Direct mail advertising envelopes are getting a facelift. In an effort to entice the consumer not to throw away precious marketing materials that might be considered “junk mail” in some households, marketing companies are ramping up the eye candy. Since direct mail campaigns in plain envelopes have been declining in effectiveness with consumers for some time, trends are calling for companies to change the look of the local advertising medium that is so popular with merchants.
Instead of the plain white economical packet that can be spotted a mile away by consumers who promptly shred it or pitch it in the trash, dashing and informative seems to be working. While cramming as much interesting information with 4-color printing on the outside seems to be the ticket for targeting the consumer through direct mail, its appearance must be intriguing enough to capture the consumer’s attention without turning them off from being targeted for an advertisement.
Advertising aimed at a particular demographic group has long been what makes direct mail advertising effective. Certain niche industries fare more successfully than others. One direct mail campaign that seems to work well is the coupon pack. Advertisers like this method because they can pick and choose what to put on the coupon, then pick and choose who gets it. With a “you get what you pay for” return, local marketing return on investment (ROI) runs strong for the direct mail advertiser that is reaching the right audience and piques their audience’s interest. Consumers like the coupon packs because they know they will get a deal of some sort if they want one.
While the coupon pack is popular with consumers, not everyone can advertise that way. For investment companies and doctor’s offices that want people to know more about policies that cannot be explained on a page one-third of the size of a piece of their favorite letterhead, the old-fashioned, official looking #10 envelope is far too tempting. The theory some businesses adopt is, the more information they can churn out, the more people will want to learn about what they are doing. This is not necessarily true, but it does work for some specific types of businesses.
Meanwhile, everyone else is steering in the direction of “catchy is best and please make it count.” For some businesses, it is a blatant disregard for the cost-cutting measures that so many companies are adopting in this economic downturn. Rather than sending out mail in standard white envelopes with company colors and bright logos, many businesses are using black-and-white printing on inexpensive white envelopes to plead their cases. Black-and-white images are working for billing departments, but not for local marketing. When consumers are ignoring the message, it needs to be wrapped in a different package. It would seem that 4-color printing is the advertising equivalent of a pretty bow on the package that is getting attention and getting results.
Direct mail advertising envelopes are getting a facelift. In an effort to entice the consumer not to throw away precious marketing materials that might be considered “junk mail” in some households, marketing companies are ramping up the eye candy. Since direct mail campaigns in plain envelopes have been declining in effectiveness with consumers for some time, trends are calling for companies to change the look of the local advertising medium that is so popular with merchants.
Instead of the plain white economical packet that can be spotted a mile away by consumers who promptly shred it or pitch it in the trash, dashing and informative seems to be working. While cramming as much interesting information with 4-color printing on the outside seems to be the ticket for targeting the consumer through direct mail, it’s appearance must be intriguing enough to capture the consumer’s attention without turning them off from being targeted for an advertisement.
Advertising aimed at a particular demographic group has long been what makes direct mail advertising effective. Certain niche industries fare more successfully than others. One direct mail campaign that seems to work well is the coupon pack. Advertisers like this method because they can pick and choose what to put on the coupon, then pick and choose who gets it. With a “you get what you pay for” return, local marketing return on investment (ROI) runs strong for the direct mail advertiser that is reaching the right audience and piques their audience’s interest. Consumers like the coupon packs because they know they will get a deal of some sort if they want one.
While the coupon pack is popular with consumers, not everyone can advertise that way. For investment companies and doctor’s offices that want people to know more about policies that cannot be explained on a page one-third of the size of a piece of their favorite letterhead, the old-fashioned #10 envelope is far too tempting. The theory some businesses adopt is, the more information they can churn out, the more people will want to learn about what they are doing. This is not necessarily true, but it does work for some specific types of businesses.
Meanwhile, everyone else is steering in the direction of “catchy is best and please make it count.” For some businesses, it is a blatant disregard for the cost-cutting measures that so many companies are adopting in this economic downturn. Rather than sending out mail in standard white envelopes with company colors and bright logos, many businesses are using black-and-white printing on inexpensive white envelopes to plead their cases. Black-and-white images are working for billing departments, but not for local marketing. When consumers are ignoring the message, it needs to be wrapped in a different package. It would seem that 4-color printing is the advertising equivalent of a pretty bow on the package that is getting attention and getting results.
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Tags: direct mail, Local Advertising