Despite the widely held belief that direct mailing services are no longer relevant, research indicates that direct mail campaigns generate five times as many purchases as email campaigns.
Therefore, small businesses can achieve success by mailing customers and prospects directly. For example, postcards have become cost-efficient to ensure their message stands out in catalogs.
The finest direct mailing services offer everything required for direct mail marketing campaigns, including design and printing services, mailing lists, and delivery.
When comparing vendors, it’s not always a simple apples-to-apples comparison—some offer the cheapest printing while others specialize in unique finishes and options.
For your next project, we’ve listed the seven best mailing services providers according to overall value, features, benefits, and drawbacks.
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The Best Direct Mailing Services
A direct mail company can print, stamp, and distribute your brochures, postcards, or flyers. Some providers provide design templates and help you compile a list of viable addresses. The image below shows the complete process that direct mail involves.
The seven best direct mail organizations are listed below, and each has been thoroughly evaluated for its benefits, disadvantages, and applications.
1. VistaPrint: Best Overall Direct Mail Service
VistaPrint is one of the most well-known online printing services and a frequent choice for producing business cards. Because VistaPrint’s all-in-one direct mail solution for business postcards is simple to utilize from beginning to end, we believe it’s the most incredible direct marketing service. It is among the most famous online printing providers.
With over two dozen products (and countless variations) to select from, you may purchase any marketing or branded collateral on their website. This includes non-mailer pieces and marketing mailers, clothing, bags, pens, and thousands of other items.
In addition to in-house design work, VistaPrint now offers services from 99designs, which they acquired in 2020. You can source graphic designs from freelance designers worldwide through VistaPrint’s design department. However, postcards are the only items that VistaPrint can send directly.
VistaPrint provides thousands of business postcard templates and in-house design services to personalize them with your branding and messaging, or you can upload your design.
Next, VistaPrint prints, addresses, stamps, and sends your postcard campaign by mailing a targeted mailing list or your mailing list, which they buy.
Best For:
- With over 15 years of experience, VistaPrint’s direct mail marketing services offer businesses of all sizes assistance with design, printing, and mailing.
- You can access VistaPrint’s in-house design team or 99designs (owned by VistaPrint) for design assistance.
- An all-in-one solution for printed collateral, branded merchandise, signs, banners, and collateral design services is available.
Benefits VistaPrint offers:
- There are over 25 kinds of marketing materials available.
- There are over 1000 pre-made templates to choose from.
- You can use the design tools to create your materials.
- You can purchase targeted mailing lists.
- Customer support is open every day, even later in the evening.
- Offer low prices and frequently extend special promotions.
What’s missing:
VistaPrint only provides mailing services for postcards, whereas PsPrint offers the most significant number of mailing services.
2. PostcardMania: Best for Postcard Mailings
Whether a small business owner considering dipping his toe into direct mail advertising or a seasoned veteran, PostcardMania is a terrific choice.
Its more than a decade of experience in the sector, its variety of customization alternatives, and its fast manufacturing and shipping are just a few of its advantages.
Customers’ reactions to your marketing campaigns are tracked by the company’s all-in-one direct mail solution, which makes it our top pick for postcard mailings.
Best For:
- With PostcardMania, you can make as many alterations as you want before printing, allowing you to fine-tune your message.
- The corporation can print folders, door hangers, business cards, and other items in addition to standard 4.25 x 6 postcards and 6 x 11 postcards.
- PostcardMania offers two primary campaigns, Direct Mail 2.0 and Everywhere Small Business, in addition to its postcard creations.
- You may either upload your postcard design or have the firm create one for you.
Benefits PostcardMania offers:
- With PostcardMania, you can create a custom mailing list in various ways.
- In addition to physical mailing, the Everywhere Small Business package allows you to reach customers via social media accounts.
- Based on user experience, the company’s attentive and caring customer support group will assist you in selecting an appropriate solution for your organization.
What’s missing:
PostcardMania’s residential mailing lists may not be ideal for businesses that cannot pay in total upfront for their packages. In addition, PostcardMania’s residential mailing lists are restricted to three uses in 90 days, limiting campaign duration.
3. PrintingForLess: Best Full-Service Direct Mailing Company
PrintingForLess is a trusted direct mail service for both printing and mailing. It’s a one-stop place for both printing and mailing.
