CSG Direct MAIL SERVICES

With over 20 years of experience in the industry, we have the direct mail services you need.

How to send direct mail

Direct Mail

From postcards to self-mailers, letters to booklets, we can help you customize every detail of your direct mail campaign.

NCOA/CASS

National Change of Address service and address standardization and validation is a core service we provide to make sure your mail gets to your customers.

Targeted Mailings

Send direct mail that is catered to your customer. By using variable graphics, content, and offers, you ensure that your message is relevant to the person receiving it. We can even help you acquire a mailing list targeting your chosen demographic.

Postage Rates

USPS postage rates can be confusing at best. We stay up to date on the postal rules and regulations so you don't have to. This helps you get the best postage rates possible for your mailing.

Print and Mail

We have state-of-the-art digital presses ready to print your job. It just makes sense to use a company that can manage your database, art, mailing, and printing all in one stop.

Design Services

CSG Direct also offers full-service graphic design by award winning designers for all your mailpiece design needs.

How to send direct mail in 6 steps

How to send direct mail.

Define your goal
The first step when sending direct mail is to define the goal you wish to achieve with your direct mail marketing. This could range from something as simple as getting the word out about your company to a complex series of steps you’d like your customers to take when they receive your mailpiece. A general informative postcard might include your business address and website and a short paragraph of text explaining what you do and why the customer should use your goods or services. A more complex mailer could include personalized images and offers. You may have interactive elements like coupons or a scannable code that will take the customer to a personalized landing page where they can take a survey, download coupons, or sign up for your email newsletter.
Decide what kind of mailpiece to send
Types of mailers can vary from a simple postcard or letter, to an elaborate die-cut folded self-mailer or package. Each of these has a different cost to produce and mails at a different postage rate. Once again, the goals for your direct mail campaign will help you define exactly what type of mailpiece you should choose for your marketing and budget. Letters convey an “official” feel and add an element of discovery to your mailpiece. Postcards are well known and comfortable and get the message across quickly with catchy graphics. If you have a lot of information to convey, consider a folded self-mailer. These are essentially a postcard that opens up to twice the size and lets you pack it with coupons, offers, and information.
Create your content
Work with your designer to create the mailpiece based on the concept you’ve developed. Make sure they are familiar with current postal regulations for the various types of mailers. Make sure they know what kind of images, text, or coupons you would like to be variable for your chosen customer demographics and that they know how to mark those on the art. If you need mailpiece templates, CSG Direct has them for free on our resources page! If you have no clue where to begin, we offer design services as well.
Define your recipients and pull your data
Referring back to the first point, decide who exactly will receive your mailpiece. Are you looking to mail to families with children? Are you targeting local businesses? This will decide what data you pull to create your mailing database. If you have no data to use, it is easy to purchase a list for mailing purposes. CSG Direct can help you purchase data for your mailer according to your defined goals. If you need help with your existing database, visit our data services page to find out how we can help you make sure you are using the best data for the best marketing results.
Choose a direct mail service provider or mail yourself
While you can always send your direct mail yourself, most companies find it easier and get better postage rates using a direct mail service provider. A company like CSG Direct can help you choose what postage class your mailpiece should be and do all the appropriate paperwork for you. They will take your data and use it to address your mailpiece, put the proper postal indicia and barcode on it, and deliver it right to the post office for you. Some mail service providers also offer printing, so it is even easier to just send over your art and data and trust the rest will be taken care of.
Analyze the results
Decide on how long you will wait before analyzing the results of your campaign. This could be a week after mailing or two to three months later if you had an offer with an expiration date on your mailpiece. Analysis is always made easier if you put an offer code on your mailpiece or included an URL that you could track. If you didn’t do this, you can just judge by calls, orders, or website visits. Try to figure out what worked and what did not work in your direct mail campaign, then re-evaluate the steps above and send another mailer. Direct mail works best if done on a regular schedule to get your customers used to seeing your company in the mail.