A Guide On Sending Canada Post Personalized Mail
Direct mail marketing is reaching new heights every day to become one of the most successful marketing channels. Today, almost all companies leverage it to improve brand image and increase sales.
But, there are many direct mail types to choose from depending on your objectives. In fact, Canada Post helps businesses launch three types of mail campaigns, namely:
- Personalized Mail (Addressed Admail)
- Neighbourhood Mail (Unaddressed Admail)
- Postal Code Targeting
Do you know 87% of Canadians open mail items addressed to them?
Yes, personalizing your mail can increase open and read rates significantly! It gives your items a personal touch and makes the recipients feel special.
In today’s article, we will understand the working of Canada Post Personalized Mail– meaning, rates, size, weight, features, etc.
What is Personalized Mail Canada Post?
As the name goes, Personalized Mail is a Canada Post service that allows companies to print and mail personalized items.
They may target individuals or mailing addresses for their campaign. For example, a real estate agent may target all the people looking to sell or buy properties. Similarly, supermarkets may advertise to all the people living in their vicinity as part of their marketing plans.
Personalized Mail is one of Canada Post’s most helpful and affordable services. It not only brings you short-term clients but also helps you make long-lasting, fruitful relationships.
Plus, it gives you the ability to communicate your promotional messages with your target audience.
What Qualifies as Personalized Mail?
Please note that you cannot mail educational, transactional, or non-promotional items via Personalized Mail. The prime concept behind this Canada Post service is to enable companies to send out marketing messages.
Thus, you can send Personalized Mail only for one or more of the following reasons:
- Discussing financial performance for marketing purposes
- Promoting an event, program, product, or service
- Soliciting contributions or donations (e.g., thank-you letters seeking future donations)
- Supporting loyalty card programs
Personalized Mail was earlier called Canada Post Addressed Admail because you cannot send it without mentioning a delivery address. It is unnecessary to write the recipient’s name, but it is advisable.
But, you need to follow the Personalized Mail guidelines to qualify. You should mail at least 100 Machinable items or 1,000 Special Handling items to become eligible.
With Personalized Mail, you can target:
- Businesses
- Residential addresses or households
- Small office/home office (SOHO) mailing addresses
- Apartment addresses or multi-unit buildings
Hence, you can cover a lot of ground and connect with your entire audience at once. Keep reading this Canada Post Personalized Mail guide to know how to qualify for this service!
Benefits of Personalized Mail
Before getting into the technicalities of Personalized Mail, let us discuss its benefits. They will give you an idea of how helpful it can be to your brand.
Targeting Prospects
Personalized Mail allows you to target your prospects and take them ahead in the sales funnel. You can decide if you want to target specific mailing addresses or individuals.
With a database of millions of address records, Canada Post allows you to target any areas you want. Also, you can stay in touch with your existing and loyal customers and retain them by sending Personalized Mail.
Make Exciting Offers
Canada Post Addressed Admail helps you make an offer to your audience — it can be anything like a small discount or cashback. Thus, you can encourage recipients to respond to your mail, which can help close several deals.
Measure Your Campaign Performance
If you want to track campaign performance, Personalized Mail is the ideal marketing option for your brand.
It can help you measure the response rates and conversions accurately. All you have to do is add unique trackable features like QR codes and pURLs to your items.
Reduce Wastage
Personalized Mail campaigns can be highly customized and targeted, helping you reduce wastage. You can direct your entire time, budget, effort, and resources to make your campaigns capable of generating the highest ROI.
Personalize Your Marketing Items
Personalization is a powerful tool and can help you create personal bonds with your prospects. It portrays that you are aware of their interests and care enough to send them relevant mail pieces.
In short, Personalized Mail helps you build connections, develop trust, and gain measurable results.
Also Read: US Postage RatesAcceptable and Unacceptable Items
Your items can qualify as Canada Post Personalized Mail only if your motive is to make a prospect:
- Buy a product or service
- Use a program offered by your company
- Support or contribute to a cause
In short, your mail pieces must be promotional and meant to influence customers in some way.
You may send the following items via Personalized Mail as long as they are promotional:
- Financial reports or annual reports
- Loyalty and retention mailings
- Consent mailings (opt-in or opt-out)
- Loyalty card programs
- Calendars
- Mini-catalogues
- Newsletters
- Surveys
- Welcome kits
- Greeting or thank-you cards
- Renewal offers and notices
For the complete list, you may visit the Canada Post website.
Also Read: Routing Numbers In CanadaCanada Post Personalized Mail Sizes
There are two types of Personalized Mail items, depending on their size
- Standard
- Oversize
They have different dimensions and prices. However, these items are further divided into Machinable and Special Handling as per their preparation process.
Machinable
Find below the size requirements for all Standard Personalized Mail pieces:
| Length | Width | Thickness | Weight | |
| Minimum | 5.6” (140 mm) | 3.6” (90 mm) | 0.007” (0.18 mm) | 2 g (0.07 oz) |
| Maximum | 9.6” (245 mm) | 6.1” (156 mm) | 0.2” (5 mm) | 50 g (1.76 oz) |
Please note: The dimensions of square envelopes should range between 140 mm x 140 mm x 0.18 mm and 156 m x 156 mm x 5 mm.
Here are the size limits for Oversize mail pieces:
| Length | Width | Thickness | Weight | |
| Minimum | 5.6” (140 mm) | 3.6” (90 mm) | 0.002” (0.5 mm) | 10 g (0.4 oz) |
| Maximum | 14.9” (380 mm) | 10.6” (270 mm) | 0.8” (20 mm) | 500 g (17.6 oz) |
All Personalized Mail items within a campaign may have different weights, thicknesses, and sizes as long as they remain in the same weight band.