PrintingForLess provides various tools, including free templates, direct mail pointers, connection to marketing automation platforms, and web-to-print programs for employees, making sales and marketing materials accessible.
Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is where they stand out. They will help you decide which neighborhoods to target and ensure that your advertisements reach those areas.
This is an excellent method for advertising your store or restaurant’s opening day, neighborhood promotions, and other location-specific advertisements.
Their expertise in Political campaigns’ mailing is why they are a terrific option if you’re running for office (or seeking to). PrintingForLess’ committed workforce enables you to send out your mailers to constituents and prospective voters.
They’ll fully refund your expenses if your mailing and printing aren’t on time, which makes it much less stressful when you’re producing and mailing at large.
Before you start creating and sending in large quantities, PFL will provide you with free printing samples. This free sample lets you see which paper type, weight, coating, binding, and effect work best for your enterprise.
Best For:
- PFL provides a selection of mailer types, including brochures, postcards, newsletters, catalogs, greetings cards, and other printed products.
- You may use PFL’s in-house design team to create eye-catching direct mailers if you need design assistance.
- At PFL’s 100% wind-powered production facilities, they print direct mailers on recycled paper and the card stock with organic inks. After printing, you may insert any extra items you want in your mailers.
- The company provides tabbing, addressing, and labeling services and ensures each bulk mailing complies with postal service regulations before mailing.
Benefits PrintingForLess offers:
- PFL provides a comprehensive and reasonably priced solution for small businesses looking to send out direct mailings.
- The firm handles the mailing process from start to finish, enabling small businesses to run snail-mail marketing campaigns efficiently.
- Small environmentally conscious businesses will also appreciate that PFL’s items are produced using recycled paper and eco-friendly inks.
What’s missing:
PFL’s design alternatives are the most costly among the firms. It cannot determine your direct mailing campaign’s success in customer engagement. The only tracking PFL offers is for shipping, which is beneficial but does not provide customer data.
4. PsPrint: Cheapest Direct Mail Printing & EDDM Mailing
PsPrint provides direct mail services for seven different product types, making it an excellent choice for a small business that needs to send marketing material other than postcards to consumers.
PsPrint will free send you any leftover prints if they fit into one box. PsPrint can also provide you with a targeted mailing list. It includes printing and mailing services for its products, with production time beginning as soon as one to five days.
Mail services include printing and sending through your mailing list, EDDM mailing for postcards, brochures, corporate holiday greetings, invitations, booklets, catalogs, and newsletters.
PsPrint offers a variety of design options, so you can create your own custom direct mail materials or choose from their template library. You may narrow down the template choices by selecting the appropriate design based on the design style, size, industry, primary colors, and occasion.
Best For:
- PsPrint’s EDDM direct mail services provide a full-service postcard, brochure, greeting card, booklet, catalog, newsletter, and invitation delivery solution.
- You can purchase a custom mailing list or utilize EDDM technology to deliver to every address in a city or ZIP code.
- Small companies requesting fast turnarounds can receive a quick production time if they desire one.
Benefits PsPrint offers:
- With seven product categories, you can select the type of mailing list you want.
- If your items fit in one box, PsPrint will send them to you for free.
- Most of PsPrint’s products are available in different sizes, and you can select the production time (1 to 5 days).
What’s missing:
PsPrint has higher postcard printing minimums than VistaPrint and 48HourPrint. VistaPrint and 48HourPrint, in contrast, are more reasonably priced mailing services with limited design platforms and simple templates.
5. NextDayFlyers: Best for Fast Turnaround Times
Next Day Flyers provides a next-day printing turnaround to ensure your postcards are distributed rapidly. This premium service is a good option for time-sensitive offers and programs if you pay extra.
You can send postcards, brochures, rack cards, and custom products with Next Day Flyers. Their employees will store your products, check addresses, presort them, and send them to your recipients. You can also rent mailing lists for campaigns.
Navigating this website is simple. You may create artwork directly on the website or upload your file. Choose the size of your flyer, pick a cardstock, add a glossy or matte finish, and select the amount you need. You’ll see your direct mail campaign cost as you continue to make changes in real-time.
Best For:
- Next Day Flyers can distribute your direct mail advertising to any mailbox nationwide in a matter of days. If you prefer to handle the distribution, you may pick up your order at one of its stores.
- Next Day Flyers can produce, print, and deliver up to 100,000 direct mail pieces, including postcards, brochures, and mail rack cards.
