Get Those Envelopes Opened! 9 Tips

What’s the secret to boosting great response rates to direct mail? Getting recipients to open the envelope! The best-written sales letter can’t work until the recipient opens the flap. Here are nine tips for piquing recipients’ interest and engaging their curiosity.

1. Get creative. Try new substrates, such as smooth, heavier stocks that show off your colorful designs or textured stocks that offer a high-end feel. So many options — vellum, glassine, polybag-type envelopes — try them all!

2. Go big! Consistently, oversized envelopes get higher response rates than #10 envelopes. Larger pieces stand out in the mailbox, and with their oversized dimensions, people can’t help but wonder what’s inside.

3. Go windowless. Window envelopes are often used for statements and bulk mail, so a plain, windowless envelope is more likely to get opened.

4. Use teasers and other on-envelope messaging. Consider placing dynamic messaging on the envelope's front, back, and even inside. Your copy should provoke curiosity but not give everything away.

5. Mix it up. Keep mixing up your messaging and design. Each time you send a mailing, it should feel fresh and new.

6. Add a personal touch. Make the recipient feel special. Whether it’s through personalized printing, using a legible script font, or actual handwriting, give it that personal touch.

7. Use an actual stamp. Recipients notice when you use genuine stamps. It tells them this isn’t just another bulk mailing and piques their curiosity.

8. Put it between the T’s. Unless you want a campaign to drop on a Monday or Friday, the best open rates tend to be Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Shoot for these days for your in-home windows.

9. Don’t over-saturate. Six weeks is a reasonable interval between mailings. This way, you stay fresh in your prospects’ minds without becoming a nuisance.

Envelopes offer many creative possibilities, making them a versatile and effective tool to convey your message. For the greatest success, embrace your creativity, tailor the encounter, and experiment with fresh ideas now and then!

 

Can You Speak Your B2B Customer’s Language?

Understanding your customers' vertical markets can elevate you from being a commodity supplier to a trusted partner in the business-to-business marketplace. This is critical in today’s competitive marketplace, where personalized, relevant communications are crucial to success. In your next marketing communication, having a more profound understanding of your customer's vertical market can help you in three key ways:

• Reflecting your understanding of the latest trends and challenges in your customer's market.
• Speaking the same language as your customer.
• Crafting marketing messages that emphasize the benefits most important to your customer's business.

For example, let's consider the challenges faced in the healthcare industry. As a B2B company selling medical supplies to hospitals, say you have developed a solution that streamlines the supply chain, reduces costs, and ensures compliance with regulatory requirements.

Your marketing copy could emphasize the benefits of your solution, such as improved patient outcomes, reduced waste, and increased efficiency. But you want to speak your customers’ language, too. 

Here are three ways to do that:

1. Use industry-specific terminology that is familiar to healthcare professionals. Instead of using generic terms like "supplies" or "inventory," you might use terms like "medical consumables," "durable medical equipment," or "pharmaceuticals."

2. Address specific pain points or challenges that healthcare providers face daily. For example, you might highlight how your medical supplies help hospitals with their most pressing needs, such as reducing waste, improving patient outcomes, and complying with regulatory requirements.

3. Demonstrate your expertise. Don’t just say it — show it! Demonstrate your expertise in this vertical market by highlighting your experience working with hospitals, your knowledge of industry regulations and standards, or your partnerships with leading healthcare organizations.

These examples come from the healthcare industry, but the concepts apply to any industry. So take the time to understand your customers' vertical markets. This will help you build a stronger relationship with them, differentiate you from competitors, and create a more valuable and long-lasting relationship.

 

­What Differentiates the Fastest Growing Companies? Personalization!

Want to build your business faster? Personalize! According to McKinsey's “Next in Personalization” report, the fastest-growing companies drive 40% more revenue from personalization than their slower-growing counterparts. Furthermore, 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, and 76% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen. Personalization isn’t just icing on the cake anymore. It’s a must.

Other benefits of personalization include:

• Greater brand loyalty.
• Greater likelihood of recommending the brand to others.
• Greater chance of engaging with the brand on social media.

