FAQs

The benefits are there are only 35 Smart Mail Marketing Expert Partners in Canada, and directworx happens to be one of those. We receive access to the most up to date requirements, are held to extraordinary quality control benchmarks, resulting in the expertise and experience you deserve. directworx as a partner will take care of all the details for you from the beginning to end. To targeting the right audience or cleansing your data, to designing or collaborating with your designer, to making sure that you get more for your money by printing efficiently and by supplying competitive rates and using the appropriate Canada Post service / postage rate. You will be awarded with a knowledgeable Project Manager to assist you on all direct mail campaigns.

Direct mail is a unique way of advertising your product or service and help promote your business or organization by sending directly to potential consumers based on certain demographics or by using your own personal data. Industries use direct mail to advertise their product or services. Examples of direct mail pieces are such things as fundraising letters for both profit and non-profit organizations, pre-approved credit card applications, catalogues, and newsletters. There have been negative comments around the word direct mail as it has been recognized as junk mail. You should not dissolve of it as there is a large income stream along with it. It is highly effective in marketing to but not limited to generations like the Baby boomers or Gen X and allows you to reach 100% of Canadian homes.

directworx offers in-house graphic design services. We offer simple pre-press adjustments and edits of existing creative files or full creative design.

We accept high-resolution PDFs and Adobe CC design files. A more detailed description can be found on our artwork reference page – Design File Specifications – directworx or by contacting one of our Project Managers.

Each campaign is unique and contains variations in service offerings. Our Project Management team will provide you with a proposal tailored to meet your campaign objectives.

It depends on the type of direct mailing project you are sending. Please see below:

  • Neighbourhood Mail – at least one full Letter Carrier Walk (LCW)
  • Personalized Mail – Minimum 100 pieces (machinable)
    • Minimum 1000 pieces (Special Handling)
  • Postal Code Targeting (PCT) – Minimum 100 pieces
  • Incentive Lettermail – Minimum 1,000 pieces

Clients who choose to complete a credit application and are approved can obtain payment terms.

For clients without payment terms, we accept the following forms of payment:

  • Business Cheque
  • Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
  • Email Money Transfer (eTransfer)
  • Credit Card (Subject to a 2.5% surcharge on postage payment)

Personalized Mail (PM) is one of the most popular services for direct mail. This service is used to promote a service, a product, an event or requesting to raise money for a profit or non-profit organization. These items all entice the consumer and drive action to sell a product or service. For this service you are required to mail a minimum of 100 pieces. The postage for this service starts at $0.515 per piece depending on weight and dimensions. The weight may range from 2 grams to 1.36kg and the dimensions may range from 5.6 x 3.6 x 0.007 to 14.9 x 10.6 x 0.8. The time in transit to reach mailboxes once at Canada Posts depot is approx. 3 – 8 business days.

Publication Mailing (PUB) is used to mail out newspapers, newsletters or magazines to subscribers and nonsubscribers. To qualify the content of the piece must have 70% advertising to 30% news and editorial. An agreement number with Canada Post is necessary and you must mail regularly approx. 2 times a year, with a minimum qty of 500 per drop. Your PM will be able to assist you with getting an agreement number with Canada Post. This is the most cost-effective service to get out your news and information periodicals across Canada. The postage for this service starts at $0.53 per piece depending on weight and dimensions. The weight may range from 6 grams to 1.36kg and the dimensions may range from 5.6 x 3.6 x 0.007 to 14.9 x 14.9 x 2.2. The time in transit to reach mailboxes once at Canada Posts depot is approx. 3 – 8 business days.

Neighbourhood Mailing (NM) is the most cost-effective way to get your company noticed. You may send out catalogues, community newspapers, co-op mailings, flyers, samples and more to all mailboxes in Canada within your specified area. You may select between three diverse types of demographics, radius, drive time or create a custom area you would like to mail too. You are required to mail the min. volume, which is one postal route, which is approx. five hundred mailboxes. The pieces are not personalized which leaves you more space for creative. The postage for this service starts at $0.184 per piece depending on weight and dimensions. The weight is up to 500 grams and the dimensions may range from 10.9in2 x 0.007 to 12 x 11 x 1. The time in transit to reach mailboxes once at Canada Posts depot is approx. 2 – 12 business days.