Special Handling
| Standard Items | Length | Width | Thickness | Weight |
| Minimum | 3.9” (100 mm) | 2.8” (70 mm) | 0.007” (0.18 mm) | – |
| Maximum | 9.6” (245 mm) | 6.1” (156 mm) | 0.2” (5 mm) | 100 g (3.5 oz) |
| Oversize Items | Length | Width | Thickness | Weight |
| Minimum | 3.9” (100 mm) | 2.8” (70 mm) | 0.007” (0.18 mm) | – |
| Maximum (flexible) | 14.9” (380 mm) | 14.9” (380 mm) | 1.4” (35 mm) | 1.36 kg (3 lb) |
| Maximum (rigid) | 14.9” (380 mm) | 5.1” (130 mm) | 1.4” (35 mm) | 1.36 kg (3 lb) |
| Dimensional Items | Length | Width | Thickness | Weight |
| Minimum | 3.9” (100 mm) | 2.8” (70 mm) | 1.4” (35 mm) | – |
| Maximum | 14.9” (380 mm) | 5.1” (130 mm) | 2.4” (60 mm) | 1.36 kg (3 lb) |
Other Personalized Mail Requirements
As said earlier, remember that the Canada Post Personalized Mail minimum quantity is 100 machinable items. They should not exceed the dimensions mentioned above.
Here are some other requirements you should know about:
- All the items in the mailing should originate from the same sender or mailer. For example, the customer number in Canada Post Personalized Mail indicia should be the same on every piece).
- Items must be in the same preparation category. For example, if you are sending Personalized Mail Special Handling items, you cannot mix Machinable items in the mailing. You can send mini-catalogues if they meet the Machinable Standard mail requirements. Also, they should consist of a minimum of eight panels or pages.
- Items must be sent out with the same purpose, though the content can be non-identical.
- Each mailpiece should bear the full mailing address having a street address or municipality name, province, and postal code.
You can find more information in the Canada Post Personalized Mail customer guide!
Personalized Mail Prices
Personalized Mail pricing depends on factors like your campaign size, mail dimensions, and weight. Canada Post offers postage rates starting from $0.495 for Machinable items.
Find the rates of Machinable and Special Handling Personalized Mail items below:
| Category | Machinable | Postage Meter | Postal Indicia | Phantom price |
| Standard | Up to 50 g | $0.50 | $0.505 | $0.50 |
| Oversize | Up to 50 g | $0.75 | $0.75 plus $0.0034 per g above 50 g | $0.75 |
| Up to 500 g | n/a |
| Category | Special Handling | Postage Meter | Postal Indicia | Phantom Price |
| Standard | Up to 50 g | $0.57 | $0.57 | $0.34 |
| 51 g to 100 g | $0.61 | $0.61 | ||
| Oversize | Up to 50 g | $0.71 | n/a | n/a |
| 51 g to 500 g | $2.75 | n/a | ||
| Up to 500 g | n/a | $0.71 plus $0.0034 per g above 50 g | $0.33 | |
| 501 g to 1.36 kg | n/a | $2.75 plus $0.0040 per g above 500 g | ||
| Dimensional | Up to 500 g | n/a | $1.55 plus $0.0018 per g above 50 g | $0.73 |
| 501 g to 1.36 kg | n/a | $3.02 plus $0.0040 per g above 500 g |
Machinable: Mini-Catalogues
| Standard | Up to 50 g | $0.485 |
| Phantom price | Up to 50 g | $0.48 |
Canada Post Personalized Mail Delivery Times
Personalized Mail items are delivered within three to thirteen business days. Remember that Canada Post does not deliver on weekends, statutory holidays, and other days observed as Canada Post holidays.
Find below the delivery estimates for Addressed Admail:
Machinable Standard Items
- Urban Centres- Three to five business days.
- Remote Centres and northern areas- Three to nine business days.
Machinable Oversize and Special Handling Items
- Major Urban Centres- Three to eight business days.
- Non-major Urban Centres- Three to nine business days.
Remote Centres and northern areas- Three to thirteen business days.
Personalized Mail Features and Options
Personalized Mail offers Mail Forwarding for free on all items. A Mail Forwarding request helps you direct your items to the recipients’ new addresses if they have moved.
But, if you mention the recipients’ names with words, like ‘Or OCCUPANT,’ Canada Post will not forward your mail. Instead, it will be delivered to the occupant or resident at the original address. Also, Dimensional Personalized Mail is not forwarded.
Apart from this feature, mailers can avail of some options like Return to Sender by paying an extra fee.
But, they should mention their correct return addresses to get this add-on. Furthermore, the return address must be Canadian, and items must have the Return Postage Guaranteed (RPG) postal indicia.
Please take care to mention the return address on the top-left corner of your mail piece.
How to Send Personalized Mail
To get started, you should first answer questions, like:
- Which direct mail format works best for you?
- What is the size of your mailing list?
- Which demographics should you target?
- What is your budget and mailing motive?
Questions like such can help you develop a robust campaign plan to move ahead.
You can select a print and mail partner like PostGrid to help you launch your Personalized Mail campaigns. Our API can help you undertake steps, like:
- Creating campaign strategies
- Designing and printing items
- Adhering to the Personalized Mail specifications
- Preparing items for delivery
- Tracking mail pieces in real-time
- Analyzing campaign performance, etc.
Thus, you can conduct your entire campaign in an automated way and at the most competitive rates.
With PostGrid, you don’t need to worry about how to do a Personalized Maildrop. We can help you in every step of the process. All you have to do is integrate our direct mail API into your CRM and get started.
