How a Direct Mail campaign can make your marketing
When you’re sending a letter, what do you focus on most? The correct grammar, spelling and information are vital – but the last thing you’d think of could make or break your next batch of mail.
What about the presentation of the letter, or the envelope? The look of your mail is the first thing your recipient is going to notice as it lands on their desk. The feel and appearance of a letter should be a key priority for anyone looking to design a successful mail-out whether to established customers or prospects.
So, if it’s cheap looking, perhaps plastered with sales messages, chances are your carefully crafted letter won’t see the light of day because the whole package will be lobbed into the recycling box, or worse – the bin.
In this blog we’ll be giving you some suggestions for how to make your next direct mail campaign the best it can be. But before we go any further, have you committed any of these mailing sins?
- You’ve printed the address on cheap labels and stuck it on the envelope at jaunty angles.
- It does not match the look of your letter in any way shape or form. That bulk buy offer of 5,000 envelopes was too good to resist.
- The paper, ink, and envelopes are cheap as chips (and it shows).
Now, stand in the shoes of the person you’re trying to woo with your letter. Two have landed on their desk.
One is yours with the poor quality envelope; the other is a very snazzy looking letter. The envelope is of good quality; the name and address is nicely typed out and its got something inside that gives it the intrigue factor. It has to be opened!! Simply put, so if you want your envelope to melt the heart of the coldest prospects it has to have impact.
Here are some of our top tips for creating a highly targeted and successful direct mail campaign:
- If you’re mailing to a small number of recipients, make sure your data is accurate. Did you know that UK companies waste £18m a year mailing deceased people? Even a minor spelling mistake in someone’s name is enough to turn them off. Universal Mail’s system cross-compares your data against the Royal Mail’s PAF database to verify the accuracy of your data – and makes alternative suggestions if it finds discrepancies.
- Opt for great quality. A good quality envelope and high GSM paper commands respect and it looks the part. The difference between high and low quality is often a few pounds and makes a huge amount of difference to how your recipients will perceive your mail.
- White or coloured? Paper or synthetic? There are no hard and fast rules but consider your audience, your gut feel on what they would appreciate and of course what your brand stands for. Our portal enables you to upload backgrounds to each document, ensuring consistency across your mailing, while your individual document library allows you to easily pick any additional information you wish to include inside your envelopes for ultimate flexibility and control.
Direct mail is a worthwhile investment for any organisation hoping to add another touch point to their customer communications. As with any marketing, it takes time and resources to see real ROI.
Universal Mail allows you to reduce current spending on the printing and mailing of your office documents by up to 60%. For example, a single page document can be printed and posted for less than the price of a second class stamp and what’s more, with no printer to possibly fail – you could gain hundreds of hours back each year.
What are your top tips for successful direct mail? We’d love to know. Tweet us @uopoffice!