Postal Code Targeting (PCT), you may reach out to similar customers and or customers that have similar tastes that live in the same area/postal code as per your client profile. This will help you prospect new clients and new markets. You may target/select houses, businesses, and apartments. You may also target by household income, gender, age, education and a few more options. Fun part is you may also target by shopping habits, by end users’ preferences, by their frequency with products and more. All these features will help you communicate your marketing message. We will be able to help you remove your existing end users from the new targeted list, so that you are targeting new prospects. The postage for this service starts at $0.34 per piece depending on weight and dimensions. The weight may range from 2 grams to 1.36kg and the dimensions may range from 5.6 x 3.6 x 0.007 to 14.9 x 10.6 x 0.8. The time in transit to reach mailboxes once at Canada Posts depot is approx. 3 – 8 business days.

Pronounced as “in-DEE-shuh”, is an impression on your direct marketing piece which when delivered to Canada Post means that postage for the mailing piece has been prepaid. The indicia will replace a postage stamp or postage meter imprint. The indicia have a 7-digit number that is associated with the account that is paying for the mailing or who the mailing is mailed on behalf of. There are different indicia’s for each postal service. You may also personalize your indicia with your logo or campaign. It is particularly important on your creative to follow Canada posts clear/quiet zones around the indicia. The indicia must be placed on the same side as your customers name and address information. Your PM will be able to assist you and make sure you select the correct indicia for your direct mailing campaign and that it is in the properly location on your direct mail piece. You must also take your direct mailing campaign to a Canada Post depot that accepts the service on your indicia. Meaning you cannot take it to your local Pharmacy that has a Canada Post kiosk or hand it to your local carrier. To keep your indicia # active you must mail at least once every 24 months.

directworx will run your database through our Canada Post approved address correction software. We verify the validity of every single address and will make corrections wherever possible to maximize accuracy. The software will remove any record that is deemed unmailable, which will save you money on postage. You can also save money by avoiding an Address Accuracy Adjustment surcharge on any mailing over 5000 pieces.

The National Change of Address (NCOA) service is intended for businesses who want to keep their mailing list accurate and up to date, and make sure that they can stay connected with their customers. When a household moves addresses, they can file a Change of Address Notification (COAN) with Canada Post, and directworx uses this information to update households to their new mailing address. The NCOA service may also be used to remove records from a database that moved and did not provide a forwarding address, as well as remove or forward any estate records. NCOA information is valid for 6 years and contains over eleven million mover records.

It is an online platform that helps you effectively manage, refine and report on large-scale incentive campaigns. gratiflow is the perfect platform for large campaigns starting from nothing, or for scaling up smaller manual incentive programs. There is a cost-effective solution for every size organization! There is nothing better than a gift card to get people to act, and there is no better way to manage your gift card program than with gratiflow.

Is a bill or statement sent to your customer. You may add promotional material and keep customers engaged. Research proves it—bills and statements are about the only pieces of mail with any staying power. Customers open them, read them, refer to them and save them. With billworx, you can have a 60-second (or longer) conversation with your customers every time they open an envelope or email.

Canada Post offers a service called Return Postage Guaranteed (RPG) if you are using the Personalized Mail option to mail. This service is an additional cost of $0.01 per piece (Canada Post has temporarily suspended this charge – contact us to discuss RPG options and current pricing). You will need to have a return address on the piece and the correct indicia for this service.

The drop date is the day we deliver to Canada Post and then, for direct mail the delivery takes approx. 2-3 business days for local, 3-4 business days for provincial, and 4-5 business days for national. When delivering to northern and remote areas it may take up to 8+ business days.

Yes, you may mail to US and International addresses. directworx specializes in mailing to not only local but to national and international through Canada Post or United States Postal Services.

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