About Zairmail

Welcome to Zairmail — the fastest and easiest way to send mail

Zairmail was founded September 9, 1999 (9/9/99) in Portland, Oregon, by three technology executives with extensive experience in technology and telecommunications. The company was jointly funded by Hewlett Packard and Draper Fisher Jurvetson with the primary goal of sending a (postal) letter as fast and easy as sending an email message.

In the postal community this type of service offering is called hybrid mail — the transformation of digital documents into physical mail. Zairmail invented the concept of short-run hybrid mail working with the United States Postal Service in 2000. In fact, Zairmail was selected as one of only five authorized online affiliates of the USPS.

Only two of these five USPS affiliates offered hybrid mail, and Zairmail acquired the assets and business operations of the other, eLetter, in 2001.

Zairmail has remained true to its core mission since that time. The company has created a completely automated mailing system for postcards, letters, snap-packs, self-mailers, and other popular formats. Campaigns are launched online in less than 60 seconds: just upload a document, upload a list, approve an online proof, and Zairmail takes it from there. Zairmail routes the direct mail campaign digitally to the optimal production facility based on mail destination and equipment required. The mail is then printed, folded, inserted, addressed, and mailed — all on high-speed commercial production equipment. Zairmail also uses an intelligent mail barcode (IMB) to track mail all the way to the point of final delivery.

The end result is that Zairmail offers an ultra-fast and powerful, yet simple-to-use tool for sending mail which costs 50% less than traditional tools and techniques. There is no expensive software, publishing tools, or special training required — just access to a browser and common desktop tools.

Based on its long-standing partnership with Microsoft — Zairmail has been a certified Microsoft partner for well over a decade — Zairmail also supports features unique in the industry such as a native Microsoft Word mail-merge.

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) reports that, on average, it takes more than two weeks to launch a direct mail campaign. Using Zairmail it takes 60 seconds (or less) to launch a campaign; production to mail in 48 hours (same day mailing is available); and 1 to 3 days for delivery nationwide — 93% overnight local delivery.

There is no job too large or too small; in fact, Zairmail specializes in short-run direct mail for small to medium business (SMB). The majority of commercial printers and direct mail service providers are looking for large projects — 10,000, 25,000, 100,000 pieces or more. Of course, Zairmail can handle these too (faster and easier); however, most discourage smaller jobs because in a non-automated workflow they require just as much effort as larger jobs with less potential for profit. The automated tools and production network created by Zairmail allow us to aggregate production and make it fast, efficient, and cost effective to produce even the smallest campaigns — as small as one piece of mail.

Over the years Zairmail has also been inspired by a story shared in confidence by a USPS executive. He had encouraged his father, a small business owner, many times, to use direct mail to grow his business. Unbeknownst to him, his father decided to take him up on his advice. He went down to the local post office, walked up to the counter, and said "I'd really like to use direct mail to grow my business, what have you got for me?" His question was greeted with a blank stare and the sound of crickets.

This is a dilemma shared by many small business owners. They have the passion and knowledge required to deliver their products or services. They know that direct mail, when used properly, is the most effective tool for growing new sales — but where can they find what they need to get started?

Direct mail marketing is a very technical marketing discipline. Getting the mail out the door requires a broad collection of production equipment (printers, coaters, sorters …). It also requires software, very expensive and specialized software, to process the mailing for presentation to the USPS service — to assure the lowest postage rate and fastest delivery. To make matters even worse, the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM), the USPS document that lays out all the technical rules for commercial mail, covers over 1,250 single spaced pages of detailed rules. Make a single mistake and the USPS will reject your mailing and you are back to square one with a pile of wasted paper for the recycling bin.

Starting with its core direct mail service offering Zairmail set about removing all the obstacles an small to medium business (SMB) might face when launching a direct mail campaign.