- The company’s postal service can handle the whole of your direct mail campaign.
- In addition to printing and delivery, Next Day Flyers can assist you in creating your direct mailer.
Benefits NextDayFlyers offers:
- Next Day Flyers is the most economical direct mail supplier with orders of up to 100,000 postcards, brochures, or mail rack cards.
- It also has the fastest turnaround for big orders, which usually take four days.
- Next Day Flyers’ assistance programs help small businesses succeed with affordable design assistance, targeted mailing lists, and in-house mailing services, among other things.
What’s missing:
Next Day Flyers has many appealing characteristics, but it also has a few shortcomings. It doesn’t keep track of customer responses, so you won’t know if your direct mail push is successful.
Furthermore, it does not provide any marketing counsel. Small organizations that don’t have prior experience with this sort of service may benefit from expert advice on optimizing a direct mail marketing campaign and marketing strategies.
6. MOO: Best Designs for Direct Mail Marketing Materials
Moo offers postcards and other printed materials in various sizes and finishes. You can receive Moo cards from one square inch to giant postcards measuring six by nine inches.
Moo provides modern, visually striking templates to assist your direct mail marketing campaign designs. You can receive other direct mail services and printers’ paper stock in several thicknesses and weights.
Still, additionally, Moo provides luxurious materials to emphasize the feel and appearance, like layered stocks with vibrant colors at their centers.
You can find more inspiration on the Moo blog, packed with design examples and suggestions for making your marketing materials stand out. Whether you design your Moo or elsewhere, you can use these pointers to make your designs pop.
Best For:
- Small companies that want to impress recipients with high-quality, beautifully designed direct mail materials can benefit from Moo’s modern, visual template designs.
- You can use these designs to create direct mail materials for direct mail marketing campaigns.
- For special occasions where postcards with luxurious finishes are preferred, Moo can be of assistance.
Benefits MOO offers:
- Moo offers modern postcard template designs that can be printed in sizes up to 6×9 inches.
- You can create up to 25 different designs in one run of postcards with Moo.
- Moo provides luxurious materials to enhance the appearance and feel, such as layered stocks with colorful centers.
- Because the minimum quantity is low, you can order as few as one postcard.
What’s missing:
Moo is not as versatile as the other services on this list. Certain templates are only available in specific colors, and Moo provides a limited array of products. It is the most costly choice—more than twice as expensive as VistaPrint.
7. 48HourPrint: Best for a Wide Range of Postcards & Brochure Sizes
You can get a wide variety of printed marketing materials, including postcards, catalogs, trade show displays, and business cards, at 48HourPrint.com. In addition to branded promotional items, you can buy things like VistaPrint.
While they don’t offer as many types of objects, they do have the industry-specific templates needed to design your marketing materials. Check the homepage’s ‘Discounts & Deals’ section to see if your business can benefit from a special offer.
48HourPrint.com is one of the most inexpensive small business EDDM printing services, though PsPrint is less costly. PsPrint and 48HourPrint provide direct mail services for materials other than business postcards, such as brochures and folded cards.
To start with 48HourPrint.com, you’ll need to gather pictures or prepare premade artwork, as their templates are elementary. However, this is an improvement over previous studies, when no templates were available.
Best For:
- 48HourPrint is an attractive option in terms of cost and variety regarding postcard and catalog printing.
- In addition, postcards, brochures, and folded card direct mail services are available.
Benefits 48HourPrint offers:
- 48hourprint provides postcard, brochure, and folded card mailing services.
- It provides a wide selection of printable material.
- It gives Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) postcard mailing and designing services.
- 48HourPrint also includes a design tool with an image search capability for stock pictures.
What’s missing:
While 48HourPrint provides a design tool, it is behind other printing firms like VistaPrint and Moo in terms of technology. Likewise, some premade templates are incredibly generic and basic, lacking the industry-specific templates offered by VistaPrint and Moo.
Pricing for Direct Mailing Services
When looking for a direct mailing company that meets your requirements, you’ll quickly realize that numerous businesses don’t publish their pricing information online.
Even if you’re looking for a notion of the cost before you commit to a direct mailing campaign, the absence of a pricing structure is for a good reason.
Every order is unique. If you want postcards or brochures, standard paper or glossy paper, black-and-white, or color printing, it will affect your order’s price in various ways.
Although some organizations have quote calculators on their websites that give you an idea of how much your job will cost, you must speak to a sales associate to find out the particulars of your assignment before determining the price.