What might consumers do if the content needs to be more relevant? Increasingly, consumers say they would stop paying attention to the brand’s messaging and would be less likely to purchase. Consumers also say they would be much less likely to recommend the brand to others and stay loyal; some might even stop using it.

But be careful not to overdo it. Studies also consistently show that when messaging is over-personalized, shoppers find it creepy. When personalized content is over the line, they are less likely to purchase.

Finding the line between the two can be delicate. Consumers want their communications to be relevant but don’t want to feel that their privacy is being violated. For example, if someone’s lease is about to expire on the family sedan, and you know from third-party data that they recently had a new baby, you might want to say, “Is it time for more legroom? Check out the great new features we offer on our 2023 minivans!” You don’t want to say, “Hey, it looks like your family is expanding! When your lease expires at the end of the month, why not upgrade to a bigger ride?”

Need help developing relevant communications that your customers and prospects want to hear? Let one of our brand development experts help.

 

5 Tips for Headlines That Get Results

When someone receives a direct mail piece or an email, what is the first thing they see? The headline or subject line! The success of your marketing effort hinges on the power of those words to hook your audience and draw them in. If your audience never gets past the headline, it doesn’t matter how great the offer is. They’ll never see it.

Here are five tips for writing headlines that engage your audience and make them want to read more. 

1. Think “action.” Use words that evoke imagination and create a sense of movement. Avoid generic phrases like "Climb the Mountain!" and opt for more active ones, such as "Attack the Mountain!”

2. Leverage numbers. People are always looking for easy ways to get information quickly, so using numbered tips can be an effective way to grab their attention. For example, if you're selling heating and cooling equipment, try "Three Reasons Your Air Conditioner Might Fail This Summer," or if you sell men’s wear, "Five Ways to Make a Woman Look Twice."

3. Stir emotions. While some people may buy something because of necessity, most purchases are made due to desire or perceived need. To capture this emotion, focus on headlines that ask questions or present solutions in surprising ways. Examples include "Six Ways You Think You Are Keeping Your Kids Safe (But Aren't)” or “Is Your Home Safe from This Toxic Gas?”

4. Support with data. Data is always more convincing than words alone. If you incorporate credible sources and statistics into your headlines, recipients are much more likely to pay attention. For example, a study conducted by Conductor found that readers were 36% more likely to prefer headlines with numbers over other types of hooks.

5. Work backward. Visualization can be a powerful tool in marketing. Before sitting down to write anything, take some time to consider your desired outcome for the campaign. Visualizing the desired result can provide valuable insight into how to craft a headline that will get you there.

Creating powerful headlines and subject lines is part art and part science. Whatever approach you use, create multiple versions of each and test them against controls. If you get stuck, give us a call. We can help!

How Great Marketing Is Like a Great Sports Team

To achieve optimal outcomes from your marketing campaigns, consider your channels as if they were members of a sports team. While each one—such as direct mail, email, or wide format—can be influential, their combined efforts will bring the best results. To make the most out of your multichannel approach, here are three steps to creating a great “team”!

1. Gear up! All your marketing channels represent your brand, so whether they are print or digital, as small as a mobile phone screen or as large as a billboard, they should still have a unified look. Think of it as wearing the same “team gear.” Even if it's not possible to maintain 100% color consistency between digital and print channels, you can achieve a unified brand look by ensuring that images, color schemes, and messaging match across the different platforms.

2. Put the right players in the correct positions. Sports teams have different positions for a reason. Sure, the NBA point guard can hit three-pointers all day long, but you’re not going to ask him to grab rebounds off the rim. For that, you want your 7’1” center with a 7-foot wingspan. So it is in marketing. Each channel has its strengths. Know these strengths and place each channel in the marketing line-up where the entire team will benefit most.

