Five Tips for Creating a Stand-Out Direct Mail Piece
Approximately 40% of people look forward to checking the mail – the ACTUAL mail, that is – while the rest just check from habit or consider it a chore (2015 Gallup poll report). Direct mail is one of the most effective ways to get your message to a potential customer, but if you are unable to capture their attention, your amazing direct mail piece will head straight to the bin.
The advantage to direct mail is its tangibility, physically putting something in customers’ grip. If you can give people a reason to look just a little longer – or keep your mail piece, they will repeatedly see your company name, message and offer.
Here are five creative tips to make your direct mail pieces stand out:
1. Send Useful Pieces
Useful items hang around. Magnets are a tried and true direct mail tool. Put your offer or brand message with your phone number on a magnet, and customers will see it every time they go to the fridge – or file cabinet – or look at their memo board. Alternatively, your mailer can function as a to-do list, keeping your product or service info handy. Another popular strategy is calendars – especially with notable local dates for sports or event schedules. If you send a mailer that is a multi-tasker, people will hang on to it.
2. Spark Peoples’ Curiosity
Use direct mail’s tangibility to your advantage. Try varied tactics to stick out in the stack of mail in your customer’s mailbox. Try making it “lumpy.” People will be intrigued to open an envelope with a bit of a bulge. You’ll grab their attention immediately – then all you need is a personal and direct message. If you’ve got a product for sale, you could even send a small sample. Because who doesn’t love gadgets or free stuff?
3. Make it Personal
Are you sending direct mail to existing customers in your database? If so, tailor the mail piece based on their history with you. When you add the customer’s name, it becomes more of a personalized letter rather than just a marketing message. For example, if you’re a dentist, you could say something like “Paul, It’s been awhile since your last cleaning, so now would be a great time to schedule your next…”
4. Pay Attention to Seasons
Different seasons make way for different activities. A mail piece that includes information relevant to the season is a good way to trigger nostalgia for the time of year. Recipes for fall and winter holidays, party ideas, craft instructions, yard care maintenance information for the spring and summer – are all good examples of seasonal attention to detail. When paired with a time-sensitive offer, people will hang on to your mailer for the season and see your company name much longer.
5. Keep it Local
Tell people what’s going on in their neighborhood or town. You could send a calendar of events, or possibly a list of shops and restaurants close to their home, just be careful not to promote your competitors – If your mail piece includes a guide to a town or neighborhood, locals will keep it. This can be quite useful if you’ve narrowed your list down to new homeowners or people who have recently moved to the community.
The combination of unique, useful and informative wins the day, so keep these best practices in mind when developing your direct mail campaigns – so you can keep your business coming in the door.
