6 Reasons Why You Need Freepost Envelopes
6 Reasons Why Freepost Envelopes are Invaluable for your Business
Should you pay the postage yourself or allow your customers to pay instead? It's a perplexing subject that marketers have been grappling with for years. Different businesses have had varying degrees of success with using Freepost envelopes as one of their direct mail response choices.
They are part of the Royal Mail’s Response Services division and are also known as ‘No Stamp Required’ envelopes.
However, before you place an order to print Freepost envelopes, you must apply to the Royal Mail for a Freepost licence number. Once you have the Response Services licence,which can take a week or more to be issued currently – either ‘Standard’ or ‘Plus’ — you can fully customise them to print your company logo along with the PAF database-approved Address Block, and at that stage get your them printed by an Envelope Printing company in the to UK.
Why Freepost Envelopes May Be Invaluable For Your Business
Freepost envelopes serve a purpose that goes beyond transporting marketing material or business information. When used correctly, these envelopes can provide various benefits. Here are some of the top benefits of opting for Freepost envelopes.
1. Boost Customer Response
Even with interactive alternatives such as websites, QR codes, PURLs, voice assistants, and other traditional to interact with a customer, Freepost envelopes continue to be an essential carrier for many UK business sectors.
Integrating these custom envelopes into your marketing strategy is an excellent way to boost customer engagement and reaction and save them money. For understandable reasons, your audience is more likely to engage with you via post when they don't have to pay for, or go through the hassle of acquiring stamps at the Post Office to post their envelope back to you.
Freepost envelopes are simply more convenient for your audience when it comes to posting letters back, consequently, increasing your customer response and helping you build better and long-lasting relationships with your clients.
2. Supporting Digital Marketing
If you can't get the desired results from your digital marketing efforts, it may be because you are forgetting the traditional print aspect of marketing. Don’t forget that print media can help support your digital marketing strategy – and what better way to deliver printed items to your current or potential clients than using Freepost envelopes?
People like to receive physical post at their home and office, whether you are sharing detailed business reports or sending creative flyers and brochures within your marketing mix, it can help you take a break from digital platforms and connect with your audience on a more personal level.
3. Connect with High-Quality Leads
When looking for new sales leads, it’s possible that calling your target audience may violate the "Do Not Call" restrictions from GDPR and Telephone Preference Service legislation. One method to get around these limitations is to have your prospects request that you contact them. The least invasive and simple way to accomplish this is to utilise a Freepost-paid data collection postcard.
If the current or potential consumers fill and return the cards, it shows that they are looking for information or a way to reach you. If they offer a phone number, they may expect a call from one of your representatives. In short, using a response services address is a subtle way for data collection to connect with quality leads with a high chance of a conversion.
4. Increase Turnouts for Events & Seminars
Many businesses offer free seminars and workshops to create brand awareness and provide high value to their audience. If you plan on sending an invitation for a free session to prospects or clients, post-Covid, consider enclosing a Freepost envelope with your customer’s response. The format may be general and applied to a variety of business events.
The majority of people who get your invitation to a seminar will open their post in the evening. Many people are hesitant to phone in the evening because they know there will be no one at your office. They will either receive no response on the line or be linked to an answering machine. As a result, they postpone until the next morning, but the desire to reply grows weaker as time passes, or they may simply forget to get back to you.
They are considerably more likely to react with a pre-addressed, postage-paid envelope than they are to contact your office that night or remember to do so the next day. Remember, inaction is often the result of procrastination so don't make your audience wait or lose the opportunity to connect with you as possible.
5. Cost-Effective Marketing Technique
Using a Freepost envelope is a tried-and-tested marketing technique that converts leads and delivers results. The good news is that it is also highly cost-effective, especially if you consider the benefits it brings for the price.
Royal Mail currently charges an annual licence fee of £99.50 + VAT, plus £62 + VAT for any subsequent licences if you have more than ten branches. However, Instead of purchasing all the postal charges beforehand, you only pay Royal Mail for the actual post that is returned to you on a monthly basis.
In the end, the upfront and recurring costs are minimal to most companies and totally worth it. You can further save costs on designing and printing by choosing the leading envelope printing company in the UK that allows you to customise your envelopes and provide affordable packages via their online design editor. They’ll even get your artwork signed off by Royal Mail for you.
6. One Solution, Multiple Marketing Gains
Planning a new marketing strategy? Here are some ingenious ways to use Freepost envelopes for different aspects of your marketing campaign.
- Voucher Cards: Print tear-off voucher cards offering a discount or deal on a future transaction. You can send them to clients you haven't heard from in a long time or as a welcome gesture to new or returning customers.
- Competitions: Host a competition or free prize draw for your customers, and utilise the Reply envelope to return entries for free. This will get customers engaged with your brand and may prompt them to re-order products, for just a tiny outlay on your part.
- Remittance Instructions: Use a Freepost envelope when posting a customer invoice if your clients still pay via cheque. This might lead to more on-time payments or correspondence.
- Feedback Questionnaires: Send questionnaires to your current customers and ask them how they like your services, what should improve, what other changes they would like, and so on. Feedback forms might be included with voucher card tear-offs. Remember that individuals will be taking time out of their day to complete this, so it is best to offer an incentive such as a small gift in the mail or a gift voucher.
- Feedback Questionnaires: Send questionnaires to your current customers and ask them how they like your services, what should improve, what other changes they would like, and so on. Feedback forms might be included with voucher card tear-offs. Remember that individuals will be taking time out of their day to complete this, so it is best to offer an incentive such as a small gift in the mail or a gift voucher.
Investing in Freepost
Investing in Freepost envelopes may be the best thing for your business. Once you have the Freepost licence number, you can place an order with Trade Printing UK to professionally print your custom Freepost envelopes, and even include your company logo for free in Full Colour. They specialise in DL, C5, and C4 Freepost envelopes (depending on the licence type you have) and offer ‘Self-Seal’ and ‘Peal & Seal’ options.
They can help you further create your professional response services’ artwork using professional Royal Mail templates. To save you time and effort, they'll also send the artwork to the Royal Mail for approval on your behalf, speeding up the process and you will have your printed Freepost envelopes in no time. Contact the Royal Mail today to get started.