3. Play to the audience. Midwest NFL fans aren’t going to respond to the New England Patriots the same way they do the Minnesota Vikings. Likewise, not every demographic will respond the same way to every channel. For example, you’re not going to engage many retirees with text marketing. Plus, the mix is constantly changing. It used to be that only teenagers and college students used Facebook. Now they’ve moved to Snapchat and TikTok, and older demographics, businesses, and organizations use Facebook.

Want your multichannel marketing team to produce a championship-style win? Identify your marketing objectives, maintain brand consistency, and ensure each channel is in the right position to maximize its effectiveness for the team.

Need help? Let’s chat!

Print and Digital Marketing: Power Through Reinforcement

Like peanut butter and jelly and superheroes like Batman and Robin, print and digital marketing channels are both strong and effective on their own. Yet, they also work better together. Why? Any time you reinforce your message with multiple touches across different channels, you have a greater chance of getting noticed and moving people to action.

Plus, print and digital play different roles. Email is great when you need people to respond immediately (such as a flash sale), while direct mail offers may have a shelf life of days, weeks, or even months. Email gives you a bump in orders immediately, but those orders will tail off quickly. With direct mail, people tend to hang onto mail pieces longer, and those orders continue to roll in longer.

What does this look like in action? Let’s look at three examples.

·       As each outdoor season changes, an outdoor equipment store keeps its customers apprised of new equipment as it comes into the store. Several weeks after the arrival of new stock, it sends out direct mail pieces with special offers to incentivize customers who still need to make a purchase.

·       A high-end jewelry store uses its email list to inform customers about its new collections. The store then follows up with physical catalogs containing more detailed descriptions and stunning images, highlighting the intricate details in the new jewelry using special coatings and treatments. Email alerts customers to new arrivals, and catalogs give customers the full effect of these pieces' beauty.

·       A boutique clothing store uses email to announce the latest seasonal collections, driving customers to the website to purchase while simultaneously sending out direct mail postcards or physical brochures with detailed images and descriptions of the same arrivals. This approach allows the boutique to reach both online and offline shoppers and increase its visibility in both digital and physical spaces.

There are as many ways to combine direct mail and digital marketing as there are different marketing goals. Which one is right for you?

Envelope or Postcard? Which Format Works Best?

Direct mail is a powerful tool, but it’s not one-size-fits-all. There are different formats, and there are pros and cons to each. Let’s look at some differences between the two most popular formats: envelopes and postcards.

Why a Postcard?

1. Postcards are inexpensive. These powerful mini billboards pack a powerful punch in a small space. Write concisely and use bullets, images, and graphics to tell your story.

2. Postcards are quick and easy to send. Because of their simple format, postcards can be produced very quickly and require little lead time. They are great for spontaneous offers.

3. Your message gets through faster. Because postcards don't require the recipient to open an envelope before seeing your message, recipients immediately see the basics of your offer.

4. They enable high-quality colors and special finishes. Most envelopes are black-and-white, making a full-color postcard stand out quickly. You can also use special finishes such as spot or gloss coatings not available for thinner papers.

5. They make great follow-ups and reminders. A well-produced postcard can boost response rates to other campaigns, whether digital or print. If someone doesn’t respond to an email, nudge them with a postcard. It only takes a glance to be reminded of a renewal deadline, an upcoming appointment, or an expiring offer.

Why an Envelope?

Envelopes cost more to produce and mail than postcards, and lead times are generally longer. But there are some significant advantages to them, as well.

1. More detail and better storytelling. The typical envelope mailing contains an outer envelope, letter, brochure, optional lift note, and reply card. A letter alone can convey much more information than a postcard, and using multiple elements within the envelope gives recipients an even deeper look.

2. Readers are more engaged. Opening the envelope, in itself, creates a level of engagement not present with postcards. Once they choose to open the envelope, recipients are already more invested in your message.

3. The mailing feels more personal. Envelopes inherently seem more personal than postcards, primarily when you use real stamps.

4. You can offer greater privacy and confidentiality. Buyers love their privacy. Envelopes protect their personal information and provide confidentiality.

Be sure to test each format with different campaign goals. You can think you’ve got your usage right, but the proof is in the testing.