Direct mail automation: how to save time and money while delivering effective campaigns

Despite the rise of email, direct mailing still has a place in the Australian business environment. According to research commissioned by Australia Post, 81 per cent of Australians open and read their physical mail immediately, with 65 per cent reading every piece of mail they receive. And, 74 per cent give their mail their full attention.¹ While email may be a speedy form of communication, emails can easily end up in spam filters and overflowing inboxes, causing information to get lost in the crowd.

For many Australian organisations, including government departments and those in the not-for-profit sector, direct mail continues to be an essential means of communication. It’s also a valuable way of communicating with customers and citizens that aren’t as technologically savvy as others.

Using direct mail to engage with people can also be an effective way to support your business and help set you apart from competitors, especially as the amount of communication conducted online continues to increase. However, managing direct mail can be a time-consuming, cumbersome process as it requires manual folding and inserting into envelopes.

It can also incur additional expenses that you may not be expecting, including the cost of employees spending time queuing at the post office to send mounds of mail when they could be contributing to business-critical tasks back in the office.

How direct mail automation can help

Investing in technology solutions that help simplify the mailing process can deliver efficiencies and cost savings across the board. Streamlined, automated inserting systems, like Pitney Bowes Relay inserters, can help you reduce the time and resources needed to fold and insert mail for hundreds, or even thousands of recipients, depending on the size of your campaigns. By leveraging the power of automation, a Relay folder inserter assists in redirecting valuable time away from manual tasks and towards more critical activities.

The streamlined solution can also align mailing addresses for a more precise fit within envelope windows as well as automatically seal your envelopes. This makes your direct mail appear cleaner and more consistent while eliminating the manual actions from your team.

Beyond simplifying the folding and inserting process, automation technologies can also drive efficiencies in the mailing process itself. Instead of sending employees to the post office armed with piles of envelopes, investing in a postage meter solution can further automate the process.

Postage meters are a cost-effective way to manage your direct mail process and can empower you with the benefits of having access to your own ‘mini post office’ right from within the walls of your actual office space. And, they can save you time and money by giving you access to valuable discounts on your postage.

Reduce time and costs with direct mail automation

By investing in technologies like postage meters in tandem with inserter equipment, your business can achieve a more efficient direct mail process. Harnessing the power of automated solutions can help you find more value in direct mail before the post even leaves your office.

And, by reducing time and costs, you can do more with leaner teams, or better divert valuable organisational resources towards other tasks while. This is especially valuable for organisations, including government and not-for-profit, where every cent and second counts.

For more information on how Pitney Bowes can help your business uncover greater time and cost-saving efficiencies with automated solutions for your direct mail, contact the team today.

¹https://auspost.com.au/business/marketing-and-communications/direct-mail-marketing