The Bright Side of Postage Increases
It isn’t easy to find a silver lining in postage increases, but I’m going to try. So, here goes:
Whenever postal rates go up, two things are likely to happen:
1) The volume of mail will decrease
2) The number of companies using direct mail will decrease.
If you’re an opportunist, these are great conditions to start using direct mail or increase the direct mail you’re using. Think about it. When pricing pushes some companies out of direct mail marketing, they don’t disappear altogether. They look for alternative forms of marketing, and most of them will probably migrate to e-mail.
Now there’s more competition in a prospect’s inbox and less in his/her mailbox. The upfront cost might be more, but what really matters is conversion and profits. If you spend a little more on direct mail and get a better response, it should be a no-brainer.
That said, the direct mail environment will never be the same. Think twice about conducting direct mail campaigns if you’re mailing list is old and inaccurate. If you haven’t mastered list management, rate increases are just helping you spend money on useless mailings even faster.
Of course, if postage increases prompt you to clean up your mailing lists, I guess in a way that’s a silver lining too.
