In the quest to have their envelope mailings stand out from other mail--bills, letters, and other business marketing--marketers take creative measures, using clever text, colored stock, and unusual add-ons or inserts to pique a recipient's interest and get him/her to open the envelope.
Unfortunately, sometimes when creativity flows, practical considerations get tossed to the wind, causing surprise, frustration, and additional expense when the post office refuses to process the marketer's mailpiece.
Although we wouldn't want to stand in the way of anyone's creative process or innovative ideas (we love seeing all the different ways our customers find to stand out from the crowd), we would like to help you maximize your investment and minimize your postage expenses and headaches. Therefore, we present to you three key mailpiece design restrictions, courtesy of the USPS Domestic Mail Manual:
• Automated letters must be flexible. Heavy stock certainly does look better and lasts longer, but save your really heavy stock flyers and brochures for conventions and order inserts. According to the USPS (DMM 3.12.1), "a mailpiece and its contents must bend easily when subjected to a transport belt tension of 40 pounds around an 11-inch diameter drum." In other words, keep your stock under ???? pounds. If you're not sure if your piece meets the flexibility requirement, ask your printer for at least five sample pieces of your chosen stock--cut and folded to your final specs--and submit the samples and a written request to your local postmaster for a flexibility test at least six weeks before your mailing date.
• Keep inserts small or flexible. Have you ever found a penny in your mail? According to the USPS Domestic Mail Manual, "odd-shaped" items like coins and tokens are permissible in automated letters as long as they are "firmly affixed to and wrapped within the contents of the mailpiece and envelope to streamline the shape of the mailpiece for automated processing" (DMM 3.10). Credit cards get the green light, too, for their flexibility. But don't expect the post office to process envelope mailings with pencils or keys in them: such rigid items are strictly prohibited.
• Leave the envelope alone. Yes, sending your promotion in an inter-office-inspired envelope would catch your customers' attention, and yes, marketing your high-end perfume in an envelope with a fancy closure would be something, but you'd have to hide them both in a traditional envelope or box because such gimmicks just don't work in automation mailing. According to DMM 3.8, "an automation-compatible mailpiece may not be polywrapped, polybagged, or shrinkwrapped; have clasps, strings, buttons, or similar closure devices; or have protrusions that might impede or damage the mail or mail processing equipment."
Not sure where that leaves you? With the same tools that have inspired donations, purchases, and memberships for years and years: a little paper, a little postage, and a load of benefits-heavy copy.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
AMiable Solution #26: Catalogs
Designing a catalog bears considerable financial and psychological weight. Catalogs are most likely the most expensive piece of direct mail you create, so the impression and the effectiveness of the design on the return must be significant.
Catalogs also take a good bit of time compiling. You have to design the cover, select the products/services, designate an order for the products/services, write or update copy for each product/service, strategize specials and offers, and run the "final" version past a slew of proofreaders to make sure your copy is error free, your prices are current, your product codes are accurate, and you generally haven't done anything stupid or embarrassing for the company.
For many marketers, "catalog" equals "dread."
Although no one can relieve you of all the stress induced by creating or updating your catalog, keeping the following points in mind will help you keep the chaos under control:
1. Remember that a catalog isn't forever. Whether you update your catalog monthly, annually, or somewhere in between, you will update it. Your catalog should look professional and represent your company in a way that you'll be proud of three years from now, but it doesn't have to last that long. The goal is to get customers to open it NOW and act. So go ahead and create a gallery-worthy cover, but remember what you're trying to sell. Include catchy copy highlighting the benefits of new and exciting products or services. Emphasize specials or limited-time offers. And give prospects and customers a reason to open the page.
2. Tout what's new. This is particularly important if you update your catalog frequently. Make sure you provide an intriguing reason for each recipient to open every catalog.
3. Change your theme but not your layout. When your catalog arrives in the mail, you want your customers to know exactly how to find the information they're looking for, and that means staying consistent in your layout and general style. Doing so will help your customers easily access contact information, categories, or ordering information when they need it, building familiarity and enabling the sales process.
Good luck!
Catalogs also take a good bit of time compiling. You have to design the cover, select the products/services, designate an order for the products/services, write or update copy for each product/service, strategize specials and offers, and run the "final" version past a slew of proofreaders to make sure your copy is error free, your prices are current, your product codes are accurate, and you generally haven't done anything stupid or embarrassing for the company.