Here are the typical direct mailing services expenses:
- Printing prices: Depending on the project type, the paper you choose, and the printing process.
- Delivery fees: Depending on the number of items you are sending out, the type of product you are mailing, and the geographic area you are targeting. There may also be various mailing services fees.
- Postage costs: Postage costs may increase at any moment, just like shipping charges.
- Design services: Every direct mail company provides design assistance to help you develop an engaging product that converts recipients into customers. Design services are usually optional; in most cases, you may design your material online or upload a file. Many direct mailing companies offer address lists; you may purchase or create one.
Some direct mail companies offer add-ons like response rate tracking, which may provide you with valuable information about your clients and the effectiveness of your campaign.
Whether or not you want these mailing services is up to you, but they might help you determine whether your advertising investment is paying off.
Benefits of Direct Mailing Services
There are many benefits of utilizing a direct mail service rather than doing it yourself. Here are some benefits to consider:
- Saves your time: Working with a direct mailing services specialist saves you time and effort since you don’t have to design promotional material, compile lists, print addresses, or mail letters.
- Creates high-quality products: Design teams at direct mail firms can assist you in developing attractive, informative mailers to entice new clients. You must send out a visually appealing, informative letter to clients to gain new clients through direct mail advertising.
- Helps to target the right audience: Ineffective direct mail campaigns begin with the wrong recipients. You can usually gain access to the correct clients when you purchase an address list from a direct mail firm. You can find the right clients by targeting locations based on age, home value, household income, and renter or owner status.
- Cost-effective: Direct mailing services are an affordable marketing option because they provide a tactile experience that boosts brand recognition and customer loyalty. Direct mail services have a surprisingly high return on investment for other advertising campaigns.
Direct mailing services offer various other benefits that can help small businesses vastly.
Things to consider when choosing a direct mailing service
Before you decide to work with any direct mailing company, consider these four factors:
How long has the company been in business?
Before selecting a direct mail firm, make sure it has experience in printing, working with the USPS, and processing large quantities of orders. Choosing the suited company will save you time, effort, and money in the long run, as it will be better able to spot mistakes, provide valuable counsel, and operate effectively, resulting in a successful campaign.
How is the company obtaining its data?
When comparing direct mail companies, address lists are one of the most significant aspects. Ask about the quality of their lists and whether they can help you target clients based on geographic and demographic information.
Does the company offer campaign-tracking features?
It’s also crucial to evaluate a direct mail business’ tracking capability when choosing a provider. Proper tracking allows you to monitor the status of your mailing campaign and see how you can improve in the future, in addition to ensuring that your mail reaches the correct addresses at the right time.
How much of the process will the company handle?
It is always better for a small business to work with a single company to handle the entire process rather than with several vendors. When mailing directly, look for a company that provides strategy, design, printing, tracking, and mailing services.
Direct Mailing Services FAQs
What is direct mail marketing?
Direct mail marketing is any physical advertising material a company sends through the post in an attempt to make a sale. If you’ve ever received a piece of unsolicited advertising mail, you’ve experienced direct mail marketing.
What are examples of direct mail?
A physical mail with an advertising or marketing message, usually delivered by the U.S. Post Office (USPS), is referred to as direct mail. Coupon booklets, postcards advertising a new establishment, product catalogs, and credit card offers are just a few examples of direct mail.
What is Every Door Direct Mail(EDDM)?
You can send direct mailers to a specific route or area with Every Door Direct Mail. Instead of mailing lists targeting particular demographics, EDDM is a mass mailing method that seeks to contact as many citizens as possible in a specific location.
Does direct mail still work?
In recent years, direct mail has become a more effective tool for reaching customers, thanks to higher postage rates and the expansion of digital marketing. More than 80% of shoppers report purchasing decisions influenced by direct mail. Furthermore, on average, direct mail recipients spend twice as much as those who do not receive mail.
Wrapping Up
An easy, economical method of advertising your company is through direct mail. You may buy targeted mailing lists from the best providers, which provide printing and mailing services.
VistaPrint is our favorite choice for tiny businesses. Its simple design platform has thousands of business mailer templates for you to start. However, the other six companies also offer unique features and benefits.
You can begin immediately with over a thousand business mailer templates for free, regardless of your budget, printing needs, or direct mail strategy. This guide will help you find everything you need to learn about mailing services.
