Successful mailings don't happen by chance. They are planned and carefully implemented. IDS knows how to get the most out of your mailings to help you attain the results you desire. Here are a few tips on how to get a better return on your investment for your direct mail campaigns.

• Make sure your mailhouse sees the artwork before you go to print. The mailhouse knows postal regulations and can help you save money and avoid costly mistakes.

• If possible, use letter-size mail and avoid flat size to save money on postage.

• Automate your mailing lists to take advantage of postal barcodes and CASS Certification by adding complete zip+4 codes. This improves speed of delivery and allows you to take advantage of postal discounts.

• Make your sales message personalized and targeted to each individual as much as possible. This will greatly improve the response rate.

• If your mail piece is a sales message and it is unsolicited mail have the printer deliver the pieces directly to the mailhouse and avoid paying state sales tax on the print job. This saves you a lot of money especially on large quantity four-color printing projects.

• Maintain your mailing lists to delete duplicates and bad addresses. This will reduce your postage costs and the number of returned mailing pieces.

• Print "Address Correction" endorsements on your envelopes to help maintain your mailing lists.

• Send a post card to your entire mailing list once a year via First Class postage. The U.S. Postal Service will inform you of undeliverable addresses free of charge. This is an economical way to help update and maintain your mailing lists.

• Before embarking on your next direct mail campaign, discuss the entire project with your mailhouse to ensure maximum savings.

IDS is ready to help you achieve the results you desire. Contact us today.