Campaign Studio
Marketing Mail is the one category growing (+4.3%). What holds it back is proof. The Campaign Studio shows which routes pay, how many pieces to send, and what the 30% Mail Growth Incentive is worth — then writes the postcard copy — before anything is printed.
1. Campaign setup
Cost per piece
Planning prices per piece; postage is fixed at the supplied July 2026 rate.
| Postage — Marketing Mail letter, automation Mixedsrc $0.467 for commercial automation Mixed letters ≤3.5 oz, no entry discount, before optional full-service or pallet discounts. Mailing costs have significantly increased since 2023: this postage category rose from $0.381 to $0.467 (+22.6%). This measures postage, not inflation in every cost line. | $0.467 · July 2026 | ||
| List rental — consumer prospect list with selectssrc | |||
| Printing — full-color postcard or lettersrc $0.275 planning midpoint = ($0.150 + $0.400) ÷ 2 of the cited printing range; a calculated default, not a quoted printer price. | |||
| Mail-shop services — addressing, presort, CASS/NCOA, dropest. Please supply your lettershop rate. | |||
| All-in per piece (before MGI credit) | $0.841 | ||
Cross-check: ANA's 2023 benchmark for prospect mail is $0.211 per piece excluding postagesrc; adding the July 2023 Notice 123 rate ($0.381src) gives an all-in 2023 benchmark of $0.592 per piece. This campaign's selected costs total $0.841 — 1.42× that historical all-in benchmark. Historical cross-check only — the gap is not a measured inflation rate (survey mix and cost scope differ; see Sources).
Mailing costs have significantly increased since 2023: origin-entry automation Mixed letter postage was $0.381src and is $0.467 in July 2026src — up 22.6%. That is a postage comparison, not proof that every cost line increased equally.
Response outlooksrc
Pessimist 2.9% (2017 survey); realist 3.9% (calculated midpoint); optimist 4.9% (2018 survey). These are historical prospect-list benchmarks, not three outcomes from one survey. Newer ANA reports are paywalled; the midpoint is a planning scenario, not a surveyed result.
Selected market baseline: 3.9%; route estimates vary with modeled household fit.
2. Route ranking
Modeled / Sample DataFictional routes shaped like NCRD records; response and cost per customer are projections, not measured results. Click a route for the why.
| Route | Call | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29412-C013 | 660 | 15.00% | $6 | Send |
| 29403-C016 | 525 | 15.00% | $6 | Send |
| 29403-C026 | 460 | 8.43% | $10 | Send |
| 29464-C024 | 663 | 6.91% | $12 | Send |
| 29412-C028 | 625 | 5.99% | $14 | Send |
| 29407-C027 | 674 | 5.72% | $15 | Send |
| 29407-C022 | 782 | 3.34% | $25 | Send |
| 29403-C021 | 447 | 2.21% | $38 | Send |
| 29464-C019 | 578 | 1.94% | $43 | Send |
| 29401-C020 | 576 | 1.74% | $48 | Send |
| 29412-C018 | 853 | 1.40% | $60 | Send |
| 29403-C011 | 444 | 1.36% | $62 | Send |
| 29401-C015 | 829 | 1.35% | $62 | Send |
| 29401-C010 | 641 | 1.33% | $63 | Send |
| 29401-C025 | 610 | 1.01% | $83 | Send |
| 29412-C023 | 525 | 0.89% | $94 | Send |
| 29464-C014 | 739 | 0.61% | $138 | Send |
| 29407-C012 | 740 | 0.39% | $214 | Test |
| 29464-C029 | 482 | 0.11% | $750 | Skip |
| 29407-C017 | 479 | 0.09% | $913 | Skip |
3. MGI credit calculator
11,371 pieces (recommended)
- Gross postage
- $5,310
- Pieces above baseline
- 7,371
- 30% MGI credit
- −$1,033
- Net postage
- $4,278
- All-in cost per piece
- $0.750
Cost per customer as volume grows. Best routes mailed first.
5. AI campaign brief
A plain-language recommendation you can forward to a client.
6. AI postcard copy studio
Three direct-response angles, laid out postcard-ready, beside the economics they have to beat.
7. What's real here
Costs, response rates and the MGI credit come from published sources below. ANA's newest reports are paywalled, so figures are cited from publicly posted pages and summaries. Predictions sharpen as clients share results.
Still estimates or sample data
- Offer-type fit formulas (how homeowners, home age, income, kids and seniors shift response) — modeling assumption
- Send / Test / Skip cutoffs (cost per customer under 35% / 60% of customer value) — modeling assumption
- Customer value ($400 default) — your number
- Route records and their demographics — sample data, not Census figures
- Mail-shop services line — no public rate card found yet
Sources
- Postage — Marketing Mail letter, automation Mixed — USPS July 2026 rates, reproduced in Direct Mail Depot's rate chart (Jul 12, 2026)
- List rental — consumer prospect list with selects — Published rate cards: BrandedPrinter ($33/M), DirectMail.com ($34–49/M + selects), NextMark homeowner list ($110/M) (2023–2025)
- Printing — full-color postcard or letter — Click2Mail 2025 cost guide ($150–$400 per 1,000, full color) (Sep 2025)
- Mail-shop services — addressing, presort, CASS/NCOA, drop — Estimate. Published quotes usually bundle this into printing (e.g. United GMG 'printing + list work'). (Jul 2025) · estimate
- Prospect-list response rate (market average) — ANA/DMA Response Rate Report 2017 (2.9%) and 2018 (4.9%) prospect lists (2018) · historical benchmark
- Historical postage — Marketing Mail automation Mixed AADC, origin entry — Postal Advocate — July 2023 USPS rate comparison grid, Marketing Mail Commercial letters (Jul 9, 2023)
- ANA benchmark — direct mail cost per thousand, prospect file — ANA Response Rate Report 2023, Table 7 (house $201.86, prospect $210.57; prospect ROI 33.7%) (2023)
- Mail Growth Incentive credit — USPS PostalPro — CY2026 Mail Growth Incentives (30% credit above 2025 baseline) (2026)
- USPS Q3 FY2026 results (Aug 7, 2026) — Marketing Mail volume +4.3%