Advertising Mail™

What qualifies as Advertising Mail?

Mailings made up of a largely uniform message to all addressees with the purpose of promoting the sale or use of products or services; those that encourage contribution to, or support of a cause, are classed as Advertising Mail. We ask all Advertising Mail users to send us a sample of their mail piece for approval prior to issuing a licence for each mailing.
 

I used to use Advertising Mail 70, 120, 1400, Light or Big Book or Heavyweight. What do I use now?

Advertising Mail™ replaced a range of products in April 2012. You can find the old product and the options you need to select to replicate it here.
 

What is Big Book?

If you’re sending more than 12,000 items, catalogues, magazines or brochures, try Big Book, our specialist, advertising mail service for more substantial items. The service delivers with the regular post, taking your publication, brochure or catalogue straight into your customers’ homes. It is:

• ideal for items over 750g up to 1,500g
• suitable for single price-per-item
• deliverable with the daily post
• bookable for deliveries up to four weeks ahead
• bookable for a two-week delivery window

What is Heavyweight?

You can plan your bulky heavyweight mailings with confidence when you use our Heavyweight service. Whether you’re sending 12,000 or over a million items, it is designed to deliver your heavier, inflexible B4-size packets, first time. It is:

• suitable for items between 751g and 3,000g
• delivered with the daily post
• bookable up to 12 months in advance
• convenient with pricing in 250g bands
• bookable for a two-week delivery window.
   

What is the Barcode or OCR option?

There are two ways to make your mail machine-readable: using an OCR font or applying a barcode.

OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition and makes it easier for our sorting machines to read the address on your letters or large letters. Using OCR means you will have to print the addresses on your items according to our OCR guidelines - using certain approved fonts. You also need to leave areas of your envelope clear to enable us to apply code marks to your item. There is an OCR option for letters or large letters. A detailed specification for the OCR variants is contained in the User Guide.

A barcode on an item enables our sorting machines to process your mail quickly and efficiently because barcodes contain detailed information on the delivery address of each item. If you or your mailing agent can apply a barcode to your letters, you can achieve the maximum savings. The process of applying and constructing barcodes can be quite technical, so a detailed specification for the application of barcodes is contained in the User Guide.

If you do not have the ability or technical capability to apply a Barcode or make the item meet OCR requirements, then use our Standard or High Sort option. For the High Sort option, you will have to meet 90% address accuracy against our Postal Address File (PAF) and be able to sort your mail up to 1,525 ways, as specified in the Royal Mail Selection Files.
 

How fast can you deliver?

We have a range of delivery speeds. Our normal options:

• 1st Class: next working day
• 2nd Class: within three working days

If you can sort your mail, we can offer the following range:

• 1st Class: next working day
• 2nd Class: delivery aim within two working days after the day of posting
• Economy Class: delivery aim within four working days after the day of posting
• Economy Class Deferred: We will deliver the items within four working days after a date you determine
• Big Book and Royal Mail Heavyweight are two-week delivery service products.

What types of containers can I use?

Depending upon the format, size and if you can make your mail machine-readable or sort it, you can present your items in trays, bags or ALPS (auto-levelling packet sleeved York). In some instances, you are able to present your mail unbagged.

Do you collect the mail from us?

If you spend over £15,000 per year with us or if you are using one of our sorted options, we will collect your mailings free of charge. If you don’t qualify, we can provide either one-off or regular daily collections at a pre-arranged time, or tailored special collection services. For more information, see Business Collections.

Will the ASBOF (Advertising Standards Board of Finance) levy be included within the item postage price?

This will not be shown separately on the Royal Mail invoice, but it will be included within the item postage price that you pay. ASBOF Levy is voluntary and its value is passed to ASBOF by us at the end of each financial year quarter. Find out more on the Advertising Mail pricing page and in our Terms and Conditions.

How do I get accredited for ensuring my mail is machine-readable?

You need to go through one or more elements of a quality assurance process. One stage requires you to show your address data meets the required standards for the product option you have chosen, the other stage requires you to prepare sample items which meet our design, address and (where relevant) barcode specifications. The forms are available from your account manager or www.royalmailtechnical.com under Quality Assurance.