Moving Flats to Letters: Is it right for you?

The latest postage rate increase does affect flats (What is a flat? See http://www.mailcci.com/direct~mail~help/index.asp?topic=FLAT) mailers the most. You're hearing from many people, including the USPS, that if you mail flats you should reconfigure your flats mailings into letter-size mailings. Doing so would reduce your postage burden significantly, and in some cases could lower your postage costs to pre-rate- increase levels. There are two important points to consider, however, before you jump on the flats-to-letters bandwagon.

While the substantial postage hike in the flats category may seem to many as a strategic plan by the USPS to reduce or eliminate flats, that is not the case. The USPS is mandated to make each service pay for itself. That is, each service they perform must generate enough revenue to meet the costs of performing that particular service.

Since flats are more costly for the USPS to handle in labor, fuel, storage, etc., it stands to reason that flats mailers pay more for that service. The USPS does not intend for all mailers to stop mailing flats, but they do require flats mailers to pay a rate proportional to the costs of processing flats.

While postage is an important consideration in designing and budgeting for marketing, it is not the determining factor of success for any marketing effort. Every marketing campaign begins with an objective. You must ask yourself "What do I need to accomplish with this mailing?" The answer might be something like "Acquire 1,000 sales leads," or "sell 1,000 widgets," or "increase donations by 20%."

Your goal will certainly not be "Mail as many as I can at the lowest postage rate." If postage is foremost on your mind while developing marketing for your organization, you will not be successful. There are two direct marketing rules of thumb:

"Look at what others are doing." and "Test, test, test."

Is the move from flats to letters right for you? Will your response rise or fall? Will you still meet your goal? There is only one way to answer these questions, test, test, test. When you test, measure success or failure not by postage costs but by whether the results meet your expectations.

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