The famous Penny Black of 1839 was the first adhesive pre-paid postage stamp. Britain was the first country to issue pre-paid postage stamps. Uniquely, for this reason British stamps are the only stamps in the world not bearing the country of issue on them.

The first distinctive red pillar box appeared in Jersey in 1852. However the Royal Mail which we know today really took shape in the 1960’s. It was then that Second Class stamps were introduced. More significantly, the Royal Mail changed from a department of the government to a statutory corporation. This was as per the Post Office Act of 1969.

Only five years later, in 1974, the national system of postcodes had been fully rolled out across Great Britain. First introduced in Norwich in 1957, full postcodes follow a fixed format, and are comprised of outward and inward codes. The codes specify the district and street which the mail is sent to. Up until its abolition in 2003, the London Post Office Railway was instrumental in this sorting and delivery process. The 1927 network consisted of driverless trains, which ran on a private track underneath London between sorting offices. Now replaced by vans, lorries and bicycles, Royal Mail transport is still painted in trademark bright red.

By the year 1981, the General Post Office had been split into two separate divisions; British Telecom which dealt with telecommunications, and the Post Office that delivered standard mail. The 1980’s also brought about optical character recognition technology, still used to read addresses today. This plus barcoding (CBC) enables Royal Mail to mechanically sort hundreds of thousands of letters every day.

With the turn of the millennium, Royal Mail received a short-lived rebranding as Consignia plc. This change wasn’t as popular as was expected and the company soon became Royal Mail Group plc.

On 1 January 2006, the Royal Mail lost its centuries of monopoly and the British postal market opened to competition. Competitors can now collect and sort mail and pass it to Royal Mail for delivery, a service known as Downstream access (DSA). In the same year Royal Mail introduced Pricing in Proportion (PiP) for first and second class inland mail. This heralded a major change to the pricing structure whereby item prices are affected by dimensions as well as weight.

Another big change came with the listing of Royal Mail onto the London Stock Exchange on 15 October 2013.

Throughout the early twenty-first century Royal Mail has embraced rapidly advancing technology. The Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre, exemplifies the auto-sorting of mail to dispatch via AirMail or road. In this techno world Royal Mail trailblazes state of the art technology for the sorting, tracking and delivering of mail.

New in 2014 Mailmark™ (formerly known as Enterprise Intelligent Barcode® or EIB®) combines a new barcode with innovative optical technology and digital performance reporting. Mailmark™ can tell customers where a mail consignment is in the network, when it’s scheduled to arrive and how well it performs.

It’s reassuring to know that despite the rapid growth of clever technology, it’s still possible to spot the everyday postman or postwoman. Doing their rounds on a bright red lorry, van, bicycle or even on foot, but for how long?  That’s the Royal Mail History for you. What about Royal Mail Future?

For a bright future for your mail project call us on 0208 946 1234.

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According to Direct Mail News, in 2012 the average response rate for direct mail was 4.4% for both business-to-business and business to consumer mailings—considerably higher than industry expectations, and surging past electronic mail’s response rate of just 0.12%*

Unlike television advertising, print advertising, and even e-mails, which are all too quickly deleted or marked as spam before they’re opened, direct mail gives you the opportunity to deliver your message right into the hands of your target audience. With a highly targeted campaign and a little creativity, the results of direct mail can be nothing short of magical.

What is direct mail?

You’re familiar with the letters, postcards, catalogues and other printed mail that arrives on your doorstep from companies that you may or may not have done business with in the past. You probably came across a few of these as you sorted through your own post this week.

This is direct mail, which unfortunately is often referred to as ‘junk’ mail. But carried out properly, direct mail stays out of the recycling and can make a real impact on the consumer, resulting in a huge success rate compared to other advertising methods.

Direct mail may be sent out in bulk, in the hope that a small percentage of recipients will respond to the offer, or it may be sent to only a very targeted list, which offers a potentially much higher rate of response at a higher cost per unit but lower cost per order. Neither method is the ‘right’ one – it depends on your business, your potential customers and your available budget as to which strategy is right for you.

What do direct mail companies do?

Direct mail can be sent out directly from your business to the consumer or another business. Even a single hand-written letter is considered to be direct mail. In many cases however, it is more efficient and cost effective to employ the services of a direct mail company to carry out your direct marketing campaigns.

Direct mail companies offer a range of services including design, artwork creation, list management, data cleansing, document creation, personalisation, printing, folding, envelope filling, delivery, or distribution through a third party system such as Royal Mail.

How to set up a direct mail campaign

To start a direct marketing campaign, first you need a list of names and addresses to target. This may be a list that you’ve built through your website and other means, or you may buy a ready-built list. Direct mail companies often offer lists for rent that target particular markets.

Depending on your budget and marketing message, you need to decide what type of mail is the most suitable. It may be a letter, brochure, postcard, newsletter, catalogue or magazine. Whichever type of printed mail you choose, you need to make sure that you include a clear offer and a call to action.

After your mailing company has produced and distributed your mail your job is then to field enquiries resulting from the campaign and turn leads into sales. You should also have a way of measuring the success of the campaign so that you can test variables such as letters versus postcards and improve future success rates.

