Expanding brand exposure with Picture Permit
Direct mail marketing shows few signs of slowing down, and the U.S. Postal Service is providing businesses with an opportunity for broader brand exposure through their mailings.
The program offered by the USPS, called Picture Permit Imprint Indicia, allows commercial mailers to incorporate their logos, brand images or a trademark onto mailing pieces. Businesses sending out first-class and standard letters and postcards must integrate an Intelligent Mail barcode in addition to getting approval for their designs from the postal service.
It is important for businesses to ensure accurate mailing when developing their direct mail projects. Address verification software is necessary to make sure materials reach their destination.
Seeing is believing, recognizing
Tom Foti, manager of direct mail and periodicals at the USPS, told Direct Market News that the federal agency is responding to companies' desire to have a greater impact on their target audience and expose recipients to their brand image as quickly as possible. Foti said there has been a lot of interest from businesses in financial, insurance and retail industries, as well as nonprofit organizations that see a benefit from a stronger visual presence on their mailers. The pricing scale runs at relatively low costs, with fees at 1 cent per piece for first-class mail letters and postcards and 2 cents per piece for Standard Mail letters and postcards.
Direct mail marketing trending upward
The postal service is banking on trends in the direct mail industry, which are showing positive growth, according to MarketingProfs, an online community for marketing professionals. The website cited an infographic provided by Bolt Insurance that demonstrated the increasing investments many companies are making in direct mail marketing campaigns. The research showed that businesses spent $47.8 billion on direct mail in 2011. Moreover, the use of direct mail is predicted to increase 3.6 percent through 2014, demonstrating the continued sustainability of the marketing tactic. On average, 65 percent of recipients of direct mail marketing pieces purchase from the advertised business.
With that in mind, the Picture Permit program allows companies to make better use of their mail pieces by increasing the visibility of logos, offering better brand recognition. The postal service said it may improve the effectiveness of direct mail because recipients would be able to immediately know about promotions, products and a company's logo. The process of applying for approval offers a fairly quick turnaround for businesses enrolled in the program. After two or three weeks of testing the images sent to the USPS for operational requirements, the business or nonprofit can begin adding their brand image to their mailings, Foti told Direct Market News.