Measure the Impact of Direct Mail

Enter your estimated direct mail budget, campaign and product numbers into each field. Once every field has been completed, your return on marketing dollars will be calculated automatically. Please note: the mailing rate used assumes that mail is prepared in advance.

Not sure what to enter? Select a field, and tips will appear in this space.

Need more assistance? Click the button below, enter your information and a USPS^® Direct Mail Representative will help you through the process.

The type of direct mail campaign you choose can have a big impact on overall costs and response rates. Consider the options below to see which will be the best fit for your business.¹

• Postcards

  The most affordable and versatile option, postcards allow you to get a message across quickly and easily.

• Self-Mailers

  Self-mailers can be a simple sheet of paper folded in half or a unique, ingeniously folded printed mailpiece.

• Letters

  Providing a professional way to tell your brand’s story, letters are ideal for more involved messaging.

• Flats

  Also known as Every Door Direct Mail®, flats can come in the form of an envelope, self-mailer, brochure or single card.

• Catalogs

  Whether you choose to send typical magazine-style booklets or envelopes full of coupons, catalogs offer consumers a tactile, visually engaging experience.

This refers to the total number of mailpieces you’ll send out in a campaign.

To increase volume beyond your current customers, you may need to purchase a mailing list.

Most mailing list vendors will not rent fewer than 5,000 names at a time. Price breaks are typically offered for higher-volume mailings.

This is the total amount you would like to spend on direct mail. This amount includes purchasing mailing lists, postage and other fees.

Keep these factors in mind as you determine your budget:

• Direct mail makes up 14.7% of U.S. media budgets.² (If you have a separate budget for production costs, the total budget for direct mail may be higher.)

• Your budget may need to be adjusted based on the mail type you choose, the print and paper quality, and any special production needs.

Note: In the calculation, we will allocate 30% of your total budget toward the costs to write and design your direct mail. This is based on industry averages. You may be able to improve your return on investment (ROI) percentage by finding a less expensive design option, such as designing the mailpiece in-house. For a calculation that lets you specify more variables, such as design costs, please connect with a USPS^® Direct Mail Representative.

This is the gross price a typical customer will pay for the product or service you’ll be promoting in your direct mail.

This refers to the profit margin for each product or service contract that you sell. To calculate this, subtract the cost of the product or service to you, or how much it cost you to obtain it or produce it, from the selling price of the item—what you charge customers.

Selling Price − Cost to Obtain = Gross Profit

This will leave you with the gross profit on your product. Next, divide the gross profit by the selling price to obtain the product’s gross profit margin, typically referred to simply as “profit margin.”

Gross Profit ÷ Selling Price = Product Profit Margin

For every 100 people who will receive your direct mailpiece, how many do you expect to visit your brick-and-mortar or online store, or call you for more information? That’s your response rate.

In 2018, the average response rate for direct mail was 9% for house lists and 4.9% for prospect lists.³ Both rates are higher than industry expectations and surge past the email response rate of just 1%.⁴

Oversized envelopes, postcards and letter-sized envelopes have the highest response rates.⁵

This is the percentage of responding customers who you project you will be able to convert into paying customers.

For example, if you send out 1,000 direct mailpieces and get a 5% response rate, that will be 50 customers who will visit your store or call you on the phone.

If your close ratio is 50%, you’ll get 25 new sales from your direct mail campaign.

Look at the sales numbers from your previous marketing campaigns to set a benchmark for this number.