Glossary
Direct-mail terms, plain and simple
The words that come up once you start mailing postcards — postal rules, print specs, the numbers you're supposed to watch — written the way you'd explain them to a friend.
List & data
Mailing list
Named people or every door on the street — which one fits what you're doing.
Address hygiene
Cleaning, standardizing, and deduplicating your list before you mail.
CASS certification
The USPS process that validates addresses to deliverable format.
NCOA
National Change of Address — updates your list when recipients have moved.
EDDM
Every Door Direct Mail — saturate a postal route without a named list.
List segmentation
Splitting your list into sub-groups to target the right message to the right people.
Print & design
Bleed
The 1/8″ of artwork beyond the trim line that prevents white edges.
Safe zone
The live area inset where text and logos must stay to survive trimming.
Postcard sizes
4×6, 6×9, and 6×11 — how size affects cost, rate class, and impact.
Variable data printing
Personalizing each card with unique names, offers, or QR codes at print time.
Postcard vs. letter mail
When to skip the envelope and let your artwork do the work.
Tracking & results
QR code tracking
Knowing who scanned your card, when they did it, and on what phone.
Personal URL (PURL)
A unique web address per recipient that ties response back to the individual card.
UTM parameters
Little tags on the end of a link so your analytics tool knows which card sent the visitor.
Response rate
How many people did the thing you asked, out of everyone who got a card.
Cost per acquisition
What the drop cost you, divided by the customers it brought in.
Ready to mail?
We print the cards, put postage on them, and mail them. $0.75 each and up, everything included, nothing monthly.