How to Mail Postcards in Bulk?

You can either prepare and send postcards in bulk via in-house mailing or enlist support from a bespoke service provider. There are multiple processes from obtaining a permit and bringing the necessary documents for mailing if you decide to send bulk mailers by yourself. You must also go through markings, endorsements, eligibility checks, sortation, and postage payments.

Key Takeaways

• Bulk mailing postcards is one of the most adequate marketing and communication tools.
• Businesses consider it a pocket-friendly method to communicate with their customers.
• Preparing bulk mail postcards by yourself requires multiple instructions to follow.
• Canada Post works for eligibility, markings, endorsement checks, sortation, and postage payment of your mail.
• A reliable service provider gives easy-to-use tools for sending bulk postcards to customers and prospects.

In contrast, a reliable service provider takes care of everything and even provides templates and analytics features to enhance your postcard marketing or communication campaigns.

Bulk mailing postcards is a cost-effective way to send correspondence via mail. You can reach out to many potential customers without denting your pocket. Businesses can deliver concise messages directly to their audience’s mailboxes. They have higher reach and open rates than email communication. Customization is also possible with advanced direct mail automation tools. Many brands tailor bulk postcards for specific campaigns, promotions, or announcements. It ensures a higher engagement than other direct mail formats.

There are mainly two ways for you to send direct mail postcards. You can either prepare and send the mail by yourself or do it with the help of a mail service provider. Therefore, we would advise you to go for the latter option because it is more convenient, accurate, and reliable.

With a mail service provider like PostGrid, it is significantly easy to implement bulk postcard mailing for your business. Below, we discuss how to prepare the mail and send it yourself. You can then see how you can benefit from employing a mail service provider like PostGrid.

How To Prepare Bulk Mail Postcards By Yourself?

You can take some precautionary steps to prepare yourself for bulk postcard mailing. Below, we list the significant steps you must follow to send your postcard mail in bulk. So, let’s get straight to it.

Choose How You Want To Pay The Postage

The first thing you need to consider before you send bulk mail postcards is to decide the method of payment for your postage. You have three options for paying postage for your bulk mail postcards, and they are as follows.

• The Permit Imprints
• The Postage Meter
• The Precanceled Stamps

Obtain a Permit

Next, you must apply for a Canada Post Business Mail Agreement to access bulk mailing discounts.There are two ways for your business to obtain a license. You can get a bulk mail postcard rate by completing the Canada Post Business Mail Agreement.

Obtain The Permit Number And A Receipt 

After submitting the permit, your identification documents, and making the necessary payments, you will get two things. One is a receipt for the amount, and the other is the permit number. It would be best if you had the latter for every mailing operation your business completes, including mailing postcards in bulk.

Bring The Necessary Documents For Your Mailing

Now, you are all set to send your first mailing using the Canada Post bulk mail service. Whether you send bulk mail postcards or enveloped letters, you must bring the following documents to Canada Post, including a completed postage statement and payment to cover any additional GST/HST charges.

• Postage statement(s) with sign and date
• Related or Supporting documents
• Payments to cover any additional postage costs (cheque/credit card/cash)
• A cheque for the annual mailing fee

What Happens After The Canada Post Receives Your Bulk Mail Postcards?

Above, we discussed how you could prepare for sending bulk mail postcards until you hand over the mail to Canada Post. Now, let’s see what happens once Canada Post receives your mailers.

Mail Check By The Acceptance Clerk

Immediately after you hand over your mail to Canada Post, the acceptance clerk checks your mailers. They are responsible for ensuring that you prepared your mail per Canada Post standards. 

Eligibility Check

After the initial check by the acceptance clerk, Canada Post carries out an Eligibility check as per Canada Post Bulk Mailing Guidelines. It involves the clerk opening one of your mailpieces. As you can imagine, it does not apply to your bulk mail postcards because there is no envelope to break in the first place. 

However, it does apply to your other enveloped marketing letters. Canada Post does this to ensure the contents qualify for the marketing mail rate that you are claiming.

