Current eMessage > Creative Solutions > December 2017

Creative Solutions

Your guide to bill inserts

By JoEllen Maras, Creative Services Designer and Kristi Rounds, Creative Services Coordinator

As we see another year come to a close, we thought this might be the perfect time to put together helpful tips for the bill insert process. We hope these tips will make the process easier for you, but keep in mind that you may contact us any time with questions and concerns you may have.

Start with Customer Master
One of the most important steps in the bill insert process is to set up your insert in Customer Master. This step will ensure you are ordering the proper amount and help you determine the selection process for which customers will receive your bill insert. If you need assistance with this step, your Software Support Representative will be happy to assist you.

Don’t forget about the Bill Insert Form
After setting up your insert(s) in Customer Master, it is very important to fill out the online bill insert form. This form lets our Billing Department and the Creative Services Team know you have an insert(s) this month. We understand that sometimes you don’t have all the necessary details for your insert, and that is why we have a comment section at the end of the form for you to provide any necessary explanations or questions. If you have any questions about this form, you can contact Kristi Rounds (402-533-5184 or krounds@maccnet.com) and she will be happy to walk you through the process.

Timing is everything
A good rule of thumb for making sure your bill inserts are ready on time for inserting is to remember the numbers five and 10. If you are having your inserts printed elsewhere and delivered to MACC, please make sure they arrive five business days in advance of your bill transmit day. If you are having files printed by MACC’s Creative Services Team, please send artwork to us at least 10 business days prior to your transmit day.

So how big can an insert be?
It is very critical that inserts be sized correctly to ensure proper insertion into your monthly bills. The majority of our clients’ inserts are either a 1/3 page (8.5” x 3.66”) or a full page (8.5” x 11”) that is tri-folded into a 1/3 page.

It is important to note that while 1/3 page and full page are the most popular sizes, we do accept inserts that fit into the following parameters:

Minimum 3” tall x 6” wide
Maximum 4” tall x 8.5” wide

If you want your insert to have a bleed, where the image goes all the way to edge of the paper, please make sure to include crop marks with the image extending a minimum of 1/8” beyond the crop marks.

The image below should help you understand the size requirements.

They say you want a resolution….?
In printing, DPI (dots per inch) refers to the output resolution of a printer. The more dots you can squeeze into a square inch, the sharper your image will be. Our preferred DPI for printing your inserts is 300dpi. Most images copied off the Internet or a website are only 72dpi and not suitable for printing on paper.

Print notify doesn’t count for inserts
If your company receives a file for review prior to the printing of your bills, please remember that this does NOT apply to your inserts. Your inserts still need to be printed and in our hands five days prior to transmit.

We’re here to help!
Our Creative Services Team is on stand-by to help you with ALL your marketing needs. Our services include graphic design, marketing plans, website development and everything in between. No project is too big or too small…we love them all! Please contact us at macccreativeservices@maccnet.com for your next marketing project.