For many marketers, "catalog" equals "dread."
Although no one can relieve you of all the stress induced by creating or updating your catalog, keeping the following points in mind will help you keep the chaos under control:
1. Remember that a catalog isn't forever. Whether you update your catalog monthly, annually, or somewhere in between, you will update it. Your catalog should look professional and represent your company in a way that you'll be proud of three years from now, but it doesn't have to last that long. The goal is to get customers to open it NOW and act. So go ahead and create a gallery-worthy cover, but remember what you're trying to sell. Include catchy copy highlighting the benefits of new and exciting products or services. Emphasize specials or limited-time offers. And give prospects and customers a reason to open the page.
2. Tout what's new. This is particularly important if you update your catalog frequently. Make sure you provide an intriguing reason for each recipient to open every catalog.
3. Change your theme but not your layout. When your catalog arrives in the mail, you want your customers to know exactly how to find the information they're looking for, and that means staying consistent in your layout and general style. Doing so will help your customers easily access contact information, categories, or ordering information when they need it, building familiarity and enabling the sales process.
Good luck!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
AMiable Solution #25: Direct Mail Letters
When is the best time to use a direct mail letter versus a brochure, postcard, catalog, etc.? Anytime, actually.
According to Jeffrey Dobkin, author of "Successful Low Cost Direct Marketing Methods" and "How To Market a Product for Under $500," letters are more effective than any other form of direct mail because they can have a "story line...a blend of benefits, facts and fiction to show the product in the best light."
Direct mail letters, by their very format, imply something more personal than a four-color postcard or glossy catalog. They're typically lower-cost than brochures, and they generate the greatest focus on the copy itself, since letters generally exclude otherwise attention-detracting graphics and glam.
To make the most of your postage and your budget, consider the following tips when you write your next letter.
1. Identify your goal and stick to it. Are you looking for customer retention and loyalty or are you hoping for a specific response: an order, a phone call, a donation, etc.? Your copy should send a clear, well-written message, whether it's a simple "thank you for your business" or a sales pitch.
2. Make a personal appeal. Whether you mail your letter to 100 people or 100,000 people, it needs to sound like it was written specifically for each recipient. Personalization works wonders here. But don't stop at "Dear {First Name}." Incorporate other specific details from your database into your letter: relevant previous purchases or donations, geographical references, ordering preferences, etc.
3. Focus on benefits. Use a brochure to show what your product or service is, but use a letter to explain why the recipient needs it. Use the space to explain what your offering is and how it solves a problem.
Happy writing.
According to Jeffrey Dobkin, author of "Successful Low Cost Direct Marketing Methods" and "How To Market a Product for Under $500," letters are more effective than any other form of direct mail because they can have a "story line...a blend of benefits, facts and fiction to show the product in the best light."
Direct mail letters, by their very format, imply something more personal than a four-color postcard or glossy catalog. They're typically lower-cost than brochures, and they generate the greatest focus on the copy itself, since letters generally exclude otherwise attention-detracting graphics and glam.
To make the most of your postage and your budget, consider the following tips when you write your next letter.
1. Identify your goal and stick to it. Are you looking for customer retention and loyalty or are you hoping for a specific response: an order, a phone call, a donation, etc.? Your copy should send a clear, well-written message, whether it's a simple "thank you for your business" or a sales pitch.
2. Make a personal appeal. Whether you mail your letter to 100 people or 100,000 people, it needs to sound like it was written specifically for each recipient. Personalization works wonders here. But don't stop at "Dear {First Name}." Incorporate other specific details from your database into your letter: relevant previous purchases or donations, geographical references, ordering preferences, etc.
3. Focus on benefits. Use a brochure to show what your product or service is, but use a letter to explain why the recipient needs it. Use the space to explain what your offering is and how it solves a problem.
Happy writing.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
AMiable Solution #24: Design Challenge #4: Postcards
In theory, postcards sound easy. After all, the amount of space you need to fill with graphics and copy is minimal. But that minimal space is exactly what makes creating postcards tricky. You want the postcard to catch your clients' eyes, but you also need to allow room for quality content that will cause your recipients to respond.
How can you do that? Editing. Not only of content, but of graphics. The more focused your message, offer, and graphics are, the better. Keep these tips in mind to help keep your postcard focused:
• Use simple images on the front of the postcard.
