|
|
AdMail’s “remarkable capability” makes travel dream a reality (August 5, 2014)
Our clients are always coming up with creative ways to deliver their messages, and AdMail's commitment to making their messages matter means that we're always up for these challenges!
In her blog, creative strategist Carol Worthington-Levy discusses her recent project for AAA Travel, who was looking for a unique way to market Hawaii travel to their members. Creating a nostalgic postcard with a highly personalized message, Worthington-Levy and our AAA contacts brainstormed with AdMail as to how the piece could be produced. The result was a beautiful 4-color Hawaiian retro-postcard image on the front, spot varnished to the illusion of being well-handled over the years. The reverse side was uncoated - as your typical postcard would be - and personalized in all the right places...complete with postage stamp! Read Worthington-Levy's complete story here, and see images of this successful campaign for yourself! Lastly, give us a call at (800) 273-6245 to see how our "remarkable capability" can help you make YOUR message matter!
AdMail Express Updates! (April 15, 2014)
Call us today to learn about our expanded Digital Press Capabilities and Promotional Services.
Even more ways AdMail can make Your Message Matter!
1-800-273-MAIL
Know your FSM…ASAP! (February 6, 2013)
It seems everything has to have an abbreviation these days, even a nice, unassuming workhorse mail piece.
The USPS has created new standards for one of our favorite formats - the Folded Self-Mailer - and has given it the snappy new abbreviation FSM. By USPS definition, a Folded Self-Mailer is “formed of panels created when a single or multiple unbound sheets of paper are folded together and sealed to form a letter-size mailpiece.”
Friends, there is no need to complicate the uncomplicated.
You have created an FSM if your piece is:
- folded (that part should be obvious),
- letter-sized (no larger than 6”H x 10 ½”W) and
- not a stitched booklet.
If you are in the process of designing such a piece, there are now some important specifications to follow in order for the piece to qualify for Automation postage rates. Some of these specs are very easy to understand, some you don’t have to worry about (they apply to us, your heroic mail service providers) and some are so confusing that interpretations seem to vary between USPS personnel! Here are the key specs we would like you, our clients, to keep in mind when designing a Folded Self-Mailer:
- The final fold of the piece must be on the bottom edge when you are reading the mailing address. Pretty simple if your mail piece folds in half. A bit more complicated if you are designing a tri-fold or roll-fold…just make sure that final flap flips up toward the top of the mail piece, so we can tab it on top.
- If your piece has an oblong fold (e.g. 6x18 flat, folding in half to 6x9), that fold must be on what is know as the LEAD EDGE of the piece, the side to the right of the mailing address. If you are holding a mail piece, looking at the address, imagine the piece feeding through the USPS sorting equipment from left to right. That right edge is the LEAD EDGE because it goes through the equipment first.
- For simple quarter-folded pieces, not only does the final fold need to be at the bottom (as for all FSMs), but you need to make sure the FIRST fold is on that LEAD EDGE (see above).
Truth be told, there is some confusion throughout the mail service provider community (and likely, throughout the USPS) about the regulations on more complicated FSMs. With 6-page or 8-page quarter folded pieces, what constitutes that “first fold” is unclear. The USPS verbiage also doesn’t address double-parallel folds to our liking. The best bet is to RUN YOUR DESIGN BY US before finalizing your mail piece. We like to see what it is we’ll be printing anyway, and we can also check your indicia and mail panel layout while we confirm with our in-house USPS rep that it meets the new FSM guidelines. Remember, we want your mail to run as smoothly as you do!
Dang Near Perfect! (August 20, 2012)
Over the past 2 election cycles, AdMail’s local, state and national
political clients have had a nearly perfect record of campaign victories!
Naturally, we’re not taking ALL the credit but for 40 years, AdMail’s professional,
responsive and on-time campaign mail production services have enabled our
clients to focus on other key campaign matters.
Whether you’re involved in a National, state-wide, regional or local campaign for,
the keys to a successful campaign don’t change - getting your message to the
right audience, at the right time. Campaigns for candidates and voter initiatives
alike rely on AdMail to deliver on time, every time.
Our proven track record is critical to your campaigns’ success. We know that our
clients rely on a variety of people and vendors to make the magic happen. And
when it comes to direct mail – AdMail's staff are magicians. We work
with you, your staff, and vendors and of course, the United States Postal Service
to ensure that the voters get your message on time and on budget.
With so much riding on the success of your campaign, you need to make sure
that your campaign mail does its part. Call us right now at (800) 273-MAIL
and you’ll be on your way to a perfect campaign season!
2012 Kicks Into Gear (February 1, 2012)
As 2012 starts to kick into gear, we’re seeing our Clients increasingly coming
back to using direct mail as their primary means of communicating with their
customers, donors and prospects. Certainly with the Political Campaign Season
upon us, campaigns are continuing to use direct mail to raise funds and increase
awareness and visibility of their candidates and issues.
With its ability to link “old school” technology with “new school” web and social
media technology, print and direct mail continues to adapt to allow marketers
increased ability to reach their targets with targeted messages. Through the use
of personalized landing pages and personalized QR Codes, the recipient can use
their mobile devices to get the most personal and current information available
without fighting for the attention of dozens if not hundred’s of e-mails lingering in
Inboxes and SPAM folders of unqualified prospects.
Clicking on the QR Code on our Home Page will allow you to download a
mobile friendly “AdMail Quick Postal Rate Guide” to help you quickly estimate
your per piece postage cost based on size and class of mail and the general
distribution of your mailing list. Our Complete Postal Rate Chart is also available
for downloading if you need to know specific rates and postal requirements.
While using technology is great, sometimes simply mailing a prospect an actual
sample of your product – like a food bar – is all it takes to create the demand that
makes your product a success. Drop me a note at brian.schott@admail.com and
request a sample of such a mailing campaign whose recent success allowed a
Canadian-based Client to qualify as an approved vendor at a well-known US-
Based membership wholesale chain of stores.
|
