Welcome to Troi Mailing Services Direct Mail blog 101!

Our initiative is to provide you with current and update information as it relates to Direct Mail and Printing Services. You may refer to it by a number of different names like bulk mail, advertising mail, lettershop services and mail marketing, all of which have the same goal- to solicit a response or a sale through the use of direct mail media.

As Canada Post Expert partners we have the industry knowledge and expertise that will add value to your direct mail campaigns and help maximize your ROI.  

A hot topic that has created quite a few headlines lately revolves around Canada Posts “Five-Point Action Plan”. The link below will take you directly to the article posted on Canada Posts website.

http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/aboutus/news/pr/2013/2013_action_plan.jsf

It seems like all the headlines are focused on the increased costs of first class stamps and the conversion of door to door mail delivery to Community Mail Boxes.

Though the jump from $0.63 to $0.85 might seem quite steep, please be aware that this is for Stamped Mail. This price increase does not apply to Addressed Admail, Publications Mail or Unaddressed Admail; the streams of mail generally used most Direct Mail Marketers.

A way around this postage rate increase would be to convert some of your first class mail to Addressed Admail. This will generally mean going to market with your campaign a week or so earlier than planned. There are additional restrictions to this conversion that revolve around a minimum volume requirement of 1,000pcs and messaging needs to be uniform and promotional in nature.

The transition to community mail boxes will affect 1/3 of Canadian households. Presently, 2/3 of current households and 100% of all new developments are using community mail boxes. Think of it as 2/3 or your current data base.

I had a discussion about community mail boxes with a client of mine who has a young family. He advised that the transition was seamless and that his kids treat it as a destination and really enjoy all going to get the mail together.   

Though its hard to determine what this will mean in the grand scheme of things, it is clear that these steps are required in order to keep Canada Post viable and adhere to their mandate of being a self sustained enterprise.

We are looking forward to keeping you up to date on the latest developments in the direct mail business!