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A generic mail piece has its place, but if you’re seeking greater engagement and return on investment from your marketing, personalisation is important.

Let’s look at the impact of a generic mail piece versus a personalised mail piece from the customer’s perspective.

The power of personalised mail pieces

The customer (we’ll call her Emma) has just become the proud owner of Ralph, a cockapoo puppy. On her first visit to a large pet store she purchases everything from a bed to toys to food for Ralph.

At the checkout, she signs up to the loyalty reward scheme which promises discounts as well as useful tips for caring for your pet in exchange for Emma’s contact details and few details about Ralph.

Three weeks later, Emma receives a generic mail piece from the pet store. It is addressed to her, so there’s some kind of personalisation, but the content in the mail piece and the discount vouchers are not specific to the data she imparted and so it all ends up in the recycling bin.

A couple of weeks later and Ralph needs more supplies so Emma drops into another pet store on her way home from work. At the till she is encouraged, once more, to sign up to this pet store’s loyalty reward scheme. Emma is hesitant but hands over her contact details and Ralph’s key information.

Within a few days, Emma receives a fully personalised mail piece. The naked mailer is full of advice about puppies, including obedience training tips. There is also a discount voucher for 20% off puppy supplies.

The store has gained a new customer who, when she receives future mail pieces, will soon be rewarded for recommending friends to the store.

Understanding your customer

Of course, personalisation isn’t just about special offers, but it is about understanding the needs of the customer. It’s about attracting them, engaging them, and retaining them with useful content so they don’t end being a one-time-only customer.

Get personal

At First Mailing we have the equipment to personalise many different products in a variety of different ways. Such as:

• Inkjetting of addresses or targeted messages onto printed brochures as well as printing on the mailpack’s wrappings (paper wrapping, poly wrapping)
• Carrier sheets, postcards, envelopes and one-piece mailers
• Laser printing letterheads or donation forms
• Digital printing variable text and images
• Thermal printing and personalising membership or loyalty cards

Ready to understand your customers?

We can help you understand your customers and make predictions of future purchases based on the information they provide you with. Contact us us on 01480 450661 to talk about your personalisation needs.

First Mailing services

We have a full range of services that you can choose from:

• Understand your data: successful campaigns are a result of being smart with your data. Need help? We can help source and supply. MORE >
• Make an impact through print: bring your direct mail campaigns to life with a variety of print colours & finishes. MORE >
• Make it personal: improve client engagement and target the right message to the right person. MORE >
• Save time and money: Decrease turnaround time by automating the process of distribution. MORE >
• Paper wrap it: eco-friendly paper wrapping is a high-speed solution for packing mail packs. MORE >
• Poly wrap it: compostable wrapping is a high-speed solution for packing mail packs. MORE >
• Fulfilment that speaks volumes: think outside the box and compile a pack that really talks to your clients. MORE >
• Connect with digital marketing: complement your direct mail campaigns with digital marketing. MORE >
• Postage: benefit from amazing postage discounts to reduce your campaign costs. MORE >

Whether you have your own data, or you are looking to procure data for a direct mail campaign, the quality of the data is the most important element of the campaign. Without good data, you are simply throwing money down the drain.

Procuring data

You wouldn’t be alone if you thought the procurement of data was something that went out of the window when GDPR came in. That isn’t the case, although the regulations – now called UK GDPR, post-Brexit – require the data to be processed within set parameters. A Data Reform Bill, to strength data protection, was announced in the Queen’s Speech in May 2022 so things are set to change at some point in the future.

So, how do you procure data? By working with a data provider.

A data provider, such as First Mailing, will work with you to profile your data to ensure you only procure data which meets your exact requirements. For example, you can shape your audience to target individuals with certain job titles, in certain sectors set in geographical locations, working for a company with a certain annual turnover.

Quality data does come at a price, but the return on investment makes it a very worthwhile cost.

Cleansing data

Of course, you may already have a heavyweight mailing list. But is it clean and up to date?