• Make your point and remove the fluff.
• Limit your content to one product, service, or event.
• Make a very clear and direct call-to-action.
• Consider making your offer on the front and back of the postcard to ensure visibility.
• Keep your font size readable.
• Include a finely-honed headline that identifies your audience, describes the primary offer, and explains the main benefit of the offer.
• Don't be afraid of white space.
Although creating a standard-class postcard provides you with a larger canvas than a first-class postcard--up to 6-1/8" x 11-1/2" x 1/4" thick versus 4-1/4" x 6" x 0.016" thick--your objective and your focus should remain the same. You only have a few seconds to pull your reader in. Make every word, and image, count.
How can you do that? Editing. Not only of content, but of graphics. The more focused your message, offer, and graphics are, the better. Keep these tips in mind to help keep your postcard focused:
• Use simple images on the front of the postcard.
• Make your point and remove the fluff.
• Limit your content to one product, service, or event.
• Make a very clear and direct call-to-action.
• Consider making your offer on the front and back of the postcard to ensure visibility.
• Keep your font size readable.
• Include a finely-honed headline that identifies your audience, describes the primary offer, and explains the main benefit of the offer.
• Don't be afraid of white space.
Although creating a standard-class postcard provides you with a larger canvas than a first-class postcard--up to 6-1/8" x 11-1/2" x 1/4" thick versus 4-1/4" x 6" x 0.016" thick--your objective and your focus should remain the same. You only have a few seconds to pull your reader in. Make every word, and image, count.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
AMiable Solution #23: Design Challenge #3: When you don't have graphics
Most of the marketing we receive includes at least two colors if not more, photos, and/or graphics to visually draw us into the piece. But what happens when we don't have fancy photos of our products or colorful graphics showing the success of our services? Can we distribute text-only material and expect it to succeed?
We believe the answer is "yes." Although content always trumps graphics when it comes to making a sale, having strong copy is especially important when your readers have nothing but copy to look at. The trick is to make your text-heavy promotion look as open and inviting as possible. The following tricks can help you do this:
• Allow as much white space as possible: don't be tempted to jam-pack the space with text
• Use color to emphasize text or guide readers through the page
• Treat type as graphics by using big drop caps at the beginning of sections
• Create interest by inserting quote boxes amidst columns of text
• Keep paragraphs short
• Create visual interest using simple shapes
Still need a little extra something? Try scanning, at a high resolution, a patterned or textured sheet of paper and using a colored percentage of it--no more than 5% or 10% to avoid muddying your text--behind or near your copy.
We believe the answer is "yes." Although content always trumps graphics when it comes to making a sale, having strong copy is especially important when your readers have nothing but copy to look at. The trick is to make your text-heavy promotion look as open and inviting as possible. The following tricks can help you do this:
• Allow as much white space as possible: don't be tempted to jam-pack the space with text
• Use color to emphasize text or guide readers through the page
• Treat type as graphics by using big drop caps at the beginning of sections
• Create interest by inserting quote boxes amidst columns of text
• Keep paragraphs short
• Create visual interest using simple shapes
Still need a little extra something? Try scanning, at a high resolution, a patterned or textured sheet of paper and using a colored percentage of it--no more than 5% or 10% to avoid muddying your text--behind or near your copy.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
AMiable Solution #22: Design Challenge #2: Big order forms in small spaces
If, like most people, you've left the order form for last and now find yourself trying to cram too much form into too little space, we have a few suggestions for you:
1. Inkjet the recipient's name, address, and source code directly onto the form. This saves your client time and hassle, but it also saves you space: you can inkjet the information smaller than most customers can write it.
2. Don't ask for information you don't need.
3. But don't exclude essential information—including the offer, toll-free number, company name and logo, mailing address, total price, applicable sales tax, shipping and handling charges, premiums, offer expiration date, minimum orders, delivery time, the payment methods you accept, Canadian and international charges, directions for order placement, etc.—for the sake of space.
4. Play the numbers game. Balance the benefit of leaving the lines for items ordered blank versus pre-populating the information (except, of course, for quantity). If your mail piece includes only a handful of products, you may actually be able to save space by filling-in all of the product names—in at least 10-point type—yourself instead of leaving large enough "fill in" spaces for clients to enter the product names themselves.
