Introduction

Design and print postcards all within the Chime platform! Use this feature to create designs, configure engagement mechanisms, and send postcards to your database or an uploaded list of recipients. Postcards can be used as a tool that compliments the rest of the digital automation features in Chime to make sure you have all your marketing and lead generation covered.

 

Summary

• Postcard Product Information
• Sending Postcards Manually
• Sending Postcards Automatically via Smart Plans
• Postcard Campaign Reporting
  • Smart Plan Postcard Reporting
• Sending Letters
  • Smart Plan Letters
• FAQs

 

Postcard Product Information

Sizes

Only the following postcard sizes are available:

• 4" x 6"
• 6" x 9"
• 6" x 11"

Materials

• Basis Weight: 100# - 120# Cover
• GSM: 255 - 325
• Full Bleed 1 Side UV Gloss
• 10% PCW Product
• FSC Certified

Mailing Options

All postcards are sent via the United States Postal Service (USPS).

First Class Mail 

• Supported Postcard Sizes
  • 4" x 6"
  • 6" x 9"
  • 6" x 11"
• Estimated Delivery Time
  • 4 - 6 business days

Standard Mail 

• Supported Postcard Sizes
  • 6" x 9"
  • 6" x 11"
• Estimated Delivery Time
  • 7 - 21 business days

 

Postcard Cost

You can choose to (a) pay-per-use on a postcard or you can (b) purchase postcard print packages to save money by purchasing in bulk.

 

(a) Pay-Per-Use Cost

• USPS First Class Mail - $1.49/postcard
• USPS Standard Mail - $0.99/postcard

 

(b) Print Package Cost

You will be presented with the option to purchase postcard print packages during the order process of the postcards or on the main Campaigns > Direct Mail page if you have never used postcards in Chime before.

 

If you have purchased a print package, you will have access to the credit balance as well as the expiration date directly on Campaigns > Direct Mail:

 

Sending Postcards Manually

Navigate to Campaigns > Direct Mail:

 

If it's your first time on this page, click on the blue button to Start Sending Postcards Now! Or, if it's not your first time, simply click on the button to + Send New Postcards. 

 

Choose from a system templates, your own designs, or click on the button to + New Design:

 

You may also start the Self-Service Mailer process from a Lead Profile page. First by finding the lead you wish to send mail to, then selecting the three dots, then selecting "Send Mailer." This will then send you to the design center to finish up the details of the mailer. 

 

This will take you to a screen where you will be asked to do the following:

1. Set recipients
   • Existing Leads. Leads already in your database. You will need to make sure they are in a group PRIOR to starting this process. You can then choose leads in a specific group/pipeline combination to send the postcards to.

   • Upload Mailing Addresses. You can upload a spreadsheet with mailing addresses. This file needs to have the following columns:

     • First Name
     • Last Name
     • Address
     • City
     • State
     • Zip
     • Country
2. Schedule print date
   • You can edit the design any time prior to the scheduled print date
   • Keep in mind that this is the PRINT DATE and not the DELIVERY DATE.
3. Select postage type
4. Choose a design
   • *IMPORTANT: This step allows you to choose from a template if you have one ready to go, but if you do not then you can submit the order and then customize the design after scheduling the print date.
5. Submit order

 

After clicking the Pay Now button at the bottom-right, you will see a pop-up asking if you would like to customize the design now or be reminded later. Choose the option that works best for you.

 

Choosing Remind Me Later will make it so that you will have an outstanding campaign on your postcards dashboard that you will need to reference. At any point before the scheduled print date you can proceed and Click to customize design. 

 

If you click that option or had selected to Start Design Now when first prompted, you will be taken to the Design Center where you can now build your design. For more information on how to best use the Design Center, please see Design Center. You will have the option on the right side to select the front and back pages, choose the sizes (these will vary depending on what mail class you selected), and then click the Update button in the bottom-right when you are ready to finalize the design. You can always come back and edit at any time prior to the scheduled print date.

 

*IMPORTANT: While building out your design, be sure to add an "Engagement Mechanism" to capture leads. Please review THIS ARTICLE on how to do so and then continue with the instructions below once you have embedded your engagement tool.

 

Before continuing, pay special attention to the IMPORTANT note that is highlighted. You will see some dotted "safety lines" on your design. Anything outside of the safety lines is at risk of being cut off during the postcard printing process. So, make sure that nothing important is going to get cut off. It's okay for the background to go past the safety lines because you will want to avoid having a white outline on your design if your background is too small.

 

Repeat the review process for the back page to your design as well.

