Personalized Mail Guidelines

Neighbourhood Mail is the most affordable type of direct mail you can send in Canada. The price of a campaign varies due to the cost of print and campaign production but postage rates are always the same, regardless of volume*.

Current Neighbourhood Mail postage rates are $0.20.

Check out our Neighbourhood Mail Budget Calculator for accurate pricing options that include postage, mail prep, design, print and transportation. A small campaign may cost $0.50+/postcard while a high volume campaign (10,000 households or more) will see significant reduction in print cost per piece ($0.15 each).

*If you spend more than $10,000 in Canada Post postage fees per year, you may be eligible for a discounted contract rate! Contact our team for information and a direct introduction to a Canada Post rep in your area.

For more information on Neighbourhood Mail and how to use it effectively, you can check out our Neighbourhood Mail resources.

Discounts are available for contracts with Canada Post. To qualify, a customer is required to commit to a minimum spend of $10,000 annually per service. Canada Post will look at your marketing plan and budget to see if you’re likely to achieve the minimum spend before awarding you a postage discount.

An example of $10,000 would spend would be:

• 100,000 NM (approximately)
• 20,000 PM (approximately)

There are various tiers of discounts available. Please contact your Canada Post rep for more info.

When budgeting for a Direct Mail Ad Campaign you should plan for the following cost categories:

• Planning & Design Costs (labour costs, asset licences, etc. )
• Targeting/Data Costs (databases, licences, software, labour)
• Production Costs (printing, folding, inserting, bundling, etc)
• Postage/Transportation Costs

Final costs can be controlled with proper planning and targeting.

Canada Post adds a Neighbourhood Mail transportation fee to all campaigns not inducted into the exact depot(s) closest to your delivery neighbourhoods.

In other words, unless you are willing to drive your campaign mail pieces to a specific dropoff depot or depots for larger campaigns, you are covering the cost for Canada Post to distribute your campaign to the appropriate depots for final sorting/delivery.

This transportation fee is often why you will see a published Neighbourhood Mail rate of $0.187 / piece, but the final price is $0.20 when working with a mail house or Canada Post directly.

At PostNow we include the transportation fee in all campaigns automatically.

1. Create your free account at postnow.ca
2. Your account will be verified and postage rates applied.
3. Select Campaign Builder located under the SmartMail tab in the main menu.
4. Name your campaign and select type of campaign (personalized mail). Select the date you’d like your campaign delivered to Canada Post. Final in-home delivery will be subject to Canada Post delivery standards.
5. Upload your own targeting data or select a previously used audience. Enter your campaign quantity (150-50,000). We included a chart to show you pricing options for the most common options as you adjust your total.
6. Select your campaign format – choose from postcards, letters, invitations, and more.
7. Choose a template from the template gallery, upload your ready-to-print files or request custom artwork from our in-house graphic designer. (All required template changes are included in fees, custom artwork starts at $295).
8.  If you chose to Upload your Data, you will be prompted to either upload now or later. Click yes to clean your data, then select your data retention
   policy for this campaign.
9. Select Generate Campaign & Checkout or Save Progress & Complete Later. If you choose to complete later you will receive a link good for 30
   days via the email you supply. You will receive email notifications confirming your campaign order, as well as any edits requested with custom or edited design work.
   **At any time during this process there is a Campaign Summary button located on the bottom right of
   the page. This will show any customizations to your campaign as well as a quick Help section if you have any questions. Click the button again to close.

We handle everything from: design, print, data cleaning, mail prep and delivery to Canada Post.

Yes, you can measure the effectiveness of Personalized Mail. Metrics such as response rates, conversion rates, and customer engagement can be tracked to evaluate the success of your campaign. For detailed insights, integrating personalized mail with digital tracking tools can provide comprehensive data on campaign performance.

For more details, please visit Email Marketing vs Direct Mail: What’s the Difference and Which is Better for Your Business?