5 Best Direct Mail Services for Small Businesses in 2022
Elizabeth Kraus has more than a decade of first-hand experience building and growing a boutique digital marketing agency and double that in small and mid-size business marketing management. She provides expert answers to marketing questions related to branding, content marketing, web development, email, social media, and SEO.
The best direct mail services provide everything needed for direct mail marketing campaigns, from design and printing services to mailing lists and delivery. Comparing providers isn’t always apples-to-apples—some offer the lowest costs on printing while others specialize in standout finishes and options. To help you find the best one for your next project, we ranked the five best providers based on overall value, ease of editing, niche features, quality, and cost.
- VistaPrint: Overall best direct mail services for businesses of any size
- PsPrint: Best for low-cost Every Day Direct Mail (EDDM) mailing services
- Moo: Luxe finishing options for brands that want top-notch designs and high-end marketing collateral
- 48HourPrint: Widest range of sizes for postcards, brochures, and catalogs
- Overnight Prints: Super-fast turnaround times for direct mailing services in a pinch
Best Direct Mail Services at a Glance
Direct Mail Service | Cost to Print 500 Standard* Postcards | Cost to Print & Mail 500 Standard* Postcards | Turnaround Time | Standout Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | From $50 + small flat fee ($7-$12) for printing on second side | From $329.99 | 3-8 business days | Thousands of templates and 25+ types of products All-in-one option for print collateral, targeted mailing lists, signs, branded products, and design services |
 | From $47.22 | From $265.41 | 1-5 business days | Targeted lists and EDDM mailing services 7 different types of materials can be mailed |
 | From $135 | N/A | Next day** by midday delivery to 12 business days | Unique postcard sizes and finish options Sleek templates |
 | From $60.33 | From $325.52 | 1-5 business days | 10 postcard sizes EDDM Mailing Services (Every Day Direct Mail) |
 | From $132.17 | From $362.17*** | Next day** delivery up to 15 business days | Next-day turnaround for rush projects Custom photo printed cookies |
*We compared 4”x6”, full color, 2-sided postcard pricing for printing and mailing
**Subject to cut-off time
***Cost of printing is effectively bundled into mailing services
Did you know? Digital marketing gets lots of attention, but direct mail, aka “snail mail,” generates brand awareness more effectively. For instance, 80% of recipients notice direct mail compared to 50% who say they notice digital ads.
Let’s take a look at the pros, cons, and unique features of each of the best direct mail marketing services for small businesses:
VistaPrint: Best Overall Direct Mail Service
Vistaprint
What We Like
- 25+ different types of marketing materials
- Thousands of premade templates
- Design tools are easy to use
- Design services
- Targeted mailing list purchasing
- Customer support 7 days per week, extended hours
- Affordable pricing and frequently extend special offers
What's Missing
- Only offers mailing services for postcards, unlike PsPrint, which offers the most variety of mailed materials
Best For
- Start-to-finish postcard direct mail marketing services
- Businesses with small or large mailing lists (minimum 50)
- Businesses looking for help with design can access VistaPrint’s in-house design team or source via 99designs (owned by VistaPrint)
- An all-in-one solution for printed collateral, branded merchandise, signs and banners, and collateral design services
VistaPrint is one of the best-known online printing services and the go-to for business card printing for many companies. Because VistaPrint offers an affordable, all-in-one direct mailing service for business postcards that’s easy to use from start to finish, it’s our top pick for the best direct mail marketing service.
VistaPrint is essentially a one-stop marketing collateral shop. With more than two dozen products (and countless variations) to choose from, you can purchase nearly any type of printed marketing or branded collateral on their website. This includes marketing mailers and non-mailer pieces as well as branded clothing, bags, pens, and thousands of other items.
In addition, VistaPrint offers in-house design services should you need help, and have now folded in services from 99designs, which they purchased in 2020. This means you can source designs from freelance professionals worldwide via VistaPrint’s design services.
Unfortunately, postcards are the only products mailable directly from VistaPrint. For an alternative that mails seven different types of marketing mailers and offers EDDM services as well as targeted mailing lists, choose PsPrint.
Start your next postcard mailer with the thousands of templates available through VistaPrint.
