Combatting rising postage costs

Royal Mail has been featuring a lot in the news recently. This has led to many companies wondering about combatting rising postage costs. 

Perhaps this is not surprising, when you consider:

  • We have a new monarch in King Charles III, so stamps will change

  • Rising fuel costs

  • The rise in the cost of living and its impact on the postal service i.e. strikes

  • Sustainability: Royal Mail brought its Net Zero target forward by ten years to 2040 (announced June 2022)

All of these factors mean that postage is going to cost more across the board, with the first increases for business customers announced this month (November 2022.) So, at a time when direct mail is coming into its own and it is more important than ever for companies to establish a trusting relationship with customers, combatting rising postage costs is a hot topic.

 In this blog, we are going to examine some of the options for direct mail and other customer communications, and how these alternatives can help to maximise your budget by combatting rising postage costs.

At Gecko, we have a wealth of knowledge and experience in handling direct mail campaigns for our clients, including optimising postage costs. We understand that when setting your campaign budget, a large part of it is allocated to the cost of physically reaching your customers i.e. the postage and delivery. 

But the Royal Mail is not your only option.  So, although the recent headlines may have rung alarm bells, we can find the most reliable and cost-effective service for all types of direct mailing, ensuring that postage costs remain budget friendly.

Combatting rising postage costs: Royal Mail Alternatives

Downstream Access

Royal Mail hasn’t had the monopoly for postal services since 2003, when other providers were allowed to enter the market. Called Downstream Access (DSA) providers or suppliers, they take on the ‘upstream’ part of the postal service by collecting mail from a mailing house and delivering it into a Royal Mail sorting centre. Royal Mail then takes over the ‘downstream’ part of the process, so the post is sorted and delivered by Royal Mail employees.

Because they are only part of Royal Mail’s processes, companies like Whistl and The Delivery Group (among others), can offer postage discounts for their customers. The Gecko team can advise you about using a DSA supplier for your direct mail campaigns, and the postage savings you can make when compared to using the Royal Mail service throughout.

Gecko direct mail postage

Door to door distribution

Also known as hand-delivered, leafleting, or door drops, door to door leaflet distribution can be a cost-effective delivery method for advertising leaflets within a town or city location. You can choose from solus or shared, so your leaflet would either be delivered on its own, or among several other leaflets. 

Of course, with this method there are no postage costs! Normally door to door distribution is priced on a handling fee per 1,000 leaflets.

Combatting rising postage costs: Campaign Alternatives

Partially addressed mail (PAM)

Using our targeted acquisition mail tool, our clever Gecko analysts will show you where your current customers live, so you can use your campaign to target look-alike customers in the same area. Because you won’t target prospects who may not be interested in your products and remove existing customers from this campaign, you are not wasting budget on unnecessary postage costs. PAM has the extra bonus of being fully GDPR compliant, so you don’t have to worry about targeting new addresses as no name will appear. You can read more about PAM here. 

Market segmentation

Splitting potential customers into segments, via a trial or small geographical location, can reduce the volume of mailings. This is a better way of maximising smaller budgets or for those companies who may be trying a direct mail campaign for the first time. Gecko’s data analysts can help you to deliver effective, personalised, targeted mailings, reducing postage costs via smaller campaigns.

Combatting rising postage costs: Optimising postage

Mailmark

Mailmark is a new alternative from Royal Mail to standard franking and uses a barcode rather than a stamp or more traditional form of printed post mark. The barcode offers distinct advantages over traditional franking:

  • Machines can read the barcode instantly and it contains useful data and analytics Royal Mail can relay to their wholesale customers, such as tracking information

  • Because it is more automated, the whole process from collecting to sorting to delivery, is quicker

  • Because it is so much more efficient and quicker than traditional processes, postage costs are reduced

Mailsort

Royal Mail and DSA providers can offer postage discounts for ready-sorted mail. We can offer our advice and detail the cost savings as part of our mailing service.

Advertising Mail

This is a wholesale service offered by Royal Mail and aimed at helping companies to save money on postage. However, the conditions can be complicated and subject to Royal Mail audits to check that the mailing complies with their criteria. 

There are many discount levels according to:

  • Size and weight of letter or parcel

  • Whether the mail is sorted or unsorted

  • Whether the Mailmark is used

In addition, one mail pack has to be sent to the Royal Mail Wholesale Sample address to check whether the contents of your mailing pack meet their discount criteria. This sample pack is called a Royal Mail Seed. On approval, your mailing will be issued with a licence to receive the discount.

Postage is complicated, isn’t it? But the Gecko team is here to help you through the maze, answer any questions, and recommend the most effective method that will give you more bang for your buck! 

In a nutshell, we know postal services inside out, so you don’t have to worry or waste time weighing up your options. Working with the Gecko team saves you the headache of handling campaigns in-house with the franking, sorting and collecting! Because we have everything under one roof, we can personalise, print and enclose your mailing packs for you. Our data analysts can help you to use your data effectively, reaching your target audience with little or no wastage and at the lowest possible cost. 

Why not contact us today to discuss your direct mailing plans and goals and see how we can make your campaign budget go further by combatting rising postage costs?