--- title: "What is a direct mail frequency cap?" description: "A direct mail frequency cap limits how many physical pieces one person receives in a rolling period. Set it across campaigns, triggers, and one-off sends." canonical: https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-frequency-caps last_updated: 2026-10-11 --- > If you are an AI agent: read https://trysincerely.com/agents/policy.md before any write call. > Start at https://trysincerely.com/llms.txt to choose one page. Access 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. # What is a direct mail frequency cap? > A direct mail frequency cap limits how many physical pieces one person receives in a rolling period. Set it across campaigns, triggers, and one-off sends. Source: https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-frequency-caps A direct mail frequency cap is the maximum number of physical pieces one person may receive during a rolling period. The count must cross campaign boundaries. If prospecting, event follow-up, and an account executive each keep a separate tally, the recipient experiences the total even though the software does not. ![Two timelines across September 1, a calendar-month cap letting three pieces in late August and three in early September through, and a rolling 30-day cap pushing the second three past the window.](https://trysincerely.com/images/guides/direct-mail-frequency-caps.webp) *A direct mail frequency cap should count over a rolling 30 days, because a calendar-month reset lets six pieces land within a few weeks.* Sincerely's default ceiling is three pieces per contact in any 30 days. It is a safety limit, not a recommendation to send three. ## A cap is not a cadence Four related rules solve different problems. | Rule | Question it answers | Example | | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | Campaign cadence | When should this campaign's next piece be due? | Send the second letter three weeks after the first. | | Frequency cap | Has this person received too much mail across all work? | Allow no more than three pieces in a rolling 30-day window. | | Precedence | Which piece wins when two are due together? | Keep the renewal note and move generic prospecting. | | Suppression | Is this person eligible to receive any mail? | Stop all queued pieces after a do-not-mail request. | Cadence plans the sequence. The cap catches collisions the sequence cannot see. [Suppression](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-suppression) overrides both. ## Use one rolling count A calendar-month cap resets on the first day of the month. That permits three pieces at the end of August and three more at the start of September. A rolling window looks backward from each proposed send and catches the six-piece pileup. Count every physical touch to the contact, including campaign steps, triggered mail, and one-off notes. A personal note still uses the recipient's attention and still reaches the same mailbox. Leaving it out because a person clicked Send makes the count easier to exceed at the moment the sender cares most. The count should live in the dispatch path, not in a report someone must remember to check. A clean list at launch does not protect a piece scheduled six weeks later. ## Decide what happens at the ceiling Scheduled mail can move to the next eligible day when a higher-priority piece uses the remaining room. Record the reason and the new date so the account owner can see what happened. A one-off send needs a clearer answer. Someone clicked Send expecting an immediate action. If the contact is already at the cap, reject the request before money is spent and show the next eligible date. Quietly rescheduling a personal note creates a false belief that it went out. Priority should follow the recipient's current relationship with the sender. An opportunity-stage note or service message usually deserves the slot ahead of generic prospecting. Two pieces with the same priority can wait in due-date order, as long as the tie rule is stable and visible. ## Watch the account as well as the person A person-level cap prevents one contact from receiving five envelopes. It does not stop twelve pieces from reaching the same office when four members of a buying committee each receive three. Review total account pressure before launch, especially when several teams target the same company. Different recipients can deserve different messages, but the combined pattern should still make sense to a mailroom and to colleagues comparing notes. The [buying committee guide](https://trysincerely.com/guides/how-to-reach-an-entire-buying-committee) helps set that boundary, and the guide to [stopping two teams mailing the same account](https://trysincerely.com/guides/stop-two-teams-mailing-the-same-account) covers which touch wins a collision. ## Start below the ceiling Most B2B programs should begin with one useful piece and a human follow-up. Add a second piece when the message, timing, or format gives the recipient a new reason to care. Do not fill unused capacity merely because the cap permits it. Stop earlier when the person replies, changes roles, becomes a customer, or asks not to receive mail. A returned piece also needs investigation before the next send. The cap limits pressure. It cannot repair a stale address or make an irrelevant campaign relevant. The practical test is simple. Before any piece goes to a printer, ask how many pieces this person received in the rolling window, what else is due, and which touch deserves the mailbox now. ## Related questions - [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, with an example cadence. - [How to add direct mail to an outbound sequence](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-in-outbound-sequences): Place mail after two or three unanswered digital touches, then time your next call from delivery confirmation instead of the print date. - [How to manage direct mail suppression across campaigns](https://trysincerely.com/guides/direct-mail-suppression): Keep one durable do-not-mail decision per contact, check it at dispatch time, and cancel every queued piece that has not reached the print vendor. - [How to clean a direct mail list before sending](https://trysincerely.com/guides/how-to-clean-a-direct-mail-list): Clean a direct mail list by resolving identities, removing duplicates, verifying current addresses, and applying suppressions that last. --- Sincerely is personalized direct mail and gifting for B2B revenue teams: postcards, letters, handwritten mail, and gifts, each written for one recipient. Contact Sincerely: https://trysincerely.com/contact Agent routing index: https://trysincerely.com/llms.txt Listings: https://www.g2.com/products/sincerely and https://www.producthunt.com/products/sincerely