Zairmail has the production equipment, specialized software, and understands all the technical rules that govern direct mail. Zairmail also provides a free template library with high resolution artwork that serves as a starting point for creating new documents. Zairmail provides an extensive library of articles that can help make direct mail campaigns more effective. Zairmail provides a daily newsletter containing tips and techniques in quick easy to digest factoids. In addition, Zairmail is simplifying the process of finding and buying targeted mailing lists.

Zairmail has worked extensively with industry leading partners such as Acxiom, Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, Transunion, Equifax, InfoUSA, and many others, to provide targeted mailing lists based on detailed demographic criteria. In fact, Zairmail provides a fully automated system for pulling list counts and purchasing mailing lists which is included free with a basic Zairmail account. Zairmail also offers a number of powerful tools for storing, comparing, and processing mailing lists. If you need to reach a very specialized target audience — Zairmail makes it easy to find and process the list that you need.

Zairmail was also encouraged by larger customers to provide a private label solution that can handle all the marketing needs for their channel partners. These customers wanted a solution that would handle all their integrated direct mail campaigns end-to-end; and also serve as a focal point for all their other channel marketing activities and programs as well.

Based on these requests, Zairmail began offering the private label Channel Marketing Portal (CMP) for organizations that sell through "channels". These organizations typically have distributors, dealers, franchisees, direct sales people or retail stores, spread across multiple locations. Zairmail has launched over 50 private label Channel Marketing Portals for organizations in a wide range of industries which include: banking, insurance, real estate, high technology, communications, retail sales, hospitality, multi-level marketing, and others.

Zairmail CMP clients typically post all their corporate approved templates for direct mail, business cards, logo items, presentations, banners, print ads, training videos, and all other marketing materials. Channel partners can access the portal anytime (24 x 7) to market using corporate approved materials. Of course, portal activity is tracked in real-time so it is easy to monitor and manage marketing activity. This also allows organizations to protect their brand, message, and offers with only limited support staff.

Zairmail was also encouraged by customers in the mortgage and banking industries to create a channel marketing solution that could automate mortgage marketing and assure compliance — in the wake of the sub-prime mortgage melt-down (2009), compliance has become a matter of life and death for financial services firms in the banking and mortgage industries.

To address these customer concerns Zairmail launched the Mortgage Marketing and Compliance System (MMCS). The MMCS contains all the features included in the CMP; plus some specialized features for mortgage marketing such as access to credit score data, real-time call tracking, and custom/trackable landing pages that can capture mortgage leads. This is a complete turn-key private label system for mortgage marketing that helps assure compliance while growing loan volume.

Best of all, these packaged solutions, the CMP and MMCS, are offered completely for free to our high volume customers who require them. Our goal has always been, and continues to be, using technology to create automated solutions to marketing challenges. Of course, we do have a very specific and well developed expertise in automated direct mail solutions.

The key difference with the products and services offered by Zairmail is that we are not a commercial printer, mail house, or list broker. Zairmail is a technology-enabled service provider that focuses on using automation and technology to solve marketing challenges — especially direct mail. We have an extremely technical staff of Software Engineers that understand both marketing automation and direct mail and have developed over one million lines of code; built out an integrated production network that spans North America; and created the fastest and easiest way to send mail regardless of campaign size. It is this focus on automation and technology, rather than printing and production alone, which marks the distinct difference provided by Zairmail.

Over the years, Zairmail has been responsible for many important direct mail "industry firsts."

These Zairmail industry firsts include:

Our focus on technology and automation in the online marketing and direct mail marketplace continues in earnest. We continue to innovate and refine our offerings based on customer feedback and industry trends. With more than 15 years of real-world experience reliably delivering break-through solutions for our customers, we understand the specialized needs of our clients, and our focus on building even more powerful solutions in the future continues with a passion.

Got any new ideas, unique requirements, special programs, or just questions concerning a campaign or a specialized mailing list? Give us a shout. We are always here to help.

Zairmail is the fastest and easiest way to send mail. Zairmail is your Special Delivery!

 

Get Started with a Free Account. No Credit Card Required.

Or log in with your Existing Account (Click Here)