An Eye for Design
When it comes to direct mail, design is pretty important.
The message may be in the words, but the design is the voice that gets the point across. A good design adds flare, makes things easier to read and promotes the company or organization's most important information. If the design adds those things, a business is likely looking at higher response rates.
So, again, design definitely matters.
Ed Glaser, director of marketing at Richmond, Virginia-based Colortree and chief marketing officer at Colortree Marketing Resources, said when it comes to designs that work, no one can ignore the U.S. Postal Service's shift to a shape and size-based rate structure.
"For direct marketers, this means mailing undersized, oversized, and odd-shaped envelopes are less cost effective ways to stand out in the mail stream. One good alternative is full-color personalized carrier envelopes in standard sizes. The right combination of color and message get these workhorse envelopes opened. Full-color can compensate for size and shape without busting your postage budget."
Glaser believes Colortree Marketing Resources' TRANSFORMAILER, a full-color, personalized letter package that transforms marketing messages into a complete cross-media marketing campaign, is effective. He added, the unique TRANSFORMAILER offers businesses and nonprofits a way to boost response rates with high-quality direct mail and cross-media campaigns.
Glaser explained, "The TRANSFORMAILER's unique swagger fold stands out and gets noticed, and provides extra room for a relevant offer and intriguing graphic design. It can contain up to three, 81⁄2x11" sheets printed 4/4 as well as a business return envelope, card or buck slip. In addition, the inside of the envelope can be effectively used to convey special offers, maps, coupons, etc. The TRANSFORMAILER is designed to push readers to alternative reply channels or information sources through the use of pURLS (personalized URLs), QR Codes and other online connections. It is truly a unique new and improved standard letter package."
As with all businesses, challenges surface when finding the right designs for direct mail pieces.
Assuming other variables such as relevant messages and the proper lists are on target, Glaser said the biggest challenge is creating "an affordable design that stands out, gets noticed and opened."
Andy Harnett, partner of InfoSeal, which is a division of Englewood, New Jersey-based New Jersey Business Forms, explained InfoSeal's challenges as being a bit more complex.
"InfoSeal specializes in pressure-seal self mailers and over the past five years, we have created a number of patent-pending pressure-seal formats, which are very unusual," he stated. "We think they have terrific potential when used with digital color printing. Our challenge is getting traction among end-users when working through our reseller customer base. For example, four years ago we created our "cross fold" pressure-seal product. This is a pressure-seal fold-and-seal format that creates a multi-page booklet from a single page document. A terrific product and very unique but as of yet without any real market success."
Though both businesses agreed there are definite answers in terms of what does and doesn't make a design effective, new trends are creeping up.
"There is a move into direct mail driven cross-media marketing using additional media and channels," Glaser observed. "Cross-media campaigns reach an audience via traditional offline and online channels, including direct mail, e-mail, pURLs, QR Codes, micro sites and auto-generated responses. They feature personalized and highly relevant marketing messages. All responses, including non-responders, are treated as triggers for cause-and-effect relationship marketing. Highly targeted campaigns that are relevant, measurable and actionable are where it's at today."
InfoSeal is seeing new opportunities from the conversion of envelope inserted mail into a self seal pressure-seal document, Harnett said.
"We also know this by the increased use of simulated pressure-seal designs in direct mail," Harnett noted. It makes sense. Mail is slimming down with fewer multi-page documents in the mail stream. An obvious additional focus is reducing postage costs, yet still dropping high volumes of mail. InfoSeal has some unique self mailer solutions, which are dramatically reducing postage costs for end-users."
But some trends aren't as hip as they once were.
For instance, Glaser said, "Spray and pray direct mail is dead. It's no longer cost effective and doesn't provide a reasonable return on marketing dollars."
Harnett added that traditional multi-ply data mailers have been on a long downhill slope.
"But there is still some life in this product line. For example, variable inline imaging of multiple plys along with process color printing. InfoSeal has generated some interesting direct mail pieces in this area.
And, there really is no cheap way out. When it comes to saving a few pennies, a business really gets what it pays for.
"Cheap and effective don't always go together," Glaser noted. "There is an old saying, good marketing doesn't cost anything if you accomplish or exceed your goals. The TRANSFORMAILER if used properly does that."
Nevertheless, the future of mailer designs hinges on full-color letter packages, according to Glaser.
"Full color letter packages have always been and remain king of the direct mail business," Glaser commented. They are the most effective direct marketing campaigns because they perform as a salesperson in an envelope. If the envelope gets opened, the reader should have all the information necessary to reach a decision to move forward. This just can't be done effectively with any other media today."