Choose from thousands of premade business postcard templates, use VistaPrint’s in-house design services to customize materials with your branding and messaging, or upload your own design. Next, upload your mailing list or buy a targeted mailing list from VistaPrint, which then prints, addresses, stamps, and mails your postcard campaign.
Examples of VistaPrint’s Direct Mail Designs
VistaPrint Pricing for Postcards, Brochures & Catalogs (Booklets)
Standard Postcard | Tri-fold Brochure | 8-page Catalog | |
|---|---|---|---|
Specifications vs Quantity (Below) | Full-color, 4”x6”, standard paper weight, two-sided, gloss front only (or matte both sides) | Full-color, standard weight, gloss finish, 8.5”x11” (flat) | Full-color, 8.5”x11” finished size, budget glossy, saddle stitched |
100 | $27.10 | $104.70 | $355 |
250 | $42.10 | $165.74 | $530 |
500 | $50.00 | $215.37 | $833 |
1,000 | $68.80 | $275.19 | $1,080 |
5,000 | $183.40 | $614.19 | $4,680 |
Size Options in Inches |
|
|
|
VistaPrint Design Editor
Using VistaPrint’s design editor to customize your project is easy. You can customize items via list or by clicking on them to edit. In addition, you can add a URL and the editor will generate a QR code (quick response code) and add it to your item, creating a seamless way to drive traffic to your website, landing page, or special offers.
Use VistaPrint’s design editor to customize a template, add your own elements, and generate and add QR codes to your marketing postcards.
Our Expert Opinion
No matter the size of your business, VistaPrint is the best direct mailing service for your postcard marketing campaigns. It provides everything you need in one place, including mailing lists and design services at an affordable price and with discounts on postage. It’s also ideal for designing and printing other materials, brochures, catalogs, business cards, and branded promotional wares.
PsPrint: Cheapest Direct Mail Printing & EDDM Mailing
PsPrint
What We Like
- Largest variety of products (7) to send via direct mail
- Offers targeted mailing lists
- Ships extras to you free (if they fit in one box)
- Multiple sizes of most products available
- Choose production time (1 to 5 business days)
What's Missing
- High printing minimums for postcards unlike VistaPrint and PsPrint
- More expensive mailing service than 48HourPrint and VistaPrint, especially with faster production times
- Limited design platform with simple templates
Best For
- Cheapest direct mail service combining printing and EDDM mailing
- Full-service direct mailing solution for sending postcards, brochures, greeting cards, booklets, catalogs, newsletters, and invitations
- Upload your mailing list, purchase a targeted list from PsPrint, or use EDDM services to send to every address in a city or ZIP code
- Small businesses needing a rush order can choose a fast production time
PsPrint offers direct mail services for seven different types of products, making it a good choice for a small business that wants to send marketing materials other than postcards to customers. Plus, if you don’t have a mailing list, you can purchase a targeted list from PsPrint. And PsPrint will send you any extra prints leftover at no charge, as long as they all fit in one box.
With any PsPrint product, you choose the production time (typically one to five days), but cost increases as you shorten production time. Mail services include printing and mailing via your mailing list, a targeted mailing list you purchase from PsPrint or EDDM mailing services for:
- Postcards
- Brochures
- Greeting cards, such as corporate holiday cards
- Invitations
- Booklets
- Catalogs
- Newsletters
PsPrint offers a wide range of modern postcard templates to fast-track your design.
You can upload your own design for your direct mail materials or choose a template and use PsPrint’s design tools to customize the design for your project. You can filter templates by size, industry, main colors, occasion, and even design style to narrow in on the best one to customize.
Examples of PsPrint’s Direct Mailers
PsPrint Print Pricing for Postcards, Brochures & Catalogs (Booklets)
Standard Postcard | Tri-fold Brochure | 8-page Catalog | |
|---|---|---|---|
Specifications vs Quantity (Below) | Full-color, two-sided, 14pt gloss cover, no UV coating, 5-day production time | Full-color, 100lb gloss text, 8.5”x11” (flat) | Full-color, 8.5”x11”, 100lb gloss text, saddle stitched |
100 | $27.34 | $106.35 | $262.88 |
250 | $42.65 | $195.62 | $393.82 |
500 | $47.22 | $228.85 | $415.90 |
1,000 | $59.61 | $258.01 | $463.75 |
5,000 | $174.14 | $535.33 | $1,127.71 |
Size Options in Inches |
|
|
|
PsPrint Design Editor
PsPrint’s design editor is intuitive and offers quite a bit of customization options. One thing missing that you get with VistaPrint and Moo is the ability to add a QR code, which is more than just a nice-to-have in terms of marketing value. Change fonts, colors, images, and add objects, then easily share your design with for editing or approval.
