Escalating postage costs has been a constant theme over the past several years. The postal reform is no exception. The difference this time, however, is that in addition to an overall cost increase, the number of postage tiers has also increased. This results in further postage penalties for names that qualify at lower tiers. I-Bundle™ was designed to help offset these effects and improve the overall ROI from each mail campaign.
Containing or managing costs is an obvious and ongoing concern for all direct marketers, and calculating ROI in this arena is not a trivial task. There are many factors that need to be considered in this exercise including list costs, processing costs, paper costs, production costs, postage costs, and the cost of goods sold. At extreme focus this year, however, is the concentration on escalating postage costs and their impact on the overall ROI equation. With the unprecedented increases many marketers now face it will be evermore important to effectively manage postage costs, find names that receive the USPS® maximum discount, and consider dropping names when postage costs make them unprofitable to mail.
Jack Sturn, VP of Client Services at I-Centrix states, "As mailers we must understand these new rules and take steps to work within them to minimize our postage costs. For example, given the fact that postage may vary by as much as 20¢ per piece within a given mailing, we need to take the actual postage costs into account when finalizing each campaign."
That’s where I-Bundle™ can help. This new service identifies opportunities to drop names with exceedingly high postage costs. It can also help mailers find additional names to mail guaranteed to have low postage costs.
"By helping marketers manage mail streams, I-Bundle™ can truly optimize each and every mail campaign", said Bob Gaito, President and CEO of I-Centrix. "The increasing cost pressures placed on the direct mail community have forced mailers to find new ways to mail smarter. I-Bundle™ is our latest advancement in helping our clients achieve their goals. We have several other projects underway and we will continue to develop outside the box methodologies to challenge the marketplace and help our clients improve every mailing’s ROI."
For more information about I-Bundle™ please contact your ICentrix customer representative at (518) 6890480 or via email at info@icentrix.com.
About the SolutionSet MediaWhiz Partnership
The SolutionSet MediaWhiz Partnership is a leading integrated performance marketing agency network that works with marketers to deliver measurable, tangible and accountable business results. It provides today's CMO with a comprehensive offering built around relationship marketing, digital solutions, local marketing, data management and media services, designed to drive profitable transactions in the marketplace. The SolutionSet MediaWhiz Partnership works with leading brands, including adidas, AT&T, American Express, AMD, Cisco, Dell, Discover, eBay, Gold's Gym, Nielsen, Office Depot and RadioShack. For more information, visit: www.solutionsetmediawhizpartnership.com.
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