 

Just check your logos, other key elements (other than the background) to make sure they are within the safety lines and then click Continue:

 

Existing Leads. Leads already in your database. You will need to make sure they are in a group PRIOR to starting this process. You can then choose leads in a specific group/pipeline combination to send the postcards to.

 

Sending Postcards Automatically via Smart Plans

As of August 30, 2021, you can send postcards as part of a Smart Plan. This feature is available at both the "My Smart Plans" and "Team Smart Plans" levels.

 

Billing Logic

The following is the logic for the billing of postcards

• If the Smart Plan is a My Smart Plan, your individual card will need to be billed. You can add it directly in the Smart Plan if you do not already have one on file.
• if the Smart Plan is a Team Smart Plan, the account owner's card will be billed.
  • *Only those with admin level access and the "Team Templates" permission can create Team Smart Plans (see Team Permissions)
• If there is no card on file, the Smart Plan cannot be saved successfully.
• After a postcard is sent, the total count will be recorded. The total cost for postcards sent in the previous month will be billed on the scheduled billing date of the following month. 
• The postcards sent via Smart Plans do not pull from any postcard packages that you might have purchased. The cost is always the same for postcards sent via Smart Plans and will be billed separately on any billing statements. Pricing is as follows:
  • Standard Mail: $0.99
  • First Class Mail: $1.49

 

Setup Steps

More general information regarding Smart Plans can be found HERE.

To send a postcard via a Smart Plan, navigate to the CRM > Settings > Smart Plans. Create a new Smart Plan.

 

If you would like to add a postcard step (or multiple) as part of your Smart Plan, choose Postcard from the action drop-down:

 

The next step is to design the postcard that you want to have built in. Use the available option and Click to Design Postcard:

 

You will then be presented with the option to either use a system template or one that you have saved or you can click in the top-right to start a + New Design:

 

A new tab will open open in your browser. If for some reason the new tab does not open, please check your browser site settings to make sure that it is not blocking pop-ups or new windows from being opened on this website.

 

Edit your design using all of the available options. You can learn more about the Design Center by clicking HERE. 

 

Be sure to add a second page to your design by clicking on the arrows in the top-left and then hitting the + plus button:

 

Also, pay attention to the settings in the right panel. This is where you will choose the front and back pages as well as decide on the size that you want to print (which is important to pick before finalizing your design.

 

Once you have selected a back page, it will have the address area blocked off automatically in red:

 

When you are ready to save this design to the Smart Plan that you were setting up go ahead and click the blue Save button in the bottom-right:

 

This should automatically take you back to the Smart Plan where you can see the design you selected and preview as needed. If, at any time, you want to edit the design or create a new design for this step, simply use the available options to do so:

 

You will then choose the delivery option (Standard Mail vs. First Class Mail). The price is outlined in the notes at the bottom of the Smart Plan step. If you only see one of the options (First Class Mail) it is because the postcard size you selected is not available via Standard Mail.

 

If you do not already have a card on file you will be prompted to add one here:

 

After you have finalized this step you can move on to create any additional steps as part of this Smart Plan. If you would like to save your progress up to this point you can click the Save button in the bottom-right but make sure that your Smart Plan is not set up to auto-apply to any leads before you do that because it would start if you clicked "Save" and had already defined the criteria.

 

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• All postcards designed within Smart Plan steps are accessible via Design Center > My Designs > Chime Postcards. You can use this to copy a postcard but you will not be able to edit from there. If you need to edit a postcard you must do so via the Smart Plan where it resides.
• Reporting for postcards triggered via Smart Plans is not currently available but is expected as part of a future release.

 

Postcard Campaign Reporting

After campaigns are built, you can navigate back to Campaigns > Postcards, and you should see any campaigns that are being run. Click on the name of any campaign to open up the specific information regarding that campaign. 

 

After clicking into an individual campaign, the following information is available:

 

SECTION 1

• Campaign Name. The name given automatically to the campaign when created as well as the date the campaign was created (YYYYMMDD)
• Campaign Status
  • Scheduled: You have paid, but the scheduled print date has not yet been reached.
  • Delivering: The postcard designs have been sent to the printer to process and send the postcards. Cards are still in transit.
  • Finished: If the delivery status of all recipients in the mailing list is in a "final" status, this status will be displayed. "Final" means any of the following: Delivered, Re-Routed, “Returned To Sender.
  • Delayed: If the scheduled print date has been reached or passed but the client has not completed the engagement setup which is a requirement to send if that element was added.
• Last Updated. The last time this campaign report was updated.
• Settings. This will only appear if the Campaign Status = "Scheduled". With this option you can (1) edit the design or (2) change the engagement settings:

