I have had several blogs on what to do when you are planning a direct mail campaign. Here are a few things not to do;
- Do not put UV coating or varnish in the addressing panel. Inkjet bar-codes smear when applied to these coatings
- Do not put a vertical line to separate the copy from the addressing area. The OCR scanners at the post office thinks it is a bar-code and could result in your mail being returned.
- Do not send in photos that are below 300 dpi or higher. The photo print quality is only going to be as good as the pictures you use.
- Do not print on paper that does not meet postal specifications. Weights of paper and colors can affect the mailing and your postage.
- Do not have the return address too low on he mail panel. The scanners at the USPS may pick that up and send all of the mail back to you. The USPS does not give refunds for those kind of mistakes.
- Do not use a return address that is not on file with the USPS. The return address must match what the USPS has on file for your organization.
- Do not use the wrong orientation on the folding. It will require more tabs and cost more. Burns can advise on the correct folding if there is a question.
- Do not submit mailing lists that have combined fields. There should be separate fields for first name, middle name, last name, street address, city, state and zip. Lists that do not have separate fields cannot be sorted for postal discounts.
- Do not size or print an insert before you check to make sure that there is an envelope that fits the size of your insert. Burns can advise you on the sizes of envelopes and what will fit inside that particular envelope.
As always, consulting is FREE to our customers as well as a FREE NCOAlink update, which cleans up your list.
Call or email me for any questions that you might have. Phyllis Burns 865 584-2265, phyllis@burnsmp.com