Our Expert Opinion
Like many direct mail services, PsPrint promises high-quality products with a quick turnaround time. However, there are two ways in which it differs from the other business printers, including our top pick, VistaPrint.
PsPrint lets you choose the production speed and will mail more than just postcards to your mailing list. Costs increase based on speed, so (like Overnight Prints) expect to pay a premium if you need a rush order. Also, you’ll have to purchase at least 500 postcards to get direct mail services, so it’s not the best fit for smaller projects.
MOO: Best for Top-notch Design of Direct Mail Marketing Materials
MOO
What We Like
- Modern postcard template design
- Print up to 25 different designs in the same run of postcards
- Low minimum product quantity
- Luxury finishes available
What's Missing
- No mailing services, unlike the others on this list
- Some templates only available for specific finishes
- Limited variety of products
- Expensive—more than double the cost of VistaPrint
Best For
- Small businesses that want to impress with high quality and beautifully designed marketing materials for direct mail campaigns
- Luxury brands
- Special occasions where postcards with luxe finishes are desired
Moo may be best known for its unusual printed card sizes and luxe finishes. You can get mini or square business cards, square postcards, half-sheet postcards, and oversize postcards up to 6×9-inches.
Examples of Moo postcard templates
Moo also offers modern, visually impactful templates to give you a jump-start on your direct mail marketing campaign designs. Other direct mail services and printers give you options for paper stock thickness or weight, but Moo additionally offers luxurious materials meant to make people notice the feel and look, such as layered stock with a bright color in the center.
Need inspiration? The Moo blog is filled with design examples and suggestions for how to make your marketing materials stand out from the crowd. Get tips to make your designs pop, whether you design them on Moo or elsewhere.
Another unique feature of Moo is the option to print up to 25 different designs in each order (e.g., 25 different designs for 100 postcards would be four postcards of each design). Unfortunately, you’ll have to take care of your direct mailer’s addressing, postage, and mailing, since Moo only provides printing services.
Moo Postcard Design & Finish Examples
Moo Pricing for Postcards
Standard Postcard | Luxe Postcards | Gold/Silver Foil Postcards | |
|---|---|---|---|
Specifications vs Quantity (Below) | Full-color, standard paper weight, glossy front paper stock | Full-color standard postcards, 8 seam colors, 32pt paper, double thickness for extra impact standard | Full-color standard postcards, 18pt super paper, coat one or both sides |
100 | $55 | $165 | $182 |
250 | $90 | $245 | $270 |
500 | $135 | $365 | $400 |
1,000 | $173 | $490 | $550 |
5,000 | $530 | $900 | $1,000 |
Size Options in Inches |
| ||
Moo Design Editor
The Moo design editor is just as sleek as its designs. It may take you a few minutes to navigate your options, but if you start with one of their templates, you’ll find it’s easy to customize without losing any sophistication. Change fonts, color combinations, and get templates with multiple designs that can be printed in the same run.
Our Expert Opinion
Although Moo isn’t an all-in-one direct mailing service like VistaPrint or PsPrint, Moo is great when you want high-end design, unique sizing, or a luxury finish. Even with a promo code, it’s still more expensive than budget-friendly competitors VistaPrint or 48HourPrint. But if your top concern is sleek design and high-quality finishes, Moo is the go-to for direct mail postcards.
48HourPrint: Widest Range of Postcard & Brochure Sizes
48HourPrint
What We Like
- Mailing services for postcards, brochures, and folded cards
- Dozens of printable products
- Design tool with integrated stock image search
- Every Door Direct Mail® (EDDM) postcard mailing service available
What's Missing
- 500 minimum for direct mail services
- Outdated design editor and templates
- No for-hire design team like VistaPrint
Best For
- Affordable printing
- Custom-size brochures and those wanting the most options for postcard and catalog sizing
- Direct mail services for postcards, brochures, and folded cards
At 48HourPrint.com you can get a myriad of printed marketing materials, including postcards, catalogs, trade show displays, and business cards, just to name a few. Like VistaPrint, you can also purchase branded promotional products, but they don’t offer nearly as wide a range of product types, nor do they have the industry-specific templates needed to make the job of designing your marketing materials easy.
