Why is it lettershops are contacted only as a project is nearing completion? At that point the chosen lettershop is charged with facilitating production and ensuring the job is printed, processed and mailed on time. It is, essentially, the last step before the USPS takes over.
The real downside to positioning lettershops at the tail-end is lost opportunity. By not involving lettershops early, direct marketers may be missing out on crucial feedback about their mailing format or design – feedback that could lead to cost savings and smoother production.
Take personalization for instance. It’s an important tool in the direct marketing arsenal, and sometimes the conceptual mail piece involves a level of personalization that’s pretty complex. Wouldn’t you like to know if your lettershop can turn such a concept into reality – efficiently and at reasonable cost – even before it’s produced? Get your lettershop involved early for mail piece testing and creative input, and you will.
Because the facets of personalized mail pieces are tightly connected, success really comes down to the lettershop’s involvement. Calling on the lettershop early to test a mail piece for the following points will help certify that the outcome is, in fact, successful:
- Creative Concept. What began as a brilliantly designed mail piece, complete with targeted personalization and complex folds may turn out to be entirely cost-prohibitive to execute. Consultation can reveal alternatives for achieving the same results at a reduced cost.
- Substrate Choice. There is a wide variety of paper stocks available today. With inkjet and laser personalization, the wrong paper stock choice may yield less than superior personalization quality. Selecting a slightly different stock can greatly improve the look of the personalization and may also improve printing and folding.
- Font Selection. For inkjet and laser personalization, font choice makes a difference. Typically sans serif fonts yield crisper results, but like your substrate choice, lettershop testing will give you the answers up front.
- Ink Coverage. At Polaris Direct, our laser printers and ink jets can personalize over 100% or solid pre-print. Not all lettershops have this technology, which is why testing is vital and necessary.