If you’re familiar with direct mail and mailshots, then you will probably have heard of the term bulk mail. However, do you really know what it means? In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about bulk mail so you can be more informed and decide if it’s something your organisation could benefit from.

What is Bulk Mail?

In the realm of direct mail and postal services, the term "bulk mail" is defined as the large-scale mailing of identical or nearly identical mailpieces, usually of a commercial nature. Mailers are prepared in large volumes and then mailed at a reduced cost. This method of mailing offers businesses and organisations a cost-effective way to reach a wide audience while streamlining the postage process as they are sending high volumes of mailers in one go, compared to individually sending each item.

Bulk mail is typically associated with unaddressed or partially addressed marketing campaigns, where the focus is on maximising reach and cost efficiency rather than deep, one-to-one personalisation. While often used interchangeably, the term is evolving. Today, sophisticated mailings—even those in high volume—often leverage tools like Mailmark and advanced data processing to achieve the bulk discounts while still incorporating a degree of segmentation or simple personalisation. Working with a specialist provider can help you navigate the various options, from a high-volume mailshot to highly targeted communications.

What’s the Difference Between Bulk Mail & Direct Mail?

Direct mail offers a highly targeted marketing method of reaching a particular audience with personalised mailers. Volumes tend to be much lower than those in bulk mail and it allows organisations to send a targeted and relevant message to their audience to spark engagement, an actionable response and improve the customer relationship.

On the other hand, bulk mail is a marketing strategy that aims to target the masses. This involves sending a large volume of identical mailers to a broader, less targeted audience. The aim of bulk mail is to get an organisation’s message in front of as many people as possible and therefore can be a cost-effective way of widely distributing information. Many organisations may do this on a national or county level.

The distinction often comes down to the quality of the mailing list and the level of customisation. True direct mail relies heavily on data processing and segmentation to ensure relevance. Bulk mail, or door drops, typically uses geographical targeting, sending the same item to every household in a postcode area to drive brand awareness and initial customer acquisition. For instance, cold direct mail campaigns, which are designed for new customer acquisition, still have an average response rate of 0.9% according to the JICMAIL, proving that even less targeted mail is a powerful and essential part of the marketing mix.

What Types of Mailers Can be Sent as Bulk Mail?

A variety of mailer types can be sent as bulk mail, as long as they meet the requirements of your chosen postage or delivery provider. You can send the following mailer types as bulk mail:

• Postcards
• Letters
• Catalogues
• Brochures
• Flyers
• Leaflets
• Newsletters
• Dimensional Mailers
• Packets
• Parcels

The key is that for a mailpiece to qualify for bulk rates, it must be consistent. This consistency is crucial for streamlining the direct mail production process, from printing to envelope enclosing, allowing mailing houses to handle hundreds of thousands of items efficiently. This is why bulk mail is the perfect choice for high-volume informational mailings, such as council updates or major retail sale announcements, where the primary goal is mass distribution.

What are the Key Characteristics of Bulk Mail

When it comes to bulk mail, it holds key characteristics and criteria that need to be met.

High Quantities

Bulk mailings typically involve a substantial volume of identical pieces, such as brochures, catalogues, promotional flyers or letters. The minimum quantity required to qualify for bulk mail rates varies by postal service, but it is generally higher than standard postage rates. For example, Royal Mail states that addressed marketing mail must meet a minimum threshold, often starting at 250 units for machine-readable letters to qualify for volume discounts. For unaddressed mail (Door Drops), the minimum volumes can also be considerable, which is why a mailing house is essential for managing this scale. This ensures the savings achieved through bulk discounts outweigh the costs of preparation.

Uniformity

To qualify for bulk mail rates, the pieces in a mailing must be similar in size, weight, and content. This uniformity allows postal services to process and deliver bulk mail more efficiently. Any deviations in size or format require much more manual handling, which removes the opportunity for cost-saving automation. This is a crucial consideration when designing creative mailers and why consulting with a specialist on formats like one-piece mailers is advised.

Pre-sorted

Bulk mail must be pre-sorted by the mailer before it reaches the postal facility, to help with efficiency. Pre-sorting involves coding and organising mail by postcode or delivery route, which significantly reduces the workload for the postal service. This process is complex and non-negotiable for achieving the deepest discounts. Pre-sorting helps optimise the postal service's handling and delivery processes, due to the high volume, resulting in lower postage costs for the mailer. When you work with a mailing house that specialises in bulk mail, they will be able to assist in making sure your mail meets the required criteria, particularly for advanced services like Mailmark, which electronically tracks and manages bulk postings. You can read more about best practices for data hygiene to ensure maximum deliverability and discount eligibility.

Benefits of Bulk Mail

Cost Savings

One of the main advantages of bulk mail is the reduced postage cost. Bulk mail rates are often significantly lower than standard rates, making it an attractive option for businesses looking to save on mailing expenses when sending out large volumes. If carrying out a direct mail campaign, bulk mail can help reduce costs and keep them within budget whilst targeting a mass audience. This is especially true when using Partially Addressed Mail, which offers a middle ground between unaddressed door drops and fully personalised mail, allowing for a good blend of broad reach and basic targeting while retaining significant cost advantages.