There is a “Discounts & Deals” tab on the home page that makes it easy to see whether there’s a special offer your business might want to take advantage of. At the time of this writing, postcards were listed as 60% off with a discount set not to expire until December 31, 2024 (when viewed at checkout), effectively rendering it the regular price.
48HourPrint.com is one of the most affordable small business printing services for EDDM, although not as cheap as PsPrint. Like PsPrint, 48HourPrint provides direct mail services for materials other than business postcards, including business brochures and folded cards.
Examples of 48HourPrint.com’s design templates for postcards
To get started, you’ll either need to gather images or premade artwork in order to customize one of the templates available via 48HourPrint.com, as they are very basic. However, this is a step forward from previous reviews when no templates were provided.
Examples of 48HourPrint.com Direct Mailers
48HourPrint.com Pricing for Postcards, Brochures & Catalogs (Booklets)
Standard Postcard | Tri-fold Brochure | 8-page Catalog | |
|---|---|---|---|
Specifications vs Quantity (Below) | Full-color, standard paper weight, glossy front paper stock | Full-color, standard glossy paper stock, 8.5”x11” (flat) | Full-color, 8.5”x11” flat, budget glossy, saddle stitched |
100 | $30.16 | $66.68 | $384.91 |
250 | $50.96 | $138.74 | $822.88 |
500 | $60.33 | $186.92 | $888.42 |
1,000 | $72.81 | $286.66 | $1,112.08 |
5,000 | $176.84 | $708.22 | $2,447.83 |
Size Options in Inches |
|
|
|
48HourPrint.com Design Editor
48HourPrint has a design tool, but it’s outdated compared to other business printing services like Moo. Likewise, there are premade templates, but they are super-basic and generic, lacking the industry-specific templates available in VistaPrint as well as the sophistication of VistaPrint and Moo templates.
You can search stock images from the 48HourPrint.com design editor, but to use one, you’ll have to pay a licensing fee. Realistically, businesses wanting to use 48HourPrint.com for low-pricing will want to source postcard, catalog, and brochure design ideas and then create and upload their own artwork.
Alternatively, you could hire a freelance graphic designer via Fiverr to design your marketing mailers. If you want a do-it-yourself mailer design option, head over to Envato Market. You can purchase a single design template or subscribe to Envato Elements for unlimited access to postcard, brochure, and business card templates as well as design elements like logos, icons, and stock imagery.
Our Expert Opinion
48HourPrint’s pricing is comparable to VistaPrint’s, and also offers Every Door Direct Mail, which is an affordable way for a small business with no mailing list to target every address in a city or ZIP code. You won’t find sophisticated templates or an intuitive design editor here, but as long as you are able to provide your own designs, it’s affordable and offers the widest range of sizes for many different types of marketing collateral, including postcard mailers.
Overnight Prints: Fastest Turnaround for Direct Mail Materials
Overnight Prints
What We Like
- Quickest turnaround, as fast as next day
- Low minimum order (25)
- More than 2 dozen different printed products
- Hundreds of templates
- Cookie printing—get your logo or message printed on edible cookies
What's Missing
- Mailing services limited to standard and jumbo 6x11-inch postcards
- Pricier than VistaPrint and 48HourPrint
- Doesn’t feel as high-end as Moo
- Not many business-specific templates
Best For
- Quickest production of printed materials for direct mail campaigns
- Businesses wanting an internal portal where employees can order business cards, letterhead, and other marketing collateral
- Businesses wanting a low-cost design option for brand identity packages (from $199.99)
If you need high-quality direct mail marketing materials as soon as possible, Overnight Prints can literally have them printed and to your door the next day. It also offers more than two dozen types of printed marketing materials, including sugar cookies and macarons for a truly unique marketing campaign.
Overnight Prints’ direct mail services are limited to postcards and oversized mailers. Plus, if you choose Overnight Prints for mailing, you will need to provide your own mailing list as it doesn’t rent or sell mailing lists. There are templates to get your project going, but most aren’t geared toward businesses.
