02 Dec Royal Mail Advertising Mail (Admail) – Important Update

Royal Mail Advertising Mail (Admail) – Important Update

Many of our customers use Royal Mail’s Advertising Mail for a discount on their postage. In a nutshell, Advertising Mail is Royal Mail’s way of encouraging companies to use the post as a way of promoting their services. For lots more information, see the Advertising Mail pages on the Royal Mail website.

However, things have changed a little. They’ve changed inasmuch as Royal Mail is now becoming more stringent in the way it applies its Advertising Mail discounts. If you’ve been working to the letter of the law previously, then all’s probably well with your world.  However if you’ve been taking short cuts and got the feeling you’ve been getting away with things for a while, then you might be in for a rude awakening.

What’s Going on with Admail?

Royal Mail is clamping down on people claiming the discount who, in their eyes, shouldn’t be. Since Nov 5th, they’ve been much more stringent about what does, and what does not qualify for Advertising Mail discount. So here’s some help about what you need to look out for and how to help yourself comply with Admail guidelines:

• To qualify for Advertising Mail, EACH VERSION of a mailing must comprise a minimum of 4,000 items per version/poster. Royal Mail won’t allow consolidation of different versions to reach that figure – if there is more than one version of an item, each version must include more than 4,000 items. For example, if there are four versions of a mailing with 2000 items in each, it will not qualify for Admail discount.

• Generally, magazines/publications won’t qualify for Admail discount, so it’s essential to check with Royal Mail before mailing. There are very specific situations that magazines/publications will qualify – essentially, that’s only where their primary purpose is promoting an item or product for sale.

I Need More Help

It can be tricky to work out if you’re eligible for Admail discount as much of the wording can be technical and/or opaque. So, for your delight and delectation, we’ve also created a Guidance list. In it we’ve detailed real-world examples of mailings that will pass as Advertising Mail – and some that won’t – which will hopefully make things much clearer. Click the above graphic and fill out our small form and we’ll send you a copy of that too.

After that, if you’re still unsure whether you’re compliant (and you’re a Webmart customer) send us through your artwork and we can get compliance verified beforehand. If you’re not a Webmart customer, get in touch and we’ll see if we can help you out too.