Direct Mail Design… The Roles of Form & Function

If you are like most of our customers, you have a lot of questions about designing an effective direct mail marketing piece. Should you use a post card, a self-mailer, or an envelope?  Use lots of copy or lots of white space? Announce who the mail is from or build the reader’s curiosity? With so many variables to consider, where does one begin to seek the right answers?

To help sort through the maze of interlocking decisions, remember that there are two ways to judge how well a direct mail piece has been designed. One set of standards comes from the discipline of good graphic design; the other comes from what makes mail move efficiently through the mail stream. We believe both are important, and that a good strategy is to thoroughly understand each set.

Targeted Marketing… Factors That Influence Success

Decades ago, when there were fewer products and fewer brands, mass marketing made sense. Often one company owned an entire category. When the only coffee sold in supermarkets was ground and in one-pound cans, marketing to all coffee drinkers as an undifferentiated group was easy. The choice was between brands, each making taste claims.

Think how this has changed! Not only has the number of companies selling coffee increased, there are now more brands offered by each company. And at the same time, coffee products have proliferated — regular, decaffeinated, blends, flavored, ground, whole bean, instant, cans, packages, pouches, even individual portions. Clearly mass marketing is not the most effective way to advertise all these choices.

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The Importance of Your Company’s Mail List

As we’ve mentioned before, the success of any direct mail marketing campaign depends primarily on the mail list. Studies have shown that at least 60% of the response rate can be attributed to the mail list, while only about 20% each is attributable to the offer and the appearance of the mail piece. Given the importance of a mailing list, we recommend that all our customers understand the basics in order to make the best use of any list – internally-generated or purchased.

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The Elements of Direct Mail That Lead to Marketing Success

DirectMailIf you’ve been reading our most recent newsletters, you’ll notice a theme – that traditional direct mail, email, and social media work best together. All have their places in a marketer’s tool kit, they do not cancel the need for the others, and they may even work symbiotically as when a post card is sent offering a premium if the recipient provides an e-mail address or likes a social media site.

Some Audiences Prefer Traditional Direct Mail

While we acknowledge the growing importance of email and web-based communication to reach customers and prospects, computers and mobile wireless devices like smartphones cannot by themselves reach everyone in a business or organization’s target market. That could change as the use of mobile wireless devices spreads (which is happening rapidly), but until that time, traditional direct mail still has a valuable place as a marketing tool.

Traditional direct mail is a good choice for some audiences (such as an older demographic whose adoption of web-based communications may be lagging younger audiences) and for anyone who clearly states a preference for direct mail.

Traditional direct mail is also a good choice for businesses and organizations whose target audience is local. Sustaining membership campaigns, fundraisers, and financial support appeals by community-based non-profits are good examples where outreach by traditional direct mail to the homes of donors is likely to outperform email or web-based appeal.

Anticipating the addition of, or even the switch to web-based communication, businesses and organizations are collecting e-mail addresses and starting permission-based newsletters and blogs. But until that task is complete, traditional direct mail could be the only way to reach a customer or prospect.

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The Seven Printed Items Every Business Needs

sevenIn the past, all sales and marketing materials were printed. Later, the Internet added new ways to reach customers and prospects, and later still provided a way to interact with them, sometimes in real time. Over time, Internet-based marketing replaced some printed materials, enhanced others, and also provided new marketing tools.

Despite the popularity and success of these new marketing techniques, there remain some basic printed items that all businesses need:

• The corporate identity package consisting of 1) business cards, 2) letterheads & envelopes, 3) note paper, 4) mailing labels, and

• Sales material consisting of 5) a company brochure, 6) note pads, and 7) a direct mail piece.

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The Role of Print in Social Media Marketing

salesUse of social media sites has exploded in the last several years. In February 2005, the Pew Research Center conducted the first of six surveys as part of the Internet & American Life Project. In 2005, only 2% of adults who used the Internet were using a social media site. That number has increased to over 75% in 2016.

Along with this growth, social media sites have evolved from purely personal to commercial use – a way for people to connect to a business and its fans. Businesses find they can use social media sites for marketing purposes, such as engaging in a dialogue with customers, building brand awareness, making offers, providing coupons or samples, and alerting customers to upcoming promotions or product launches (sneak previews).

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Professional Writing Fundamentals

writerThe time to begin an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really want to say.
Mark Twain

The ability to write effective copy is an important skill to acquire if you are part of your company or organization’s marketing team. In this issue we will discuss the characteristics of effective copy and reveal some techniques to improve your skills.

Effective marketing copy has an accepted form which is in three parts:

  • a headline or attention-grabbing first sentence
  • the development of the sales pitch
  • a call to action

Whether you are writing a sales letter, ad copy, a brochure, or a direct mail marketing piece, the same three parts will always be present.

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A Guide to Postcard Marketing

postcard-cmyk“Postcards are the simplest, most cost-effective format available. They’re an excellent choice for making an announcement or driving customers to a store, website, or event.”

United States Postal Service

A postcard is one of the most versatile, inexpensive, and effective tools you can have in your marketing tool kit. Compared to the effort and cost of a brochure or a traditional direct mail package mailed in an envelope, a postcard is quick, easy, and a great way to stretch your marketing budget. In addition, some kinds of postcards will help you keep your mailing list updated.

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Maximizing the Advantages of the USPS Direct Mail Program

DirectMail-CMYKIn an effort to help businesses reach new prospects, the United States Postal Service (USPS) launched their Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) program in March 2011, and it has grown steadily over the years. The service allows you to focus on your surrounding neighborhoods as a way to expand your customer base. According to the April 2010 BizReport, average consumers spend 85% of their disposable income within five miles of their homes — which means your best customers may be very nearby.

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Developing an In-house Mail List

housesDirect mail is a valuable tool for businesses and organizations to keep in touch with active customers or members, re-establish a relationship with inactive customers or lapsed members, and introduce the business or organization to prospects. Direct mail can be combined with social media outreach for greater effectiveness together than either used alone.

A direct mail campaign requires an attractively designed mail piece, content, and a mail list. If asked which of these three things – the design of the mail piece, its content, or who it is sent to – is the most important in generating response, what would you say? You may be surprised to learn that who it is sent to (the mailing list) is three times as important as either design or content in generating response.

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