5 Copy Tips for Better Direct Mail Response

Target Marketing recently published a terrific article on generating responses with direct mail. It doesn’t point to data-driven personalization, multichannel integration, or psychographic targeting, although all of these are important strategies. The article talks about the basics of effective marketing. We’ll summarize the points here and illustrate them with a TV commercial most of us will recognize: “Not You” from Realtor.com.

1. Create an either/or scenario.

In this scenario, there are two options: use your product, and things go well, use the other guy’s product and invoke disaster.

2. Use a real-world story to illustrate the consequences of the two choices.

Realtor.com does a great job with this. In the TV commercial, two women are looking at online pictures of the house one of them is buying. A third woman shows up and complains that this is the house she wanted. There are two primary characters here: you, who used Realtor.com to find and purchase the house quickly, and “not you” who didn’t use Realtor.com and missed out.  Whether we’re in the market for a new home or not, this is a scenario with which we can all relate.

3. KISS — keep it simple.

Direct mail isn’t the place to get technical. You are creating a scenario and tapping emotions to make your point. In the world of direct mail, simple sticks.

4. Focus on solving a problem.  

Realtor.com does this especially well. Problem: I don’t want someone else to get the house I want. Solution: Use Realtor.com.  Everyone understands this simple problem-solution scenario. 

5. Use images to evoke emotion.

In direct mail, you have a matter of seconds to convince the recipient that the piece is worth their time to pick up and read. People process visual information much more quickly than text, so use images to your advantage!

Direct mail is a powerful tool for getting a message into people’s hands quickly. Use these tips to make the most of the opportunity!

http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/post/how-to-generate-response-with-your-direct-mail/



Please give us a call at 440-946-0606

Or visit our website here for more information.

Share on LinkedIn

Why Foil Stamping?

Printed collateral, direct mail, and other printed marketing communications remain the bedrock of successful marketing campaigns, but their “look” is changing.

Consumers today, especially Millennials, are drawn to marketing touches that produce an experience. They love the novelty of print, and their ability to handle a tangible, quality piece stands out in the crush of electronic messaging. But not just any print will do. It has to be intriguing. This is where foil stamping comes in. Sure foil stamping costs more, but it can pay great dividends.

There are two types of foil stamping: hot stamping and cold foil transfer. Both create an elegant, standout look that says, “You matter enough to go the extra mile.”

Hot stamping is used to create the look of richness, quality, and elegance. In this process, the foil is applied to the substrate under the heat and pressure of a hot die. The process costs more than cold foil transfer but creates extremely precise images.

Cold foil transfer uses a photopolymer printing plate to transfer the substrate. The stock and the film are placed under light pressure between the plate and an aluminum roller and exposed to ultraviolet light to cure and bond the foil in the image area.  The process costs less than hot foil stamping, but the images are less precise.

Here are a few other important things to know about foil stamping:

• Comes in a wide range of colors, both metallic and nonmetallic.
• Comes in both gloss and matte versions.
• Available in special effects versions, including marble, wood grain, and leather, as well as in holographic versions.
• Most foil stamping is done over smooth stocks, but it can also be applied to textured stocks. When this happens, it will take on some of the texture of the stock beneath it. Foil stamping can also be combined with embossing to create a raised image.
• Because foil is opaque, it does not change color regardless of the substrate on which it is used. This makes it great for use on darker and colored papers.

Foil stamping can offer tremendous benefits for the right projects and really creates breakthrough effects for the right audiences. Talk to us about when and where foil stamping will work for you. 

Please give us a call at 440-946-0606
Or visit our website here for more information.

Share on LinkedIn

Best Practices in Personalized Marketing

If you want great marketing results, it’s important to personalize text, images, and other content based on what you know about the recipient. But just dropping in data-driven content doesn’t guarantee success. Sometimes other factors can dull your results. Maybe the offer is great, but the design is so uninteresting that nobody reads it. Or the headline is snappy and the design is great, but there is no incentive for people to respond.

Let’s look at three best practices that need to be the foundation of any personalized print campaign.

·         Traditional marketing rules apply. Even with personalized marketing, traditional rules hold firm. Ultimately, all of the elements — creative, message (including personalization), offer, segmentation, call to action, and incentive —need to come together to determine success. 

·         Focus on relevance, not “personalization.” It doesn’t matter how “personalized” a document is. If it isn’t relevant, it is worthless. Take the shoe market. You don’t want to sell orthopedic shoes to teenagers. You can deck out the mailer with text messaging terms, pictures of X-Games, and use all the contemporary lingo, but it’s not a relevant message unless a teen needs to purchase a birthday present for grandpa.

·         Know your customers, then market to what you know. When the National Hockey League began 1:1 communication with its customers, it asked them to fill out a survey that indicated that 40% of the of NHL’s fan base lives outside their favorite team’s home market. That means these fans can’t easily go to games or access highlights. Imagine the opportunity for the league! So ask yourself, what don’t you know about your customers now that might allow you to create relevance in a more powerful way later? Do a customer mail or email survey. Use what you find out to speak directly to the needs and interests of your customers.

Investing in your marketing database and developing an intimate understanding of your customers takes time, dedicated resources, and manpower, but it is one of the most important investments you can make. Personalization is a powerful tool, but to get the big pay-off, it cannot work alone.

Please give us a call at 440-946-0606

Or visit our website here for more information.

Share on LinkedIn