A data audit, which involves running your mailing list through specialist software, will determine its cleanliness. An audit (which is free with First Mailing) will highlight the number of goneaways or deceased recipients, for example. You can then opt to have your data cleansed and refreshed before your campaign is sent to increase your return on investment.

If your mailing list is small, it might be worth considering expanding your reach by combining it with procured data.

Lead generation campaigns

Data procurement and data cleansing are not just for physical, direct mail campaigns. You may wish to run an email lead generation campaign alongside, or instead of, a direct mail campaign for a greater impact.

Door drops and smart deliveries

If your marketing budget won’t stretch to data procurement, or you don’t have your own mailing list, there are still options.

Door drops and smart deliveries are great for reaching large numbers. They are ideal if you have a catalogue, for example, which is targeted to a specific audience, such as businesses typically found on industrial estates. The printed catalogue can then be distributed to all business that meet your criteria even without having their data.

Door drops and smart deliveries are ideal solutions for B2B audiences, but also for targeting specific households to, say, promote the grand opening of a shop, park, theatre, or similar. Again, you can choose your audience so that your campaign is targeted at, for example, households within a set postal area with an income range that matches your ideal customer.

Do you have data needs?

First Mailing is an approved data provider which adheres to the UK GDPR. We can manage all aspects of your physical and digital campaigns, from ensuring you have quality data, to campaign design and print, to delivery. Contact us us on 01480 450661 to talk about your next campaign.

First Mailing services

We have a full range of services that you can choose from:

• Understand your data: successful campaigns are a result of being smart with your data. Need help? We can help source and supply. MORE >
• Make an impact through print: bring your direct mail campaigns to life with a variety of print colours & finishes. MORE >
• Make it personal: improve client engagement and target the right message to the right person. MORE >
• Save time and money: Decrease turnaround time by automating the process of distribution. MORE >
• Paper wrap it: eco-friendly paper wrapping is a high-speed solution for packing mail packs. MORE >
• Poly wrap it: compostable wrapping is a high-speed solution for packing mail packs. MORE >
• Fulfilment that speaks volumes: think outside the box and compile a pack that really talks to your clients. MORE >
• Connect with digital marketing: complement your direct mail campaigns with digital marketing. MORE >
• Postage: benefit from amazing postage discounts to reduce your campaign costs. MORE >

Joined up marketing isn’t a new term; in fact, it’s been around since digital marketing first became a thing in the 1990s. It simply means the blending of traditional marketing (such as direct mail) with digital marketing solutions, such as social media and email marketing.

A mailshot is a physical communication in the form of a postcard, flyer, letter, product sample and more. The most effective mailshot is personalised for the recipient and they are generally considered to be more personal than email and social media.

In contrast, an email campaign is, well, an email, that can be personalised just like a mailshot. Typically the email will be branded just like the physical communication. These kind of digital campaigns are a great way of measuring interactions so you can further tailor future campaigns.

Successful campaigns

Both forms of communication are widely accepted and both can deliver good ROI individually, but when you combine a mailshot with an email campaign – often along with a carefully planned social media campaign – great things can happen!

The success of marketing relies on brand recognition and understanding that by just using one approach, there is a chance your marketing efforts (and therefore, budget) don’t hit the mark as well as they could.

The right blended approach

Of course, that doesn’t mean that you always have to blend traditional and digital.

It could be that traditional marketing is the right solution in its own right, but that you need to consider multiple options for your campaign such as a postcard, followed up with a free sample, followed by a discount voucher.

Likewise, a purely digital campaign could incorporate a multi-channel social media campaign, along with PPC campaigns and email campaigns.

The options are plentiful

We can work with you to create a campaign around your customers so that you are reaching out on the right platform for your demographic rather than spending your marketing budget on a campaign that won’t reach your target market.

Ready to start your next campaign?

As a company that offers both digital marketing and traditional mail solutions, we can offer unbiased advice to ensure you get the best return on investment. Contact us us on 01480 450661 to talk about your next campaign.

