclusion of personal information for the recipient. A standard postcard (4.25 x 5.5 or 4 x 6) gives you less space to work with compared to a jumbo (5.5 x 8.5 or 6 x 9). You can also go with a sumo postcard (5.5 x 11 or 8.5 x 11) for even more initial impact! There is a discount for First Class postage on standard postcards – jumbo and sumo postcards mail at regular First Class rates. You will need to weigh the lower price against the greater potential impact and response rates

Postcards are all about the imagery and suffer if there is too much (dense) text. They are often reasonably informal in appearance, so they could work very well for some brands, but may lack the formality and/or privacy some formal business communication requires.

The Letter

A letter, of course, allows for a great deal of privacy. If detail in the explanation is important to your message, a letter will work better than a postcard. You have the space to be very specific and even include detailed personal information if necessary.

The challenge with a letter is to get an “open” so your message is delivered. The open rates with First Class postage tend to be higher than Standard A. Color usually produces a slightly better response than black and white. A live stamp will usually pull a little better than an indicia (postage paid box); but the costs can be quite a bit more. A teaser message on the outside of the envelope can also help to boost open rates in some cases. One other popular approach is to use a double window envelope that looks similar to a bill or invoice.

Although on the surface this might seem counter-intuitive, people are worried about not opening the letter, to begin with, and relieved to find it’s a not a bill after it has been opened.

The Snap-Pack

The snap-pack is the catchy nickname for a pressure-sealed mailer. These are the type of mailers that require the recipient to peel off the edges to open. This format is often used to deliver rebates and PIN numbers. Just as with a letter, the snap-pack allows for the inclusion of personal information and complete message privacy. What sets it apart from a letter is that it’s far more uncommon. Snap-packs are produced using a specific type of equipment that not all printers have access to. When someone receives a snap-pack in the mail it stands compared to other mail types. Just as with a letter, you can choose the type of postage, color or black & white printing, and the option to include a teaser message on the outside. The fact that many consumers associate this format with rebates and PIN’s can really help with open rates.

Ultimately, open rates and response rates vary by industry, type of offer, and even the time of the year. The number one goal is always to maximize return on investment (ROI). The rule of thumb is “when in doubt, test it”. If you do not know which format to use, or you have a fresh piece that has not been proven, it is best to send out a few smaller test projects. You can vary the format (e.g. postcard, letter, snap-pack) and mailing options. Then, when you find a format and message that works well, step on the gas!

If you require any advice on which direct mail type would work best for your business, please give Zairmail a shout. We offer free consulting and we’re always pleased to help you make the right decision based on your brand and your business goals. Zairmail is the fastest and easiest way to grow your business using the mail.

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.