Digital Envelope Printing Fills Mailboxes and Grows Business

If direct mail marketing trends are correct, e-mail won’t be replacing your mail box anytime soon. Direct mail volume continues to rise among many industries including financial services, consumer packaged goods, and retail.

Some 98% of consumers check their snail mail daily, according to the U.S. Postal Service. 

Today’s full color laser and digital envelope printers offer bright, engaging envelopes and make a great first impression. Variable printing capability allows for personalization of envelopes, postcards, greeting cards and brochures. Teaser messages on the outside of the envelope are proven to have a direct impact on the response rate.

What’s more, the technology just keeps getting better and more efficient—offering exciting possibilities for commercial printing growth. If you’re considering an investment, here are some of the best features and benefits to look for in each one.

Digital laser mail printers:

• Straight through paper path that can print 70 full color personalized #10 envelope per minute in one pass.
• Flexibility for thick media print jobs up to 450 GSM.
• Load and remove on-the-fly feeder/stacker allow quick turn-around on print jobs
• Ability to print on envelopes, banners, card stock, postcards, glossy stock, labels and standard paper.
• Save money and time with the ability to replace color toner cartridges and image drums.

Inkjet envelope printers:

• Bundling capability to do everything needed to print 4 color personalized envelopes, direct mail and short-run letterhead.
• Full bleed capability.
• No creasing or embossing.
• Use of standard window envelopes.
• Ability to maintain competitive pricing, even with 4 edge bleed printing.
• Lower cost of ownership (1/3 the operating cost of typical toner devices).
• High performance (3 times the speed of typical toner devices).
• Environmentally friendly, lower cost of energy consumption and smaller carbon footprint.
• Easy set up for integration in your existing production environment.
• Quicker return on investment—possibly less than one year with moderate output volumes.
• Affordability. Advanced print technology can be competitively priced to bring the lowest cost per piece to the commercial printing market.

If needed, think about choosing a document management partner with expertise in installation and training—often the quickest path to a fast start-up. They should also be able to provide warranty options and a premium service program that can help prevent downtime.

Considering the growth projections for envelope printing, focusing on the future makes good sense. Marco Boer, VP of research firm I.T. Strategies, Inc. said in response to these projections, “Don’t stand still. If you stop investing, you’ll lose the flexibility required to serve the new customer needs…and foremost, keep helping customers make more money using print as a core marketing communication medium.”

Helping customers make money is a win-win for keeping current customers and bringing new ones through your door.