First Mailing services

We have a full range of services that you can choose from:

• Understand your data: successful campaigns are a result of being smart with your data. Need help? We can help source and supply. MORE >
• Make an impact through print: bring your direct mail campaigns to life with a variety of print colours & finishes. MORE >
• Make it personal: improve client engagement and target the right message to the right person. MORE >
• Save time and money: Decrease turnaround time by automating the process of distribution. MORE >
• Paper wrap it: eco-friendly paper wrapping is a high-speed solution for packing mail packs. MORE >
• Poly wrap it: compostable wrapping is a high-speed solution for packing mail packs. MORE >
• Fulfilment that speaks volumes: think outside the box and compile a pack that really talks to your clients. MORE >
• Connect with digital marketing: complement your direct mail campaigns with digital marketing. MORE >
• Postage: benefit from amazing postage discounts to reduce your campaign costs. MORE >

With a range of automated packing machines, you could ask if there is a need for hand packed mail packs in this fast-paced world.

The simple response is: yes, there is.

While our automated machines can pack and wrap an array of direct mail materials, hand packing is a fulfilment solution utilised when the mail pack contains those extra special goodies!

Over the last few decades we have packed so many different products, from cuddly toys to prize giveaways, consumable tasties, personal care products, clothing and much more.

Caring for your goods

We know how important it is that your carefully selected goods are handled properly. That’s why our dedicated fulfilment team handles everything in-house.

We can also securely store your goods via our onsite box and pallet storage capacity, so you don’t have to fill up your own valuable space.

The ultimate pick and mix and pack

Why pack one item when we can pack multiple! Sometimes our customers want to spoil their customers with, for example, ‘ten foot cream samples with five heel balms and a covering letter’. In a sense, it’s as much pick and mix as it is pick and pack!

Once the products have been carefully packed, they are then distributed via a courier.

We often receive fiddly items, that cannot be fed by a machine, and need counting out before being packed in a box. This is why hand packing is such a useful service for our customers – generally, no item is un-packable. Generally!

Quality on hand

As an ISO 9001 registered company, you can be reassured that, hand on heart, quality is central to everything we do – we hand pack mail packs with care. We’re also an ISO 14001 registered company meaning that while we deliver on quality we are caring for the environment.

Ready to start your pick and pack campaign?

If your premises are bursting at the seams with products that need to be carefully picked and packed, we can help! Contact us us on 01480 450661 to talk about your next hand packed mail packs.

First Mailing services

We have a full range of services that you can choose from:

• Understand your data: successful campaigns are a result of being smart with your data. Need help? We can help source and supply. MORE >
• Make an impact through print: bring your direct mail campaigns to life with a variety of print colours & finishes. MORE >
• Make it personal: improve client engagement and target the right message to the right person. MORE >
• Save time and money: Decrease turnaround time by automating the process of distribution. MORE >
• Paper wrap it: eco-friendly paper wrapping is a high-speed solution for packing mail packs. MORE >
• Poly wrap it: compostable wrapping is a high-speed solution for packing mail packs. MORE >
• Fulfilment that speaks volumes: think outside the box and compile a pack that really talks to your clients. MORE >
• Connect with digital marketing: complement your direct mail campaigns with digital marketing. MORE >
• Postage: benefit from amazing postage discounts to reduce your campaign costs. MORE >

There’s no denying that postage can be the largest budgetary element of a marketing campaign (although a professional mailing house, such as First Mailing, can deliver significant savings). Therefore, it’s important that your data is cleansed before and after each campaign to reduce additional costs due to duplicated records, gone aways, deceased contacts and more.

Data protection legislation

Following Britain’s exit from the EU, the GDPR no longer applies to businesses inside the UK. Instead, they must comply with the Data Protection Act 2018. Here at First Mailing, ensuring the quality of our customers’ data, and its compliance to legislation, has always been a priority.

