Mailstream
Encyclopedia
The term mailstream was coined in the late 20th century to recognize the emerging industry that combined business insight, customer engagement
, document workflow and mail production.
Today, the Mailstream is defined as the physical and digital mail
, documents and packages, that flow across organizations to their customers and back. It encompasses people, technology and processes from document creation to production, distribution and management. Industry leaders estimate that the mailstream represents a $900 Billion global category.
The term takes a broad perspective on the mailing process as part of the interconnected media
mix marketers, businesses and governments use to reach customers. The process of using targeted mailings lists, printing, inserting into envelopes and mailing communications involves several information systems.
Print mail – postcards, letters, catalogues or brochures – drives consumers and business professionals to corporate and retail Web sites. A particularly effective medium for direct marketers is called transactional mail. Financial statements, mortgage
bills, credit card
statements, insurance
premium statements and even driver’s license renewal forms arrive in homes with useful information. Advertising and promotions included in transactional mail a discipline known as TransPromo, are particularly effective in driving consumer behavior.
The term mailstream recognizes the evolution of mail in the Internet
-era. Correspondence mail - postcards, personal letters and telegrams - has been on the decline as it has been replaced largely by e-mail
. However, direct mail and catalogue volumes have increased as online retailers use market data to target customers who often visit their sites or have specific tendencies. As an example, customers living in warmer climates are more likely to purchase air conditioners in the summer. Businesses track when customers are most likely to make certain purchases, and communicate with their customers accordingly through direct marketing
. When businesses leverage this intelligence by synching their communication
s with customer data, they are optimizing their mailstream.
Internet shopping has also led to a growth in parcel shipping, and today a host of products including prescription drugs and DVDs reach their intended recipients via the mailstream.
Location intelligence
combines geographic- and location-related data with other business data, so organizations can gain critical insights, make better decisions and optimize important processes and applications.
Postal voting
applications increase voter participation and strengthen voter confidence in a growing number of states. New technologies, including the Pitney Bowes Relia-VoteTM Mail Balloting Solution, offer integrity across three distinct processes: voter file preparation, outbound ballot assembly and inbound mail ballot processing.
Personalized postage offers consumers and businesses an easy way to add a personal touch to physical mail by designing customized stamps that include photos and logos.
Eco-friendly solutions are also addressing consumers concerns about mail and the environment, including consumer education, reducing undeliverable mail, recycling and reforesting, creating more targeted mailpieces and reducing CO2 emissions.
The Truth about Green – How mailers can protect the environment.
Customer engagement
Customer engagement refers to the engagement of customers with one another, with a company or a brand. The initiative for engagement can be either consumer- or company-led and the medium of engagement can be on or offline....
, document workflow and mail production.
Today, the Mailstream is defined as the physical and digital mail
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
, documents and packages, that flow across organizations to their customers and back. It encompasses people, technology and processes from document creation to production, distribution and management. Industry leaders estimate that the mailstream represents a $900 Billion global category.
The term takes a broad perspective on the mailing process as part of the interconnected media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
mix marketers, businesses and governments use to reach customers. The process of using targeted mailings lists, printing, inserting into envelopes and mailing communications involves several information systems.
- Customer IntelligenceCustomer intelligence-What it is:Customer intelligence is the process of gathering and analyzing information regarding customers; their details and their activities, in order to build deeper and more effective customer relationships and improve strategic decision making ....
involves leveraging high-quality customer data, including up-to-date address information, demographics and preferences as well as past buying behaviors. - Production Intelligence integrates this customer data in a production environment, while linking print and mail operations in ways that improve control, integrity and efficiency.
- Channel Intelligence helps deliver this content consistently across all channels using electronic document management and enterprise content managementEnterprise content managementEnterprise Content Management is a formalized means of organizing and storing an organization's documents, and other content, that relate to the organization's processes...
technologies.
Print mail – postcards, letters, catalogues or brochures – drives consumers and business professionals to corporate and retail Web sites. A particularly effective medium for direct marketers is called transactional mail. Financial statements, mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
bills, credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
statements, insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
premium statements and even driver’s license renewal forms arrive in homes with useful information. Advertising and promotions included in transactional mail a discipline known as TransPromo, are particularly effective in driving consumer behavior.
The term mailstream recognizes the evolution of mail in the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
-era. Correspondence mail - postcards, personal letters and telegrams - has been on the decline as it has been replaced largely by e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
. However, direct mail and catalogue volumes have increased as online retailers use market data to target customers who often visit their sites or have specific tendencies. As an example, customers living in warmer climates are more likely to purchase air conditioners in the summer. Businesses track when customers are most likely to make certain purchases, and communicate with their customers accordingly through direct marketing
Direct marketing
Direct marketing is a channel-agnostic form of advertising that allows businesses and nonprofits to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques such as mobile messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional...
. When businesses leverage this intelligence by synching their communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
s with customer data, they are optimizing their mailstream.
Internet shopping has also led to a growth in parcel shipping, and today a host of products including prescription drugs and DVDs reach their intended recipients via the mailstream.
Innovations in the Mailstream
In recent years, new applications and technologies are making the mailstream more valuable to companies and government agencies.Location intelligence
Location intelligence
Location Intelligence is the capacity to organize and understand complex phenomena through the use of geographic relationships inherent in all information. By combining geographic- and location-related data with other business data, organizations can gain critical insights, make better decisions...
combines geographic- and location-related data with other business data, so organizations can gain critical insights, make better decisions and optimize important processes and applications.
Postal voting
Postal voting
Postal voting describes the method of voting in an election whereby ballot papers are distributed or returned by post to electors, in contrast to electors voting in person at a polling station or electronically via an electronic voting system....
applications increase voter participation and strengthen voter confidence in a growing number of states. New technologies, including the Pitney Bowes Relia-VoteTM Mail Balloting Solution, offer integrity across three distinct processes: voter file preparation, outbound ballot assembly and inbound mail ballot processing.
Personalized postage offers consumers and businesses an easy way to add a personal touch to physical mail by designing customized stamps that include photos and logos.
Eco-friendly solutions are also addressing consumers concerns about mail and the environment, including consumer education, reducing undeliverable mail, recycling and reforesting, creating more targeted mailpieces and reducing CO2 emissions.
Additional Resources
Toward an Optimized MailstreamThe Truth about Green – How mailers can protect the environment.