Summer GouldOne of my favorite things to do is to look at the direct mail I get at home as well as at work. I like to see what people are doing, offering, and how. This can help me give ideas to customers for future projects or it can be an example of what not to do. Either way, every piece of mail I get can provide examples. So why am I going to talk about my mail? Because I want to give you real-life examples of mail pieces that work!
Mail piece No. 1: Prospecting
- 6×11″ envelope
- Letter and flat shaped piece
First, using a 6×11″ envelope is attention getting because it is larger, but even better the size allows the mailer to pay letter rate postage. Way to stand out and save postage! The envelope was yellow not white. There was a special tag line in blue that said “Can we read your mind?” They built curiosity for me to open the envelope to see what was inside. So, as I pulled the inserts out of the envelope, I immediately realized that the flat shape was a pop up. As soon as I set it down, it popped up into the shape of a house. (There are many shape options for you to choose from to pick the best fit for your marketing.) Now someone that is not used to a pop up will have a little startle when then set it down, but that is not a bad thing, its fun! There was messaging on all 4 side of the house and I could lift the roof to find more messaging there. Plenty of room for the call to action and important information. Be unique, grab attention and get the sale!
Mail piece No. 2: Retention
- 6×9″ mailer, roll folded with 3 panels
The first thing I noticed about this piece was the colors. It was very vibrant with a white box knock out for my mailing address. I could not tell was what the image was by just looking at the mail panel. I needed to open the mailer to see the full picture. That built my curiosity to open it. The one downside was that the mailer was tabbed, I prefer mailers that are fugitive glued closed so that they are not only easier to open without tearing, but they don’t take away from the design. Anyway, after opening both folds to see the flat piece I could see the full image on the mail panel side and then on the inside the bottom panel had 2 coupon cards. One offered me a 25% discount on my purchase and the other offer was a 50% discount if I got a friend to buy also. (Great idea, I really want 50% off so I will find a friend to buy with me. They get a new customer in the process.) I loved the personalization of the offers, when you send me discounts on the things I need or want, I am going to buy them.
These 2 direct mail examples worked on me. Why? Because they got my attention and the offers were relevant to me. If there are only two things you take away from reading today, I hope that they are:
- Direct mail needs to stand out
- Direct mail needs to be relevant to the recipient
If you create your direct mail campaigns and use these concepts your ROI will show it. Direct mail is not viewed as intrusive and can be held onto for a period of time without the issue of being forgotten. It does require you to target your lists to mail to only people who are interested in your offer, but with variable data printing you can mail multiple offers in the same mailing. If you are purchasing a list of prospects, make sure to use demographics, psychographics and more to correctly target them. Are you ready to be creative and make the best direct mail piece yet? Do you have any pieces that you received that were great?