Tips on direct mail

For more information call Sharp Cat on 0208 946 1234

*From Online Marketing Institute: On 06.13.13, In Direct Marketing, by Laurie Beasley

The post The Magic of Direct Mail – Why Every Company Needs a Direct Marketing Strategy appeared first on Sharp Cat.

However, the specific guidelines concerning VAT on print are actually rather confusing and it can be quite tricky in some cases to work out if you should be paying nothing or 20% VAT.

VAT on printed items depends on their intended use, format, content and size. A lot of printed materials used in the day to day running of a business are rated at the full 20% but there are some exceptions that are zero-rated.

The situation is further confused by the fact that there is no legal definition for many items such as brochures, flyers and leaflets and so there is a complicated series of stipulations laid out to determine whether your ‘flyer’ is rated at 20% VAT or 0% VAT.

Confused yet? Here are some guidelines for VAT on print to help you out:

Stationery items such as business cards, letterheads, diaries, invoices and compliments slips are subject to the full rate of VAT. Other items that are subject to 20% VAT include banners, pop up stands, postcards, invitations, calendars, stickers, coupons, posters and tickets.

0% VAT print items include books, newsletters, brochures, catalogues and pamphlets. Leaflets and flyers used for advertising are also exempt but there are a number of conditions that need to be followed if they are to be zero-rated:

To be sure that you are paying the correct rate of VAT on printed materials, you can either read the entire 27-page guideline document as published by HMRC, or you can ask your friendly print or mailing house for advice.

For more information call us on 0208 946 1234

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Cleaning up mailing lists takes time and has to be budgeted into the overall cost of a direct marketing campaign so it is understandable why some companies choose to skip this step. However a little time and money put in at the beginning can make a huge difference in the overall success of the campaign.

The benefits are clear:

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With letters and packages which have been allocated a unique barcode, the business user is now able to accurately track the delivery status of the item, anywhere within the Royal Mail network. A detailed digital front-end interface has been developed, providing complete transparency for you and your colleagues.

So, just how will Royal Mail Mailmark™ help your business? You’ll be able to keep track of average delivery durations, and the level of postage errors and returns, either through misinformation or customers moving house. Not only will these tools save you money, they’ll also improve the running of your business, for both you and your customers. With the improved transparency on delivery status you can accurately plan your delivery dates ahead of time. This means more accurate expectations for your customers, and less guesstimation for planning mail arrival dates.

For businesses using high volume direct mail marketing campaigns, the Royal Mail Mailmark™ will be an invaluable tool. It will enable you to easily calculate your ROI by using the provided statistics and your own sales figures. You’ll be able to accurately identify which geographical and demographical areas show the most sales potential and detailed information on errors and returns will allow you to fine-tune your mailing list.

The Royal Mail Mailmark is a welcome addition to our postal service, with similar technology already being successfully used in the United States. Their IMb (Intelligent Mail barcode) tracing provides detailed automated reports on the delivery status of business mail, and allows businesses to easily analyse response rates, address accuracy and delivery times.

Despite the business advantages offered by the new Royal Mail Mailmark, usage restrictions mean that only businesses which send over 30,000 letters per day are eligible to use the technology. However, small businesses can benefit from this new technology through mailing companies like Sharp Cat. Because all of our postings for customers can be counted, our limits for you are far lower than those set by Royal Mail, so you too can gain insight into the efficiency of your mailing and marketing processes, even if you’re not sending tens of thousands of letters every day. On top of this, you can have your documentation designed, printed and mailed under one roof, right here at Sharp Cat. This gives you more time to concentrate on the running of your business, while ensuring that your mail will be produced and delivered with maximum efficiency.

If your business sends out regular letters every day, whatever the volume, why not take advantage of the Royal Mail Mailmark system by getting in touch with Sharp Cat today?

For more information call us on 0208 946 1234

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One of the major benefits of direct mail is that you can be very detailed in the descriptions of your products or services, and can even include photographs. We see hundreds of adverts every day, many of which will quickly escape our memory. Unlike a small newspaper or magazine advert, direct mail gives you the chance to thoroughly “sell” your product to a reader, without the more traditional constraints.

5 Good Reasons to Add Direct Mail to Your Business

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Nowadays people obtain countless emails and with our already busy lives most of us do not read all of them. In fact when we receive unsolicited material from a company we often think it is spam and delete it straightaway; however direct mail has to be physically picked up and sorted by the householder before any decision is made.

65% of people like to browse before purchasing

Studies from Royal Mail, in 2014, show that 65% of people prefer to glance through a catalogue; before purchasing certain items. [2] By sending them direct mail marketing you can encourage them to view your website and browse online; 87% of potential customers were influenced into making an online purchase through direct mail. [3]

Mailing services and the mailing house

When you distribute direct mail in bulk, the postage becomes vastly cheaper making it much more cost effective. You can save additional money with marketing items such as one piece mailers, with these you can say goodbye to envelopes as they are no longer needed.

Therefore if your company is looking for a way to broaden their sales horizons; then direct mail marketing is the way to go. Not only is it cost effective when using a mailing service, it also gives you the opportunity to market your product to thousands of potential customers right there in their homes. Unlike email the householder will browse at it, even if they are going to recycle it immediately.

With an eye catching design and a tempting offer, who can resist?

References

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