Guide
Transactional Mail
Broadly speaking Transactional Mail is any mailing that is sent to a customer with details of their specific transactions, i.e. their financial...
Advertising Mail, commonly known as Direct Mail, is a marketing strategy where businesses send promotional materials directly to potential customers via postal services. In the UK, Royal Mail offers discounts for such mailings, provided they meet specific criteria.
Royal Mail's Advertising Mail Criteria
To qualify for Royal Mail's discounted rates, your mail must:
- Contain 100% advertising content: The mail should solely promote products, services, or causes.
- Must be letter, large letter or parcel format: Ensure your mail fits within these standard postal categories.
- More than 4,000 items: A minimum volume is required to access the discount.
- Largely uniform message: The content should be consistent across all recipients.
At Stannp.com, we handle the technical aspects, such as data processing, sortation, and sample submissions, ensuring a seamless experience. All you need to do is focus on creating compliant and engaging content.
Examples of Compliant Campaigns
Here are some examples of campaigns that qualify for Advertising Mail discounts, along with their purposes:
| Example | Purpose | |
| 1 | A credit card company, store or retailer sending an offer of a new credit card. | Promoting the sale or use of products or services. |
| 2 | A charity / society sending a reminder mailing to renew the subscription. Mailings informing of auto-renewal information do not qualify. | Encourage donation to a cause. |
| 3 | A mail order company sending its new or seasonal catalogue to an existing or prospective customer base. | Promoting the sale or use of products or services. |
| 4 | Customer satisfaction questionnaire which specifically captures information relating to a customer’s experience of the product, service or cause with the aim of using such information to be more targeted when sending further information on such products or services. | Promoting the use of a product / service. |
| 5 | A travel company/tourist board sending its new or seasonal brochure unsolicited to an existing customer base or prospective customer base. | Promoting the sale or use of products or services. |
| 6 | An unsolicited mailing of a discount code or discount vouchers, tickets or invitations with a uniform message to customers / prospects to encourage purchase or re- purchase. | Promoting the sale or use of products or services. No obligation to send. |
| 7 | An organisation sends a letter to its customers/prospects to notify dates of future events promoting its products or services or cause. | Promoting product/services/cause. |
| 8 | A company sends a sample of its products/services with or without a voucher, (unsolicited) | Promoting the sale of products. |
| 9 | Loyalty scheme providing the opportunity to take advantage of offers or redeem coupons, either in store or on line. (this mailing may include details of an individual’s number of loyalty points available for conversion). | Promoting the sale or use of products or services. |
| 10 | A customer publication i.e. a magazine or newsletter forming part of a company’s / charity’s customer communication programme to encourage purchase or support of a cause that is not paid for by the recipient or via subscription. | Promoting a cause or the sale or use of products or services. There is no obligation on the company or charity to send the publication. |
| 11 | Insurance company sending letter to existing or prospective customers with quotes for products and services provided that the letter is not detailing a value of a previous/current policy | Promoting the sale of products/services |
Creating a Compliant Campaign
To ensure your Advertising Mail campaign meets Royal Mail's criteria, focus on creating compliant, engaging content. Leave the logistics and technical details to us - Stannp ensures a smooth process from start to finish.
Ready to elevate your marketing with Advertising Mail? Get in touch with Stannp today to discover how we can help you create impactful direct mail campaigns that deliver outstanding results.