Markings and Endorsements Check

Up next, Canada Post checks the markings and endorsements on your business mailers. Canada Post has to give thumbs up on all the marketing and endorsements printed on your bulk mail postcards before they proceed to send them out. 

Sortation

At this point, Canada Post starts to sort your mailer. It means that the Canada Post checks all went well, and it is unlikely that you will have any issues from here on. But, there is one last thing you must do before you know your bulk mail postcards are all set to go.

Postage Payment

The final step Canada Post takes before accepting your bulk postcard mailing is to check your postage payment. Suppose you are paying with the permit we discussed above. In that case, the Canada Post clerk checks to see if you have enough money to cover your mailing in your advance deposit account.  

There are instances where Canada Post might encounter some problems with processing your mail.

For example, if the presorting of your mail is improper, the Canada Post clerk will inform you of that and help you fix it. But suppose the problem is with the mailpiece characteristics. In that case, you might have to pay an additional fee or surcharge to mass mail postcards. 

How to Bulk Mail Postcards Using a Mail Service Provider?

Above, we discussed how you could send bulk mail by yourself. However, you may have noticed that we didn’t mention designing the postcard. And we didn’t because it’s a standalone process when you send bulk mail postcards by yourself.   

With an advanced direct mail system like PostGrid, you can use a template for your mailers. Below we will discuss how you can implement bulk postcard mailing for your business using a mail service provider like PostGrid.

Step 1: Sign Up/Sign In On PostGrid

The first step to bulk mail postcards for your business is to sign up or sign in to your account on PostGrid (or any other mail service provider). In the case of PostGrid, the signup process is short and straightforward. You only have to fill up some essential details to create a profile.

Step 2: Go To The Developer’s Section In The Dashboard

After signing up or logging in to PostGrid, you can access the PostGrid dashboard. On the dashboard, you can find a section marked “Postcards.” Click on “Postcards” to proceed to the next step of mailing postcards in bulk.

Step 3: Provide Description And Size Of The Postcard

After clicking on the “Postcards” section on the dashboard, you will reach a page where you can set up your bulk mail postcards. Here, you can describe the mailing to identify the campaign later. You can also pick the postcard size you want to send to your target audience.

Step 4: Upload Recipient Details 

In this step, you get to add the recipients for your bulk postcard mailing. As you can see from the image below, there are two options for selecting the recipients of your business mailer. Use the “Upload Recipients” option to upload a CSV file of all the recipients you want to send the postcards. And just like that, you can select multiple recipients for your business postcards.

Step 5: Pick A Template Or Upload A PDF File 

In this next step, you get to upload or select the ideal postcard template for your campaign. You can choose from the template already available on PostGrid or upload it as a PDF file.

Step 6: Select Mail Class And Create The Campaign

In the last and final section of the Create a Postcard page, you can select the mailing service you want for your postcards. For bulk mail postcards, you can choose between First-Class, Standard, and Express services. When done, you can finally finish the setup by clicking on the “Create” button.

Above, we discussed the process involved in sending bulk mail postcards using a mail service provider like PostGrid and doing it yourself. A mail service provider like PostGrid is the more convenient and accurate option for your business organization.

If you were to print and mail postcards in bulk, you would have to go through lengthy processes, including form submissions. But with a direct mail automation system like PostGrid, printing personalized postcards and mailing them is tremendously simple.

Furthermore, PostGrid offers a fully automated solution for bulk postcard mailing, making it practically error-free. It also means you don’t have to worry about going to the post office whenever you want to send bulk mail.

Sending bulk mail postcards may seem scary at first. But, as long as you have the right tools for the job, printing personalized postcards and mailing them is relatively easy. The best way for you to ensure effective business communication or marketing via postcards is to employ a mail service provider.

Advanced direct mail solutions like PostGrid have features that allow you to send bulk mail postcards easily. You can also personalize your postcards easily by connecting PostGrid with your CRM solution.

And that’s not all. As PostGrid provides you with a fully automated solution, the postcard delivery time significantly improves too. In short, using an automated direct mail system like PostGrid streamlines your bulk postcard mailing, saving you valuable time and money.