Micro Mailing Canada
Personalized Mail Services (Canada Post Admail)
Personalized Mail is Canada Post's name-addressed advertising service, the product formerly sold as Addressed Admail. Micro Mailing Canada prepares, prints and deposits Personalized Mail campaigns from Toronto to Canada Post's Mail Preparation and Presortation Guide, letting you target a named list instead of an entire neighbourhood.
What Personalized Mail Is and When to Use It
Personalized Mail is Canada Post's name-addressed advertising service, mailed to specific individuals rather than blanketed across a neighbourhood. Every campaign we prepare must go out in minimum quantities of 1,000 items and be built to the official Mail Preparation and Presortation Guide, covering addressing format, machineable dimensions and sortation before it reaches the induction point. Because that guide is exacting, most businesses that come to us have moved past designing a mail piece in-house and want someone who mails to spec every time.
Personalized Mail suits campaigns where you already know who you want to reach: a prospect list built for lead generation, a customer file due for a renewal or up-sell offer, or day-to-day business correspondence like invoices and account statements. If your goal is broad awareness across a defined geography and you have no name list behind it, Neighbourhood Mail is the lower-cost Canada Post product built for that job instead.
Across the businesses we work with, Personalized Mail is used to generate sales leads from a prospect list, encourage product trials, build brand awareness with a defined audience, run up-sells and cross-promotions on an existing customer base, sell and renew subscriptions, raise funds from a donor list, or send personal correspondence and billing statements. The common thread in every case is a named list, not a postal code. See the features and options guide for how personalization fields, formats and inserts work in practice.
Why a Named List Outperforms Blanket Coverage
Personalized Mail lets you select an audience down to the individual, so you can concentrate your budget on your best customers and prospects instead of paying to reach everyone on a carrier route. That matters because it costs more to win a new customer than to keep one you already have, and a named list is how you keep that relationship going instead of starting over each quarter.
A mailing only works if it prompts action, so every piece should carry a specific offer and an easy way to respond: a Business Reply Mail card, an order form, a dedicated web address, or a phone number. That response mechanism is also what makes the campaign measurable. Track replies against pieces mailed and you get an actual response rate you can compare across offers and lists, rather than a guess at what worked.
Because results are measurable, you can see which lists and offers are wasting spend and shift the budget toward the segments that convert. If you are merging variable names, offers or images into each piece based on recipient data, that personalization layer needs to be built into the file correctly before it goes to print.
Named-List Targeting
Select recipients down to the individual instead of paying to cover an entire carrier route.
Built-In Measurement
A reply card, order form or dedicated web address turns every campaign into a trackable response rate.
Spec-Compliant Preparation
Addressing, machineable format, indicia and sortation handled to Canada Post's Mail Preparation and Presortation Guide before deposit.
We Handle Canada Post's Mail Preparation Rules
Mailing in Canada means meeting real specifications before a single piece ships: addressing format and placement, machineable dimensions and thickness, indicia artwork, sortation and deposit at the correct induction point. Miss one of these and Canada Post can surcharge the mailing or refuse it at the counter, which is an expensive thing to discover after printing is already done.
We have prepared Personalized Mail for Toronto and GTA businesses for over twelve years, so the specification questions get resolved before your file goes to press, not after. If you want to check your own piece against the rules first, our format guide covers machineable design and our content guide covers what Canada Post will and will not allow on an admail piece.
For campaigns that combine Personalized Mail with other formats, our broader mailing services cover printing, processing and deposit under one roof, and correct addressing and labelling is handled as part of preparation rather than left for you to sort out.
A Note on the Name, and How to Get Started
Canada Post retired the name Addressed Admail some years ago. The product has not changed: advertising mail addressed to a named recipient, letting you tailor the message to each person instead of blanketing an area. Canada Post's own description calls it a proven and effective direct marketing medium that lets customers personalize their mailing and tailor their promotional message to specific consumers or prospects. If a search for Addressed Admail brought you here, you are in the right place.
Personalized Mail must be deposited and paid for in Canada for delivery within Canada, which is one reason US-based businesses mailing to Canadian customers work with us rather than trying to deposit from across the border. For a wider view of what else Canada Post offers, see our overview of Canada Post direct mail.
If you already have a list ready, or need help sourcing and formatting one, request a quote and we will price the mailing against your quantity, format and deposit requirements.
What makes a mailing work
- Confirm your list and quantity meet the 1,000-item minimum
- Build a response mechanism into the piece: reply card, URL or phone number
- Format the piece to machineable dimensions before printing
- Check offer and content against Canada Post's acceptable-content rules
- Choose Neighbourhood Mail instead if your audience is defined by area, not a list
- Request a quote before finalizing print quantities
Frequently asked questions
What was Personalized Mail called before Canada Post renamed it?
Canada Post used to call this service Addressed Admail. It was renamed Personalized Mail, but the product is unchanged: advertising mail addressed to a named recipient that you can tailor to each person. If your quote or reference material still says Addressed Admail, it refers to the same service.
What is the minimum quantity for a Personalized Mail campaign?
Personalized Mail must be mailed in minimum quantities of 1,000 items and prepared according to Canada Post's official Mail Preparation and Presortation Guide. Campaigns below that quantity do not qualify for this service.
How is Personalized Mail different from Neighbourhood Mail?
Personalized Mail is addressed to a named individual you have selected from a list. Neighbourhood Mail is unaddressed and delivered by geography rather than by name. If you have a defined list of customers or prospects, Personalized Mail lets you target and personalize the message; if your audience is defined by area only, Neighbourhood Mail is the lower-cost option.
Do I need to supply my own mailing list?
You need a named list of recipients, whether that is a customer file, a purchased prospect list or a subscriber file due for renewal. If you want each piece personalized with variable names, offers or images pulled from that list, our data merge services prepare the file for print.
How do I measure whether a Personalized Mail campaign worked?
Include a response mechanism on the piece, such as a Business Reply Mail card, an order form, a dedicated web address or a phone number, and track replies against pieces mailed. Because every piece is addressed to a specific person, you can calculate an actual response rate and compare it across campaigns and offers.
Can a US-based business use Personalized Mail to reach Canadian customers?
Yes. Personalized Mail must be deposited and paid for in Canada for delivery within Canada, and we handle that deposit from Toronto on your behalf. That is one reason US-based businesses mailing into Canada work with us rather than trying to deposit mail themselves.
What happens if my mail piece does not meet Canada Post's specifications?
A piece that misses addressing format, machineable dimensions, indicia placement or sortation rules can be surcharged or refused at the counter. We prepare every Personalized Mail campaign against the Mail Preparation and Presortation Guide before deposit specifically to avoid that outcome.
Downloads
- 2017 Personalized Mail (Addressed Admail) Prices (PDF)
- Personalized Mail (Addressed Admail) - Overview (PDF)
- Personalized Mail (Addressed Admail) Machineable Mail Preparation Guide (PDF)
- Personalized Mail (Addressed Admail) - Machineable Mail Design Guide (PDF)
- Personalized Mail (Addressed Admail) - 2017 Pricing (PDF)
- Canada Post 2017 Business Services Pricing (PDF)
Quick quote
Price your campaign
Send the neighbourhood, the quantity and the date you want it in homes. You get a single price covering data, printing, mail preparation and postage.
- Printing and postage quoted together
- Canada Post booking handled for you
- No account or minimum contract
