Whether timing isn’t important or you are looking for a low cost way to send large amounts of mail, your best bet is to send USPS Standard Mail, also known as Marketing Mail. But what is standard mail and how can you properly utilize it?
USPS Standard Mail is an alternate mailing class that is lower cost than USPS First Class, but at a slower speed. Only available in the US, this alternative is perfect for businesses looking to send mail at scale. For example, mailing out large volumes of marketing flyers or postcards for your next great direct mail campaign.
If you need your mail pieces to arrive at a specific time, or if they contain sensitive information, First Class is the preferred option. In fact, for mail with Personal Identifiable Information (PII) or Protected Health Information (PHI), you will need to use First Class mail to maintain compliance with USPS regulations.
One of the main benefits of Standard Mail is how cheap it is as a delivery option, but it also comes with less predictability. Marketing Mail takes longer to deliver than First Class, as USPS does not provide a delivery time guarantee for Standard Mail.
For postcards and letters, Standard Mail delivery times usually range from 7 to 21 business days, with a typical delivery time of 5 standard business days. Compared to 4 to 6 business days for First Class, you can see why businesses use it for time-sensitive mail.
With all of the different mail types available, it can get confusing when they get changed in any way. Marketing Mail is USPS’s new way of categorizing Standard Mail, which is any mail that is not personal or confidential. USPS announced it would change the name of its Standard Mail service to USPS Marketing Mail, in January 2017. However, you'll still see a lot of direct mail resources using Standard Mail terminology. The change makes sense when you think about it, as mail pieces with personal information are required to be sent through First Class.
Whether you are sending postcards, self-mailers, or any other type of marketing material, each piece of mail has to follow specific requirements. These features are:
With these specific requirements in mind, you can see why Standard Mail is attractive to marketers and their campaigns in particular. Marketing campaigns don’t require the usage of PII, with each postcard able to display a similar message as the one before. The bulk pricing on large amounts of Marketing Mail aligns it with a marketing use-case, hence the name change.
Another great use for Standard Mail is for nonprofit organizations who are looking to reduce the costs of their communications. Nonprofit Stanard Mail postage prices are only available for mail within the US, similar to all Marketing Mail. However, in order to apply for these rates, your nonprofit organization needs to be authorized by USPS.
By filling out the Postage Statement provided by USPS on their website, nonprofits can apply to use Marketing Mail for an overall cost reduction of 70% on their mail communications.
As you are planning out your mail communications, it is important to consider all of the options available to you and understand your needs. If you are using direct mail to communicate with your patients or send checks to your employees, then First Class mail is your anwer. However, if you are looking for a powerful, cheap tool to aid your marketing campaigns, Standard Mail is the mail type for you.
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