SECTION 2

• Postcard Preview. A thumbnail preview of the front page of the postcard design.
• Total Sent. The total number of postcards sent.
• Delivering. Postcard with any of the following delivery statuses:
  
  • In Transit
  • In Local Area
  • Processed for Delivery
• Delivered. Postcard with any of the following delivery statuses:
  
  • Delivered
  • Re-routed
  • Returned
• Engaged Leads / New Leads. If an existing lead is engaged it will show up in the large number but only newly captured leads will display in the "New Leads" number

SECTION 3

Delivery Report

• Download. Use this option to download a delivery report for this postcard campaign in CSV format including the following fields:
  • Lead Full Name
  • Mailing Address
  • Status
• Lead Name. This refers to the specific lead in your database that was sent a postcard. The lead name is clickable and will take you to the lead profile. This column will not be visible if the postcards are sent to uploaded addresses via CSV.
• Mailing Address. The mailing address that the postcard was sent to for that lead. This column will be changed to the name of "Recipients" if postcards are sent to uploaded addresses via CSV.
• Status. The following statuses are possible:
  • Scheduled. Postcard has been paid for and is scheduled to be sent on the defined print date.
  • Invalid Address.
  • Printing. The printer is working on printing the postcard. 
  • In Transit. The postcard is being processed at the entry/origin facility.
  • In Local Area. The postcard is being processed at the destination facility.
  • Processed for Delivery. The postcard has been given the green light for delivery at the recipient's nearest postal facility. The postcard should reach the mailbox within 1 business day of this status being shown.
  • Delivered. The postcard is marked as "Delivered" one business day after the "Processed for Delivery" status.
  • Re-Routed. The postcard was re-routed due to recipient change of address, address errors, or USPS relabeling of barcode/ID tag area.
  • Returned. The postcard is being returned to sender due to barcode, ID tag area, or address errors.

SECTION 4

Recent Activities

The information shown here will vary depending on how you uploaded your recipients. Also, no activity will be shown here if you did not add a Text Code/QR Code to the postcards.

(1) Selected existing leads in the database to receive postcards

• #lead_full_name# (#phone_number#) sent text code #text_code# to the tracking number.
• #lead_full_name# scanned the QR code.

(2) Uploaded a CSV with mailing address to receive postcards

• #mailing_address# (#phone_number#) sent text code #text_code# to the tracking number. View Lead Details
• A: #mailing_address# scanned the QR code.
• B: #mailing_address# registered as a lead #lead_full_name#.

 

Here is another sample screenshot to give you an idea of the content that will appear on this page:

 

 

Smart Plan Postcard Reporting

Reporting for Smart Plan postcard, can be accessed by going to Campaigns > Postcards > Smart Plans:

 

 

A Smart Plan "Postcard Campaign" (whose name will be auto-generated) is equivalent to one specific postcard step in a Smart Plan. In other words, if you have one Smart Plan with multiple postcard steps, each one of those individual postcard steps would have its own postcard campaign.

 

 

The name of the Smart Plan that the step belongs to will be listed underneath the campaign name along with the type of Smart Plan that it is (My Smart Plan vs. Team Smart Plan):

 

 

The status of postcards for that campaign is displayed in the middle columns:

 

 

 

Remember that Smart Plan postcards are charged separately from any pre-purchased postcard package (Standard Mail = $0.99/postcard, First Class Mail = $1.49/postcard). The total spent for each campaign (Smart Plan postcard step) will be listed in the Total Spent column at the right:

 

Sending Letters

You can now send letters directly to your existing database or an uploaded mail list directly in Chime. This option is accessed directly under Campaigns > Direct Mail:

Size

There is only one size: 8.5" x 11"

Cost

Just like with postcards, you can use a print package to pay for letters or you can use a pay-per-use option instead.

 

(a) Pay-Per-Use Cost

The cost will vary depending on (1) color and (2) the total number of pages.

 

BLACK & WHITE

• $0.79/one-page letter - USPS Standard Mail
• $1.19/one-page letter - USPS First Class Mail
• $0.10/extra page (maximum of 6)

 

COLOR

• $0.99/one-page letter - USPS Standard Mail
• $1.45/one-page letter - USPS First Class Mail
• $0.20/extra page (maximum of 6)

 

(b) Print Package Cost

The print packages remain the same as they are with postcards.