Wide Reach

Bulk mail allows businesses to reach a large audience with a consistent message. This is particularly beneficial for marketing campaigns, promotions, and informational mailings on a national or county level. It excels at brand building and generating initial interest. In an increasingly digital landscape, the tangibility of a physical mailing piece cuts through the noise, a fact supported by recent Marketreach studies showing that mail consistently secures consumer attention at a highly competitive cost-per-minute rate compared to other media. This wide-reaching approach is invaluable for sectors like retail or charities looking for mass exposure.

Postal Discounts

Many postal services offer discounts and incentives for businesses that utilise bulk mail services. These discounts can further contribute to overall cost savings for the mailer. At Direct Mail Systems, we receive great postage rates for bulk mail that we directly pass on to our customers.

The deepest discounts are typically secured through services like Mailmark, which requires strict compliance with print and data specifications. By partnering with a mailing house, you are essentially leveraging our massive aggregated volume and technical expertise to unlock the lowest possible cost per unit. This is often the determining factor in achieving a positive Return on Investment (ROI) for a high-volume, broad-reach campaign. To understand more about the full impact of this channel, consider how direct mail compares to email for overall campaign effectiveness.

Cons of Bulk Mail

Lower Response Rate

Although cost-effective, bulk mail tends to receive lower response rates than more targeted direct mail. As the same mailers are sent to each recipient, there is no aspect of personalisation which can lessen recipient engagement. Bulk mail therefore tends to be discarded and thrown away without much thought, compared to personalised direct mail. Latest data from JICMAIL, the industry standard for mail measurement, shows that a warm, personalised direct mail campaign has an average response rate of 7.9%, whereas a Door Drop (unaddressed mail) has a 0.6% response rate, which is in line with Royal Mail data that personalised direct mail can be significantly more likely to drive a purchase than unaddressed mail. Furthermore, personalised direct mail tends to be engaged with for an average of 134 seconds across a 28-day period, compared to 55 seconds for a Door Drop, illustrating the attention advantage of a targeted item.

Less Targeted Approach

Due to sending to a large volume of recipients, bulk mail doesn’t allow for a targeted approach when it comes to reaching potential consumers. Mailers are likely to reach recipients who may not relate to your messaging or for whom it is not relevant, therefore driving lower response rates. However, it is important to remember that bulk mail (Door Drops) is primarily an acquisition and brand awareness tool, not a retention tool, and should be judged on its ability to build a pipeline, not just immediate sales. For a more nuanced approach, we recommend looking into Partially Addressed Mail, which allows you to target postcode sectors with a non-named but relevant message to improve the likelihood of a response. To enhance engagement even with less-targeted mail, businesses should focus on how to design direct mail that captivates a mass audience instantly.

Who Can Use Bulk Mail Services?

Any business, organisation or individual who meets the requirements of their chosen postal service can use bulk mail services. Whether it be for marketing activity, charity or political promotion, bulk mail can help optimise mailing strategies and provide great advantages both logistically and financially, whilst reaching a large audience. In the public sector, this can include important council communications or electoral information. In the commercial world, sectors like property and automotive use bulk mail extensively for local area awareness and special offers. Given the high visibility and trust associated with the physical channel, leveraging bulk mail is a powerful way to make an impact, especially when integrated into a larger, omni-channel marketing strategy.

What are the Bulk Mail Postage Rates?

When sending bulk mail, the biggest savings come from postage costs. With most postal services, you will save on postage rates for volumes over 500 units, making the cost per mailer incredibly low compared to smaller direct mail send outs. The key to unlocking the best rates is not just volume, but adherence to technical specifications, such as Mailmark, as this enables the postal provider to process mail efficiently using automated sorting. This efficiency is what drives the deep discounts available on bulk post.

Working with a reputable mailing house that offers bulk mail services can reduce bulk postage rates further for organisations, and even be more cost-effective overall if they hand over the entire fulfilment process to them, such as printing, enclosing and postage, rather than franking their own mail in-house. A mailing partner handles everything from creative print management to the final post-sort, ensuring maximum postal efficiency. We highly recommend using a service with established postal accounts, such as UK Mail, to secure additional savings and ensure fast, reliable delivery for your mass mailings. For marketers who are still navigating the complexities of integrating print with digital, it's worth exploring the benefits of integrating QR codes into high-volume mailers for seamless tracking and response attribution.

Bulk Mail Services at DMS

At DMS, we offer an unbeatable bulk postage rate service that creates more cost-effective direct mail campaigns and improves ROI for our customers. We are experts in bulk mail across various industries and are experienced in delivering successful bulk mail campaigns both nationally and internationally.

Find out more here, or contact us to get a free quote.