We were initially excited by the fact that Overnight Prints has industry-specific landing pages, thinking they would lead to collateral sets. These would make it easy for a small business to grab multiple types of marketing materials and update them to create a cohesive look across all collateral. However, the landing pages for industries just took us to product categories (e.g., postcards, brochures, and so on), and clicking on a product didn’t bring us to industry-specific designs.
Examples of Overnight Print’s Direct Mailers
Overnight Prints Pricing for Postcards, Brochures & Catalogs (Booklets)
Standard Postcard | Tri-fold Brochure | 8-page Catalog | |
|---|---|---|---|
Specifications vs Quantity (Below) | Full-color, standard size, 15pt paper weight, two-sided, glossy front | Full-color, standard glossy paper stock, 8.5”x11” (flat) | Full-color, no coating, saddle stitched, 8.5”x11” |
100 | $63.69 | $134.39 | $166.45 |
250 | $120.32 | $172.30 | $384.98 |
500 | $132.17 | $199.20 | $770.60 |
1,000 | $201.15 | $289.05 | $1,443,72 |
5,000 | $419.59 | $482.78 | $3,289.18 |
Size Options in Inches |
|
|
|
Overnight Prints Design Editor
Overnight Prints’ design editor is easy to use but not nearly as sophisticated as that of VistaPrint or Moo. Like VistaPrint, you can automatically generate and add a QR code to your direct mailer to drive traffic to your website or a landing page, such as a salon’s appointment booking page.
Our Expert Opinion
Overnight Prints works with you to ensure you get your order when you need it—even if that’s tomorrow. It offers direct mailing services only for postcards and oversized mailers, so if you need to send out something other than postcards, consider PsPrint. Likewise, you can’t buy a targeted mailing list as you can with PsPrint or VistaPrint, or generate one automatically as you can with 48HourPrint.com’s EDDM service.
How We Evaluated the Best Direct Mail Services for Small Businesses
At the basic level, direct mail providers will print (and usually mail) your business’ marketing materials in a timely manner. To be considered the best, a service should stand out for affordability, design options, variety of products, in-house mailing services, or niche specialties and features. A low minimum quantity order of 500 or less is also important to keep the service affordable.
In addition to meeting our criteria, the providers here also give you control over design customization, and most offer templates to help you get started. Here are the criteria we used to determine the best direct mail services:
- Affordability
- Minimum order quantity
- Product offering
- Product quality
- Customization capabilities
- Printing and mailing services
- Ease of use
- Turnaround time
All of the services we recommend here are excellent options depending on your company’s needs. For example, if the cost to design, print, and mail your marketing materials isn’t your top concern, turnaround time may be, and one service offers next-day delivery. Or you might want an especially high-end design for your direct mail marketing campaign, but don’t mind doing the mailing yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What are examples of direct mail?
Direct mail refers to a physical piece of mail with an advertising or marketing message that’s delivered to your mailing address, usually by the U.S. Post Office (USPS). Booklets with coupons, postcards announcing a grand opening, product catalogs, and credit card offers are all common examples of direct mail. Find more inspiration with 25 direct mail ideas for marketing your business.
Does direct mailing still work?
The short answer is yes. In a recent study, those surveyed said direct mail influences how quickly they make buying decisions. Direct mail influences 83% of shoppers regarding what they buy. Also, shoppers tend to spend more when they receive direct mail—about twice as much as those who don’t get mail. Learn more about email marketing in this guide.
How much does direct mail cost?
When you break down the cost of direct mail, pay attention to costs for ad copywriting and design, mailing lists, postage, and printing. If you have your own mailing list and can do the design yourself, costs for printing and mailing could be less than $1 per piece mailed. With professional design services and high-quality finishes, costs could be as much as $10 per piece.
What is Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM)?
An affordable alternative to using a targeted mailing list for a direct mail marketing campaign is to use an EDDM service. While you won’t be able to target specific demographics like age range or salary, you can target cities and ZIP codes. Read about more local advertising ideas here.
Bottom Line
Direct mail is an easy, affordable way to advertise your business. The best providers offer both printing and mailing, as well as templates and design tools. Many also give you the option to buy targeted mailing lists so you can reach your ideal customer. We recommend VistaPrint as the best overall choice for small businesses. It’s affordable and has an intuitive design platform with thousands of business mailer templates to get you started.
