Print Design TipsTips and Information About Printing

Direct mail is one of the most popular and most effective marketing methods there are today.

The ubiquitous mass mailings clogging up the letterboxes of America are not happening because it is a fun way for businesses to spend the marketing budget but precisely because it is so effective and so easy to arrange.

Thinking about how popular this method is and how frustrating it can be for the recipient, you have your work cut out for you in making this marketing method work and work well.

Direct mailing is an opportunity for you to present your business to the world on a huge scale for little more than the cost of stamp and in terms of the size of a mass mailing, the cost per unit for design and printing is miniscule – the postage and materials will dominate the budget but in order to keep the mailing from ending up in a recycling bin or the trash invest some time in making your offering stand out.

The Outer Wrapping is Crucial

The envelope you use is vital – it needs to carry the message in a very readable manner so the recipient gets the jist of what is being sent; many people will simply throw the envelope and contents away but many will also keep it for opening later if it has something of interest to them.

You must find an experienced print and design professional who has experience of direct mailings with this – the experience they have will be worth your entire marketing budget for this project.

AIDA 

Direct mail relies on a very basic sales axiom – AIDA.

Create Attention – Generate Interest – Lead to a Decision – Finally Action

Your mailing needs to create attention from the moment it hits the letter box – generally, using plain envelopes doesn’t work because if you try to trick the recipient that the mailing is official (and usually they can spot if it isn’t right off the bat) then you have already set up a negative mark against yourself – use teh envelope to create attention and continue this in the contents – Big and Bold is the key.

This leads on to generating interest – use words and phrases such as, “Low-Cost”, High Quality”, “Huge Savings”, “More Time” – extreme adjectives dealing with maximizing benefits and minimizing negatives – these are great for generating interest.

Then comes guiding the recipient to a decision – to do this you make a conditional offer – “Reply in 7 days for 30% OFF!” – they get something for nothing by responding now, say a 10% discount for picking up the phone and ordering today or a free gift or double the quantity of the product and this ties directly into performing the action you require to make a sale.