Our internal systems for the acceptance, verification and security are designed to meet the highest standards and include:

• Cleansing
• Analysing
• Profiling
• Appending
• Segmentation
• Heat Maps
• Deduplication
• Mailsorting

Improved return on investment

Targeted messages which are based around the behaviours, attitudes and circumstances of your current and prospective customers achieve a greater response.

By using our in-house software and heat mapping, we can segment and profile your data. This means that your communications can be tailored to the individual making them more likely to engage with your messaging.

Managed service

We know how important your data is and we work within the legislation. When our customers send us their data, via secure transfer, the data stays within our secure IT server. We don’t outsource data management to a third party, thereby protecting your data. We also won’t sell your customer data on to a third party.

Ready to get started?

Want to talk about your data needs? Contact us us on 01480 450661 today.

First Mailing services

We have a full range of services that you can choose from:

• Understand your data: successful campaigns are a result of being smart with your data. Need help? We can help source and supply. MORE >
• Make an impact through print: bring your direct mail campaigns to life with a variety of print colours & finishes. MORE >
• Make it personal: improve client engagement and target the right message to the right person. MORE >
• Save time and money: Decrease turnaround time by automating the process of distribution. MORE >
• Paper wrap it: eco-friendly paper wrapping is a high-speed solution for packing mail packs. MORE >
• Poly wrap it: compostable wrapping is a high-speed solution for packing mail packs. MORE >
• Fulfilment that speaks volumes: think outside the box and compile a pack that really talks to your clients. MORE >
• Connect with digital marketing: complement your direct mail campaigns with digital marketing. MORE >
• Postage: benefit from amazing postage discounts to reduce your campaign costs. MORE >

In fact, it’s more powerful than it’s ever been!

But print is dead, you may say. Sure, the digital world has a lot to offer, but with so much chatter online these days, print can help you stand out from the crowd.

Think of the environment, you may say, but as with our paper wrapping solution, for example, print can be eco-friendly.

Postage is really expensive, you may also say. Potentially, but only if you’re doing it wrong! Great savings can be made by working with a professional mailing house, such as First Mailing. Depending on the size of your printed mailpiece, the volume and optional extras, savings of up to 70% on postage could be realised.

Digital printing

Digital printing is ideal for short print runs of fliers, booklets, envelopes, letters, one piece mailers and mailing cartons. The beauty of digital printing is that the material can be personalised to the recipient.

Litho printing

For higher volume print runs for leaflets and brochures, for example, litho is a cost effective solution which delivers exceptional quality.

It’s all about the paper

We offer a range of paper stock, much of which is either from sustainable sources or already recycled.

The quality of the paper you choose for your printed material is akin to non-verbal cues in how it quickly tells the recipient whether your product, service or solution is high quality or low cost. If, for example, your product is affordable office supplies, a top grade paper is not necessary. Likewise, if you’re selling prestigious retirement homes, a higher grade of paper would be ideal.

The finishing touch

To really bring your printed material to life and deliver maximum impact, a range of finishes is available, such as metallics, varnishes, neon and embossing.

Ready to get started?

Ready to lift your ideas off the page? Contact us us on 01480 450661 to talk about your print needs today.

First Mailing services

We have a full range of services that you can choose from:

• Understand your data: successful campaigns are a result of being smart with your data. Need help? We can help source and supply. MORE >
• Make an impact through print: bring your direct mail campaigns to life with a variety of print colours & finishes. MORE >
• Make it personal: improve client engagement and target the right message to the right person. MORE >
• Save time and money: Decrease turnaround time by automating the process of distribution. MORE >
• Paper wrap it: eco-friendly paper wrapping is a high-speed solution for packing mail packs. MORE >
• Poly wrap it: compostable wrapping is a high-speed solution for packing mail packs. MORE >
• Fulfilment that speaks volumes: think outside the box and compile a pack that really talks to your clients. MORE >
• Connect with digital marketing: complement your direct mail campaigns with digital marketing. MORE >
• Postage: benefit from amazing postage discounts to reduce your campaign costs. MORE >