5. Be careful not to use a small font size. While it may allow you to cram more of your order form into a small area, it won't likely leave your customers enough room to write, and it may frustrate them if they find the font size difficult to read.
6. Offer a QR code and an alternative or two for clients without code-reading devices, including a personalized URL (PURL) and a toll-free phone number.
If you still have trouble fitting all of the necessary elements into the available space, you're probably better off revising the layout or design to accommodate the order form. Despite being the most neglected part of the piece, it's the most essential one.
1. Inkjet the recipient's name, address, and source code directly onto the form. This saves your client time and hassle, but it also saves you space: you can inkjet the information smaller than most customers can write it.
2. Don't ask for information you don't need.
3. But don't exclude essential information—including the offer, toll-free number, company name and logo, mailing address, total price, applicable sales tax, shipping and handling charges, premiums, offer expiration date, minimum orders, delivery time, the payment methods you accept, Canadian and international charges, directions for order placement, etc.—for the sake of space.
4. Play the numbers game. Balance the benefit of leaving the lines for items ordered blank versus pre-populating the information (except, of course, for quantity). If your mail piece includes only a handful of products, you may actually be able to save space by filling-in all of the product names—in at least 10-point type—yourself instead of leaving large enough "fill in" spaces for clients to enter the product names themselves.
5. Be careful not to use a small font size. While it may allow you to cram more of your order form into a small area, it won't likely leave your customers enough room to write, and it may frustrate them if they find the font size difficult to read.
6. Offer a QR code and an alternative or two for clients without code-reading devices, including a personalized URL (PURL) and a toll-free phone number.
If you still have trouble fitting all of the necessary elements into the available space, you're probably better off revising the layout or design to accommodate the order form. Despite being the most neglected part of the piece, it's the most essential one.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
AMiable Solution #21: Design Challenge #1: QR Codes
Whether you're just now experimenting with QR codes or you've been on the QR code train for some time, deciding how to use them is just the first step. Determining how to incorporate them into your direct mail campaign is another.
Unlike the rest of your direct mail design, which demands a particular order (teaser, offer, then order form), QR codes have no set rules for their placement: they can appear on the cover, in the middle, or on the back mailing panel. No matter where you choose to include your QR code, however, there are certain considerations you should keep in mind:
• Make the location fit the purpose. If you're giving consumers an option to place an online order, renew a membership, make a donation, etc., through the code, place the QR code on or near the order form. If you're using the QR code to link invitees to a map, place the QR code near the event's location information.
• Surround the QR code with plenty of white space. This will help ensure the code scans cleanly.
• But be sure to include a strong call to action. Don't just throw a QR code on the page and expect consumers to automatically take interest. Be sure to tell them what to scan the code for and how they'll benefit from doing so.
• Make it readable. There are no hard-and-fast rules on size, but your QR code should be at least 1" by 1" for greater readability.
• Keep it in the clear. Don't place a QR code on a curved surface, in or on a fold, or too close to a spine. You risk creating scanning issues for your clients if you do.
QR codes, like any other element in a direct mail package, should be subject to much testing. Track your response rates along with the location of each code to see which placement location works best for you.
Unlike the rest of your direct mail design, which demands a particular order (teaser, offer, then order form), QR codes have no set rules for their placement: they can appear on the cover, in the middle, or on the back mailing panel. No matter where you choose to include your QR code, however, there are certain considerations you should keep in mind:
• Make the location fit the purpose. If you're giving consumers an option to place an online order, renew a membership, make a donation, etc., through the code, place the QR code on or near the order form. If you're using the QR code to link invitees to a map, place the QR code near the event's location information.
• Surround the QR code with plenty of white space. This will help ensure the code scans cleanly.
• But be sure to include a strong call to action. Don't just throw a QR code on the page and expect consumers to automatically take interest. Be sure to tell them what to scan the code for and how they'll benefit from doing so.
• Make it readable. There are no hard-and-fast rules on size, but your QR code should be at least 1" by 1" for greater readability.
• Keep it in the clear. Don't place a QR code on a curved surface, in or on a fold, or too close to a spine. You risk creating scanning issues for your clients if you do.
QR codes, like any other element in a direct mail package, should be subject to much testing. Track your response rates along with the location of each code to see which placement location works best for you.
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