Meet The Mailers: Expanding Mail Capabilities

In this episode, I talked with Christiana Trenum, Director of Business Development for Planet Direct Mail, a full-service print and direct mail production company based in Manassas, VA.

Much of our discussion focused on how the company has added services as it has grown its capacity following a move to a new facility.

A self-described “direct marketing geek”, Trenum noted that:

Among the many topics we covered:

• Christiana’s marketing background
• Planet Direct Mail’s direct mail services
• The company’s sustainability efforts
• Trends in direct mail
• Her favorite recent direct mail piece

Here are some questions and answers from our conversation (edited for clarity and space):

• As a full-service company, can you give a rundown on all of your services and are there any particular verticals that you want to talk about as well that Planet Direct focuses on?
  

We have a robust traditional offset department that includes envelope printing and forms. We have full-service digital services as well. So we do all of the digital printing also for both envelopes and forms. And we have extensive bindery services and fixing services which include membership cards, Post-it notes, and multistamping. We can also do a lot of that personalization inline as well.

We also have 12 high-speed inserters that can insert up to 10 X 13 envelopes, so those all are outfitted to handle complex matching and we have both six- and nine-pocket inserters. [A]ll of them are high-speed. One of our claims to fame is our high-speed flat insertions, so that’s definitely one of our big things that we offer. All of our equipment is outfitted with camera systems to help us with the match quality control, run speed, all of that sort of thing. So we’re a highly automated, highly automated operation.

• You talk about some of the organizations that you’re involved with, including DMAW, the Direct Marketing Association of Washington and heavy involvement in fundraising. Is that an area of focus for Planet Direct?
  

Yes, actually, most of our most of our business has been in the non-profit advocacy and also political spaces. So those are primary verticals that we service. We work with organizations directly and we also work heavily in the agency space as well as our partners.

• And as far as services go that you offer that maybe your competitors don’t? Which ones would those be? I’m thinking of congressional append, which I noticed on the website.
  

Yes, we do that. That’s one of our main services that we offer. We also have significant proprietary automations built for our system, So that’s one of our main claims, main things that we’ve focused on heavily. It helps us track projects in real time and allows us to check quality, monitor run rates and also match if that’s applicable, If we’re doing a matching project. Some of the others, like I had mentioned earlier, all of our inserters are outfitted with camera systems with the camera system for matching.

And with the camera system and everything, that is also on our laser equipment, on our offset equipment, that’s throughout our plant. We also have in-house envelope printing, both offset and digital, also with a large inventory of standard size envelopes so we can do your #10s, your 9 X 12s, #9 BREs. You name the envelope of a standard size – we have them in stock and can jet them or run them digitally on our presses. We also have onsite PMS matching. So if you have a specific ink color – not metallic – but if you have a specific color, we don’t necessarily have to order it, we usually can actually blend it and create it in-house for our offset process. So that’s something that not many others in this area can do. We also have a large engineering department and this has helped a lot with our efficiency. We have an in-house actual machine shop that can build parts. As machines need routine maintenance or anything, we actually can fix it – and like quickly – and be back up and running without skipping a beat.

• Well, that’s so helpful. You know, just to avoid downtime, especially when you have so many campaigns that need to get in the mail pretty quickly.
  

That time is money. So we’ve learned that having that team has really helped us stay ahead of the curve when it comes to different procedures and different things in-house. Also our plant is fully climate-controlled. So it’s a very comfortable place to work as well.

• I see that the company has really evolved from an original 12,000 square foot facility at the beginning to the one you moved into in 2021 at 115,000 square feet. So how has this added to your capabilities?
  

It’s really increased our throughput. And coming from [that], just seeing the growth over the past 10 years has been incredible. But our throughput significantly increased so much that we’ve been doing our best to keep up with everything and explain to our clients and go over some of these new offerings and continue to educate them on what these new services are.

But the biggest thing has been the increased capacity. We’ve added digital printing. So we have a full digital full-color digital web now that is running constantly. Having that added capability has really maximized our business. It also gave us a larger area for staging. So we’ve been able to set up for projects way more efficiently. There’s actually space to produce the work, be organized, be mindful, be impactful with how we’re actually outputting the projects.

• It’s also improved, I’m sure, your efficiency as well.
  

Oh, significantly, significantly. I mean, that goes back to some of the proprietary systems I was telling you about. Our team can literally watch our dashboards and everything from our computers. We don’t have to run out to the floor or find the production manager. We can literally sit on our computers and be like “OK – know that your project’s on track, everything’s on time.”

It also allows us – if a project is running slower – to be ahead of it and actually say “OK, we need to maybe put another person on that equipment and make sure it’s running”. So we hit the schedules.

