Chain Store Age publishes “Mail Delivery” Article

Perfectly Timed Mail Delivery: It’s Now a Reality
May. 24, 2006
Email: results@worldmarkinc.com

Direct marketers can have more influence over mail delivery than they realize.

There is a widely held belief among direct marketers that once their marketing collateral enters the postal system, it is up to the USPS to deliver the items intact and on time. It is also believed that, should there be a reason that standard delivery times are not likely to be met, there is little anyone outside the post office can do to guide pieces along their journey to reach the targeted mailboxes in the required timeframe.

That’s no longer true. It may surprise many direct marketers that evolving relationships between a select few direct-marketing providers and the USPS can actually provide them with the ability to not only track the progress of their mail, but also influence the timing of delivery.

Advances in technology within the postal system (including Planet Coding) give marketers the ability to know exactly where outbound (and inbound) mail is at any given time—valuable information that can influence marketing and operational decisions.

And now, select direct-mail providers are leveraging proprietary tools, dedicated full-service staffs and well-developed relationships within the USPS, to work with the postal system to achieve much higher levels of accurately timed deliveries. This powerful service can save marketers time and money. It can also increase ROI—especially with programs where inexact delivery (too early or too late) during specifically timed events can derail an entire marketing effort. Consider the following examples.

Timing is money for retailers. A leading national department store wanted to ensure that time-sensitive mailings were reaching their clients two to three days in advance of the designated sales event. The data and marketing teams planned carefully for each mailing and worked diligently to ensure more than 4 million pieces of marketing collateral were managed to enter the mail stream with enough time “on average” to be delivered as required.

For retailers like this, ‘one-day’ and other specifically timed sales are of critical importance, and the precise delivery of a sale promotion piece is necessary to make budget in any given marketing season or for any given event. Retailers need to know that sale ads are delivered within the optimal time frame to customers and prospects in the target areas surrounding their stores.

Most retailers don’t yet realize they can do more than watch delivery patterns as they emerged through available tracking systems. Today, with access to state-of-the-industry services via sophisticated direct-mail providers, retailers can do more than get the mailings into the postal stream on time, they can track and influence the delivery—ensuring on-time arrival in homes—and avoiding a “too early” or “too late” scenario. In this case, the retailer and their direct-mail company were able to influence and resolve delivery problems in areas experiencing delays or early deliveries. Today, they maintain a consistent 96% on-time delivery schedule for their programs. And by analyzing data collected over time, they have been able to better develop and manage schedules to determine when to mail for optimal results.

Multichannel integration demands increased orchestration. A financial services marketer offering “Preferred Personal Banking” services targeted to high-value customers wanted to extend the brand/product promise of truly personalized service. An invitation for a consultative session was carefully crafted and mailed.

To ensure the customer felt that she was indeed appreciated and considered valuable, this marketer designed an integrated effort during which targeted mailings were complemented by advance and follow-up calls by personal bankers. This effective approach to selling premium services works best when the coordination of calls and mail delivery is flawless. Knowing when collateral will arrive in the mailbox is critical.

Their direct-mail provider, with the capability to track and influence mail delivery, worked in tandem with the bank’s team. The day prior to delivery, the personal banker was notified via e-mail and contacted the customer to let her know that a special mailing would arrive the next day, increasing the customer’s awareness and building anticipation.

The second day following, the optimal time frame as determined by the bank’s modeling efforts, the personal banker phoned again to attempt to set up an appointment. The results of this effort are that the targeted customers, aware of the mailing and the offer, are appreciative of the personalized service and are more likely to schedule an appointment.

It’s clear that marketers using direct mail as a primary channel to promote or sell products and services have a lot to gain by maintaining control of their program after their collateral pieces leave for the post office. Marketers invest a good deal of time and money to get messages into the system. They should also make sure their investment is managed until it reaches the intended audience. The tools and the support are available today.

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