Admittedly, a lot goes into making a direct mail campaign successful. One factor could be the list profiling of prospective customers and recipients. Another could be a more personalized touch you’ve added through variable data printing. While focusing on these aspects of your campaign certainly could improve its effectiveness, this post focuses on the role your marketing and promotional materials play when employing direct mail. In other words, we’ll concentrate on unconventional ways to make your brand stand out through interesting direct mail marketing materials.
Say Goodbye to the Flat Envelope
We recently published a blog on the effectiveness of marketing postcards in the digital age. Although postcards and other uniquely personalized mail pieces can grab your recipient’s attention, alternative marketing materials can keep their attention for much longer. A good way to sustain your recipient’s interest in your brand or in your promotional materials is to make the mail piece useful to them. An example of a compelling 3-D mail piece would be a flash drive or or tote bag that carries your brand image. Though these items are certainly more expensive to purchase and then distribute, the investment will prove more than worth it. The Data & Marketing Association (DMA) have reported that 3-D mail pieces can be 200%-300% more effective than traditional 2-D materials. Further, alternative and 3-dimensional mailers had a staggeringly high response rate at 5.49%, well above flat mail pieces.
Leave a Lasting Impression
At the same time that 3-D marketing materials are statistically proven more effective, 2-D mail pieces can still leave a positive and ongoing impression. We recently published an article on the importance of augmented reality in direct mail campaigns. This kind of innovative and technologically oriented marketing decision is an example of how 2-D mail pieces are still relevant in the 21st century. At the same time, though, it’s time to consider more actively the benefits of incorporating atypical, 3-dimensional mailers.
United Mail can help you decide which alternative mail piece might prove most effective. Whether you’d like to learn more about our tipping process (which is a special kind of printing) or other kinds of special 3-D printing projects, let’s get in touch. We’ll work together to find the most effective marketing solution.
By: Michael Phillips
