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A Celebration of Print
For subscription copies, mailing is the final piece of the jigsaw. Neil Carter, sales & commercial director at Posthub, outlines the key components of the distribution plan.
Photograph: Supplied by Posthub.
Q: How?
A: A well-planned postal campaign consists of three key stages:
1. The brief: What are the specific direct marketing needs, challenges, and goals? This initial part of the process is often planned and managed within the business or with support from a marketing agency or mailing house.
2. The postal strategy: What type of postal product is needed or is the right fit? For publishers, the Royal Mail offer two products, Publishing Mail and Subscription Mail services. Both services are available for volumes of 1,000 items sent twice a year (new titles a minimum 1,000 items per annum). The qualification is based on the percentage of editorial content. The rates available to publishers are usually available a year in advance to help pre-plan schedules.
- What is the timescale for the mailing to be delivered? Allow for all elements of the process to be managed, so the final delivery to the recipient ensures the title is delivered close to the release date, minimising frustration. The delivery of items in the UK is typically a minimum of 2-3 days, with international destinations being longer.
- What is the size and weight of each mailing? Most publisher postal campaigns fit the mail format of a large letter. The final weight of the item will affect the price band for the mailing. Consider the paper stock, page count or inserts to create the most cost-effective mailing rate.
- The data: Postal data must be up to date, including the removal of any duplicates, suppressed contacts, and any gone-away data. This minimises data wastage and ensures mail reaches the intended audience, saving on unnecessary postage. The mailing data must also be positioned on the mailing outer in a machine-readable font to avoid mailing surcharges or delays in delivery. This practice ensures that the postal service can process your mail, reducing the risk of delays and additional costs.
3. Support and partnerships: Selecting the right partners can help make the postal process smoother. Employ specialists like printers or a mailing house to manage the production of items and a postal management provider to instruct the final mail delivery company (for the UK, this is the Royal Mail).
A postal management specialist provides support across the postal process, including how to navigate the complexities of the Royal Mail service changes, pricing structures and possible incentives available to publishers. Specialist postal partners also provide comprehensive job management, guidance on the latest environmental policies (eg. ISO 14001 for environmental management) and added security, such as item tracking through the delivery network.
Q: What are your three top tips?
1. Plan your delivery schedule well: To ensure your recipients are receiving their publications promptly, you can choose from different service levels offered by the Royal Mail (eg. D+2, D+3, meaning delivery in 2 or 3 days after receipt at their inbound mail centre). For time-sensitive publications, faster services will incur higher costs. As of July 2025, Royal Mail has advised that the alternate weekday delivery model for second class letters and access mail (including Subscription Mail) has recently been approved by Ofcom. This means publishers planning postal campaigns will need to factor in the new delivery schedules or opt for faster, more expensive services for urgent titles.
2. Think of sustainable printing solutions: Prioritise paper with high post-consumer recycled content and certifications, such as FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) or PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) and choose vegetable-based inks and biodegradable glues.
Consider options for more widely recyclable outers, such as paper wrapping, compostable bio-polywraps, and formats with lighter pagination, allowing for “naked” mailing where no outer packaging is required, allowing the recipient’s address to be printed directly on the back page of the publication.
While these approaches sometimes involve a slightly higher upfront cost, they align favourably with consumer values and can be a strong marketing point. Consumers are increasingly environmentally conscious. Demonstrating a commitment to sustainability can enhance your brand image, resonate with your audience, and even reduce your environmental footprint.
3. Integrate all media channels: Link offline print channels with digital channels to gain a greater reach, track effectiveness and improve ROI. Publishers can significantly boost engagement and trackability by linking their print mailings with their digital presence. Examples include using digital links, such as augmented reality or QR codes, for off-page purchases that link directly to a retailer’s webpage or for deeper content that the reader can interact with digitally, such as videos, podcasts, or interest pieces. With the flexibility of digital being closer to real-time, this could deepen audience engagement with exclusive updates from a piece of editorial featured in the printed edition.
Posthub, part of The Whistl Group, is a team of postal experts who can manage both business to business and business to consumer publications, to ensure that your catalogues, magazines, newspapers, or supplements are managed and delivered on time to your audience, within the UK or, if required, internationally.
Email: neil.carter@post-hub.co.uk
Website: www.post-hub.co.uk
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/posthub1
This article was included in the ‘Celebration of Print’ special, published by InPublishing in August 2025. Click here to see the other articles in this special feature.
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