*1 credit is equal to $0.99

Package	Small	Medium	Large
Price	$39	$119	$239
Available Credits	49	149	299
Period of Validity	3 months	6 months	6 months

Order Process

A new tag is available in the Design Center to easily find letter templates. Available for both postcards and letters, users can now add variables for recipient and sender information directly onto their designs. If a recipient does not have the data required for the variable to be added, the campaign report will show that mailpiece is not being delivered. 

1. Recipient information:
   1. #lead_first_name#, #lead_last_name#, #lead_full_name#, #seller_lead_address#, #buyer_lead_address#
2. Sender information:
   1. #agent_full_name#, #agnet_first_name#, #agent_email#,#agent_phone#, #agent_website#, #agent_company#

 

When any of the CTAs are clicked to purchase letters, the initial page will look like this:

 

The design will then be finalized, pages will be selected, etc.

 

You will then see a confirmation page. Highlighted below you will see the number of pages has its own column as each additional page costs extra for letters:

 

All tracking for letter campaigns is exactly the same as it is for postcards.

 

Smart Plan Letter

You can now send letters via Smart Plans in addition to postcards (which were already supported). This will be a new option available as a Smart Plan step:

 

You can select a letter design from the Chime Design Center or create your own design. You can also select between Standard or First Class Mail.

Note: All letters sent via Smart Plans are color only. There is no option for black and white.

 

Any letter campaigns will be tagged as such on the reporting page: 

 

Auto-Pausing Logic

 

Because letters have variable data support for the agent or lead information, we do not want those to send if that information is not available. The logic is as follows:

• Smart Plan Campaigns
  • If variables in the letter/postcard are for data that is not available, the Smart Plan will auto-pause for any leads where that data is not available
  • If the system recognizes that the data is available now, the Smart Plan will reactivate automatically.
• Manual Campaigns
  • If agent variables (agent data) have data that is not available, the whole campaign will be paused
  • If lead variables have data that is not available, the postcard/letter will not be sent to just that recipient

 

 

 

 

FAQs

• Can I send postcards to Canada?
• Can I send postcards directly from the People page? 
• If I scheduled a postcard to be sent, is it possible to edit the design before it sends?
• Can I upload my own designs and mail postcards via Chime?
• If I want to cancel a postcard campaign that has not yet been sent, how can I do that?
• Can I purchase more than one print package at a time?
• Will I be notified before my print package credits expire?
• What are the exact triggers for the engagement mechanisms?

Can I send postcards to Canada?

No, currently we do not support sending postcards to addresses located in Canada. Other limitations for Canada are documented HERE.

 

Can I send postcards directly from the People page? 

Yes, you can choose an audience for your postcards by navigating to the People page, selecting the leads you want to send postcards to, and then clicking on the button to Send Postcards. Only leads that have mailing addresses on their lead profile will be able to receive postcards.

You may receive a warning informing you that only a certain number of the leads selected have a mailing address associated with their profile. In other words, the exact number of leads that you selected will only be sent postcards if they all have mailing addresses.

 

If I scheduled a postcard to be sent, is it possible to edit the design before it sends?

No, not at the present time.

 

Can I upload my own designs and mail postcards via Chime?

Yes, to some extent. An Upload Design button is available in the template screen:

This adds the uploaded image directly to the design for your use. When uploading an image, the postcard canvas will remain the default size and the image will be added to that canvas size. 

Please note the following:

• Only JPG and PNG file types are currently supported. PSD is not supported in this version.
• The file size must be ≤ 10 MB

 

If I want to cancel a postcard campaign that has not yet been sent, how can I do that?

If you would like to cancel a postcard campaign that is scheduled to send in a future date, please contact our Support Team via email at <support@chimeinc.com> or by phone at 1 (855) 981-7557.

You cannot cancel a campaign that has already been started.

Currently, there is no option to cancel a campaign directly in the platform.

 

Can I purchase more than one print package at a time?

No, the entire credit balance of an existing package must be used before another package can be purchased. However, if you are sending a campaign that would use up the entire balance, the option will be available for you to purchase another print package during the final order process for the postcards.

 

Will I be notified before my print package credits expire?

Currently, there is no reminder configured. However, this is being considered for future optimizations here. For now, you will want to pay attention to the expiration date (AKA "Period of Validity") for each postcard print package. 

 

What are the exact triggers for the engagement mechanisms

See Postcard Engagement: Text Codes and QR Codes.

 

Questions?

If you have any questions regarding this topic or any others, please reach out to our Support Team via email at <support@chimeinc.com> or by phone at 1 (855) 981-7557.