• In listening to clients, what kinds of things are they saying that are their biggest concerns right now?
  

Oh, goodness … postage! Postage is just the biggest headache.

I’m at a loss for everything that I’m watching happen in that area, but definitely the postage increases are the most impactful I think. A close second would be the supply costs are still rising, services costs are still rising. With those increases, we’re still having to be creative with our clients and help them navigate these changes and increases and it’s really that’s where kind of the nerd hat comes in. It’s been a great challenge to be able to sit at the table with our clients and help them navigate these changes and help them make cost-effective solutions to their problems. And some of those have been converting a package to digital, different things like that, just to simplify the costs in those areas.

• So what kinds of things would you just suggest, besides maybe switching out a mail package for something that’s digital, to help keep those costs under control?
  

Don’t stop mailing. Mail is still the best return on investment in that regard. Even with these rising costs. That’s where being creative comes in. The biggest thing that I can recommend is incentives. The post office has created these incentives and I know that they can be a hassle, but the more you know, the more effective you can be in those. So understand your incentive programs, work with your mailers, work with your team to really capitalize on those incentives and really maximize their use. 2025 is bringing some really big changes in those areas with additional incentives and revamping some of the existing incentives that we’ve been very familiar with. Being ahead of the curve and knowledgeable is the best way you can prepare yourself, prepare your clients, and that kind of thing. So I highly recommend just following those incentives. They’re there for a reason. Just use them.

The other thing is: think outside the box. You know, if a package is heavy, find some ways to simplify, reduce the size, components, different things like that. So just be open minded and be creative and don’t box yourself in. Try to avoid that as much as possible.

• Switching gears a little bit, talking about environmental sustainability. How important is that to Planet Direct Mail and is this an issue that you bring to your clients and partner with them on their mail packages?
  

Sustainability is very important to us. Conservation is a very strong vertical for us. We work with a lot of clients [where] their whole mission is conservation and sustainability. It’s very important to produce in that manner and to make sure that we are providing solutions that are in line with that. [A]ll of our paper uses post-consumer waste and we recycle all of our graphic plates and inkjet cartridges.

We also have a large vacuum. This is my favorite thing in our plant to be honest. We have a large vacuum that actually is attached near the equipment that is running bindery. And it actually sucks everything out as it’s producing, so we have a very clean plant, and everything is going into a recycle trailer.

We also have climate control and large fans, things like that. It’s been very, very important for our clients for us to show those sorts of those sorts of initiatives. And so when we built this building, a lot of that went into it and that was also part of us getting this property and all of that – we had to show sustainability and initiatives in that area. The standard is high. It’s in everyone’s best interest to meet it and exceed it.

• So what trends do you see for direct mail marketing in the next year or so?
  

Well, the biggest thing we’re seeing – and it’s been interesting – we’re seeing the job size. So let’s say you’re doing a mailing that was normally 40,000 only being 25 to 30,000. So we’re seeing smaller jobs, but more of those jobs. [M]ore people are taking advantage of just different methods to produce their mail. Different techniques and different things. They’re really going into digital personalization and focusing on high variable, high color.

So I’m really seeing more focus on more jobs. They’re just smaller and they’re just being more intuitive as to what they’re doing to make the package cohesive, impactful, but at a lower cost.

• Well, here’s a question that I’ve just started asking people in the last few interviews I’ve done. What’s one direct mail piece that you have received recently that really made you stop and pay attention and even respond to and why?
  

OK, asking a mailer – that is fun because we actually read our mail! So yeah, nobody throws the mail away or nobody recycles mail at my house …Christiana’s got to see it first! The the most fun one I saw was maybe a #12 envelope … this organization had included a thicker cardstock coaster that was recycled paper and it was something cute like some summer chill or something. And as somebody that loves sitting outside and entertaining and everything about summer and all that – it was so fun! It couldn’t have been a very expensive package. I don’t know how big it was necessarily but it was such a fun package and that coaster is on my desk and I look at it every day! [It] was fully machine insertable too, it was really cool in that regard.

It was just in line of making sure you keep your pets cool. So obviously it’s very important to me. I have two dogs. You’ve got my vote immediately with that.

Here is our conversation (with all questions and answers). We’ve added timecodes for your convenience.

Thank you very much, Christiana, for sharing your perspective and your expertise! To learn more about Planet Direct Mail, visit their website at PlanetDirectMail.com.

Your comments and ideas are very important to us in making your Who’s Mailing What! experience even better for you. Through these engaging talks, we hope you’ll take away practical tips, insights, and personal stories to inspire and build your own success.

If you have any feedback — or are interested in sharing your story and viewpoint with our wide and diverse audience on “Meet the Mailers” — please reach out to me. I’d love to hear from you!