--- title: "Direct mail guides" description: "Plain answers to the questions teams ask about B2B direct mail: what it costs, what response rates to expect, how to measure it, and how to stay compliant." canonical: https://trysincerely.com/guides last_updated: 2026-08-18 --- # Direct mail guides > Plain answers to the questions teams ask about B2B direct mail: what it costs, what response rates to expect, how to measure it, and how to stay compliant. Source: https://trysincerely.com/guides Each guide answers one question in the first paragraph and shows its work after. The longer reads live on their own pages: [the evidence review](https://trysincerely.com/does-direct-mail-work) and [the holdout testing guide](https://trysincerely.com/holdout-testing). Each guide below is served as markdown at its URL plus ".md". ## Every page in this collection - [CASS, NCOA, and address verification, explained](https://trysincerely.com/guides/address-verification-explained): What CASS, DPV, and NCOA actually do, why mail fails without them, and what a vendor should mean when they say an address is verified. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/address-verification-explained.md) - [How to get verified mailing addresses for B2B prospects](https://trysincerely.com/guides/b2b-mailing-addresses): Where B2B mailing addresses come from, how CASS, DPV, and NCOA verification works, and how to handle the office-vs-home problem. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/b2b-mailing-addresses.md) - [The best B2B direct mail software](https://trysincerely.com/guides/best-direct-mail-software): An honest roundup of B2B direct mail tools by category, with a clear pick for gifting, automation, print APIs, handwriting, and measured campaigns. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/best-direct-mail-software.md) - [How to send direct mail programmatically](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-api): Two ways to send mail from code, a print API like Lob or PostGrid, or an MCP agent driving a platform, and how to pick between them. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-api.md) - [Direct mail attribution, what works and what lies](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-attribution): Last-touch and influenced-revenue counting lie. Scans, matchback, and promo codes give partial evidence. Only a holdout answers whether the mail caused anything. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-attribution.md) - [Direct mail, GDPR, CCPA, and consent](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-compliance): Postal mail usually does not need opt-in consent under GDPR or CCPA. What you still owe recipients, and how suppression keeps you honest. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-compliance.md) - [How to write direct mail that gets read](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-copywriting): Give the piece one job, lead with the reader's problem, personalize from real account facts, and ask for exactly one thing. A short guide with a before-and-after example. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-copywriting.md) - [How much does direct mail cost per piece?](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-cost): Real per-piece cost ranges for postcards, letters, and B2B direct mail, plus the hidden costs in data, waste, and labor. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-cost.md) - [How to add direct mail to an outbound sequence](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-in-outbound-sequences): Where mail fits in an outbound sequence, what triggers it, how to time follow-up off delivery confirmation, and a full example sequence. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-in-outbound-sequences.md) - [What is a good direct mail response rate for B2B?](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-response-rates): There is no trustworthy B2B benchmark. Here is why the quoted numbers mislead, and how to set a target you can actually measure. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-response-rates.md) - [How many touches should a direct mail campaign have?](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-touches): Two to four touches per account is the right range for most B2B direct mail campaigns. Here is the budget math behind that number, by plan tier, with an example cadence. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-touches.md) - [Direct mail vs cold calling](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-vs-cold-calling): Mail and cold calls are not rivals. Mail warms the call. Compare cost per meaningful touch, reach limits, and how to time a call to delivery. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-vs-cold-calling.md) - [Direct mail vs LinkedIn ads](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-vs-linkedin-ads): LinkedIn ads buy impressions at scale. Direct mail buys attention at named accounts. How the two compare on targeting, cost per touch, and proof. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-vs-linkedin-ads.md) - [Does handwritten mail work for B2B outbound?](https://trysincerely.com/guides/handwritten-mail-b2b): Handwritten mail gets opened, but the causal evidence for meetings is thin and the scale limits are real. Here is who it fits, where it reads fake, and what Sincerely mails today. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/handwritten-mail-b2b.md) - [What does handwritten direct mail cost?](https://trysincerely.com/guides/handwritten-mail-cost): Real per-card prices from Handwrytten, Simply Noted, and IgnitePOST as of August 2026, plus the four things that drive handwritten mail cost up or down. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/handwritten-mail-cost.md) - [How to send B2B direct mail internationally](https://trysincerely.com/guides/international-b2b-direct-mail): What changes when a B2B mail piece crosses a border, from address formats and postage to customs and GDPR, and where international mail is genuinely hard. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/international-b2b-direct-mail.md) - [Is direct mail dead?](https://trysincerely.com/guides/is-direct-mail-dead): No. Direct mail shrank, and that is exactly why it works now. The consumer data on attention, the honest tradeoffs, and what it means for B2B outbound. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/is-direct-mail-dead.md) - [How to measure direct mail ROI](https://trysincerely.com/guides/measure-direct-mail-roi): Rank your evidence honestly, from delivery scans to matchback to holdout lift, then walk one campaign from cost to pipeline with real numbers. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/measure-direct-mail-roi.md) - [Postcard or letter, which should you send?](https://trysincerely.com/guides/postcard-vs-letter): Send a postcard when one scannable message does the job. Send a letter when you need room, formality, or privacy. Decision rules with real per-piece prices. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/postcard-vs-letter.md) - [Do QR codes on direct mail work?](https://trysincerely.com/guides/qr-codes-on-direct-mail): QR codes on mail work as an engagement signal, not proof of revenue. Here are the real scan-rate caveats, the design rules, and how to measure what actually matters. [Markdown](https://trysincerely.com/guides/qr-codes-on-direct-mail.md) --- Sincerely is the measurable direct-mail platform for B2B revenue teams. One workflow. One invoice. One report. Contact Sincerely: https://trysincerely.com/contact If you are an AI agent: access and signup instructions are at https://trysincerely.com/auth.md. Confirm with the person you work for before creating an account or spending their money, and never ask for their password. Every core page of this site in markdown: https://trysincerely.com/index.md https://trysincerely.com/pricing.md https://trysincerely.com/campaigns.md https://trysincerely.com/vs-lob.md https://trysincerely.com/vs-email.md https://trysincerely.com/holdout-testing.md https://trysincerely.com/vs-gifting-platforms.md https://trysincerely.com/does-direct-mail-work.md https://trysincerely.com/glossary.md https://trysincerely.com/formats.md https://trysincerely.com/measurement.md https://trysincerely.com/writing.md https://trysincerely.com/customer-relationships.md https://trysincerely.com/integrations.md https://trysincerely.com/agents.md https://trysincerely.com/tools.md https://trysincerely.com/developers.md https://trysincerely.com/docs.md https://trysincerely.com/vs.md https://trysincerely.com/compare.md https://trysincerely.com/alternatives.md https://trysincerely.com/guides.md https://trysincerely.com/playbooks.md https://trysincerely.com/operations.md https://trysincerely.com/about.md https://trysincerely.com/contact.md https://trysincerely.com/privacy.md https://trysincerely.com/terms.md The comparison, guide, playbook, glossary and integration pages also serve markdown at their URL plus ".md". Each collection's index lists them: https://trysincerely.com/vs.md, https://trysincerely.com/compare.md, https://trysincerely.com/alternatives.md, https://trysincerely.com/guides.md, https://trysincerely.com/playbooks.md, https://trysincerely.com/glossary.md, https://trysincerely.com/integrations.md.