The Cost Of Mail
Australian businesses spend hundreds of millions of dollars posting business-related paper documents each year.
– According to the AFR, “business related letters accounted for about 4.2 billion of the 5.6 billion mail items” that Australia Post carried in 2007-8. Furthermore, “about 80 per cent of the business letters were transactional mail (bills statements and cheques) and 15 per cent were promotional mail (direct mail advertising and catalogues).¹
Much of this could be sent electronically via email with a resultant reduction in costs.
There are two types of direct mail advertising, more commonly referred to as ‘junk mail’:
Addressed Mail
- This is advertising material that is sent from companies with your name and address on it. This is delivered by Australia Post.
- Companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on this type of advertising.
- Moving it to email is a major money saver for any business.
Learn how to reduce the cost and impact of your addressed direct mail.
Unaddressed Mail
- This is advertising material that is delivered to your house without your name on it.
- It includes supermarket and department store catalogues, ads for tradespeople, real estate agents, etc.
- Some people find this kind of advertising very useful, however many people will bin this type of mail without looking through its contents.
Want To Say No To Unaddressed “Junk Mail”?
When it comes to stopping the delivery of unaddressed advertising material, you can get a free “no advertising material” sticker from the Australian Catalogue Association. Click here for instructions on how to get your free sticker.
The Australian Catalogue Association and its members have always taken a proactive and positive stance on recognising ‘no advertising material’ or ‘no junk mail’ signs. They recognise that it makes no sense to give advertising material to those people who don’t want it.
Their industry policy states that no advertising material should be delivered to mail boxes showing such stickers. If you have one and still receive advertising material, you can report the breach to the ACA on their Hotline: 1800 676 136. The industry takes such breaches seriously and do act on reports.
Want To Say No To Addressed “Junk Mail”?
When it comes to stopping the delivery of addressed mail advertising, you can sign up to the ‘Do Not Mail’ program by clicking here.
References:
¹ Australian Financial Review: ‘Paper cut could hurt Australia Post’s bottom line’, pg.3 (29/07/09)
