A Direct Marketing Association surveyed found that consumers responded to direct marketing every 16.4 days. Eight of 10 consumers have made a purchase in the previous 12 months in response to direct marketing (i.e. catalog, direct mail, Internet search, newspapers). Of those surveyed, 28% said that they made purchases based upon direct mail efforts.*
Additionally, 73% of respondents prefer receiving new-product announcements via mail from companies they're already in contact with, versus just 18% for email. And 70% prefer mail for unsolicited information and offers telling them about products and services from companies that they don't engage with.**
The survey also found that 31 percent of consumers are less likely to discard unopened mail, including new product brochures, catalogs or other advertising materials, while 53.2 percent are likely to discard unsolicited e-mails about new products. ** In the same survey, customers made direct marketing purchases based upon:
1.) Attractive Price 35%,
2.) Customer Loyalty 16.3%,
3.) Uniqueness 11.1%,
4.) Special Offers 10.4% .*
The Goal
There are three words to live and die by in the direct-marketing world: CALL...TO...ACTION. There are many who would argue that they utilize direct-marketing efforts for branding purposes only, but the truth of the matter is that this can be accomplished WHILE including a call-to-action.
For those of you unfamiliar with a call-to-action, it refers to the message that relates what you want the consumer to do after reviewing your direct-mailer. For example, a retailer that wants to improve in-store sales may create a call-to-action that drives customers to the stores by offering a 20% in-store discount. Many B2C direct-mailers request consumers to register their information on websites, which are essentially for loyalty programs.
Regardless of the copy, the design, the production, or anything else you read in the following paragraphs, if you don't have a call-to-action, then you don't have an end result.
Effective Design
As you send the direct mail job to your designer, make sure that the creative team knows direct mail. For example, creating and designing a catalog is completely different than designing a direct-mail piece. A catalog is a merchandising tool that is typically solicited by the respondent; whereas a direct-mailer is a "catch your eye and sell the call-to-action in 3.5 seconds" tool. Essentially, the copy of a direct-mailer has to be effective enough to sell the call-to-action in the time it takes to go from the consumer's hand to the trash.
Determining the Specs of the Piece
Now that you know the call-to-action and essential concept of the piece, you will need to determine the hard specs of the job. Typically, this is where we (the printer) are able to offer recommendations to reduce costs and increase overall effectiveness. The first things we'd consider are:
1.) How many can we gang up on the same sheet to reduce waste?
2.) How does the size and weight affect postage? Will we need to seal the piece for postage regulations?
3.) What is the minimum buy on the proposed paper?
4.) Do we have other papers that may generate a better response without adversely affecting the brand integrity?
5.) Do we need to consider varnish or aqueous dropouts for ink-jetting?
6.) If there are die-cuts, unique folds, and/or gluing, will the piece function as planned?
7.) What is the rough proposed cost of this job?
From here, you can determine whether or not the value of the response rate will be higher than the cost of the job.
Some Printing Ideas to Generate Higher Response
Do you ever feel like you depend too heavily upon copy and or overall design, far too often? The printing industry changes on what seems like a daily basis. With that being said, you can utilize paper, printing, or finishing processes to improve the response of your direct-mail job. Here are some ideas to help push the "pop" of your project.
1.) Unique paper stocks - Choose a paper stock that identifies with the message of the direct-mail project. A project printed on an uncoated sheet can emphasize a message of value, quality, or overall warmth. On the other side, there are a number of cover stocks that simply draw attention with unique textures and colors like: Domtar's Feltweave, Mohawk's Via, Neenah's Classic Laid, and Reich Shine (which is a pearlescent stock).
2.) Unusual sizes - Try moving away from the typical 4" X 6" or 5" X 7" postcard. Utilizing a slightly different size will stand out much more than the typical direct mailer. Additionally, a different sized direct-mail piece may fit more cost effectively on a standard sheet size.
3.) Unusual shapes - By testing different shapes you may be able to draw different responses than the typical rectangle. Consider what the message of your direct-mail is, and utilize different shapes to not only grab the consumer's response, but to also reinforce the message. You can use die-cutting to produce unusual shapes or folding and gluing to produce boxes or pockets.
4.) Mounted paper - Mounted paper is the process of gluing two press sheets (the front and the back of a direct mailer) together after printing. Essentially, this produces a thick, board-like direct mail piece, as both sheets are typically cover stocks. This mounted sheet signifies quality and strength and really stands out when a consumer receives this in the mail.
5.) Spot UV varnishing - UV varnishing creates an almost blinding sheen, and utilizing it to contrast with a non-varnished area can really draw some attention to the direct mailer. This is especially the case since I very rarely see UV varnished direct-mail.
6.) Contrast-varnishing - Try printing a gloss varnish with a dull varnish. The effects of contrast-varnishing are similar to the effect mentioned in the UV varnishing section above. Simply put, it completely mutes the sheen in the dull varnished area and enhances the sheen in the gloss varnished area and gives the piece a unique look.
7.) Unique die-cuts - In addition to unique shaped-direct mail pieces, die-cutting can also be a functional tool AND a creative way to catch attention. For example, Acme printed a direct-mail project in which when the piece opened, two simple die-cuts allowed a business card to pop up.
8.) Metallic inks - Metallic inks speak for themselves. Try utilizing metallic ink overprints, in which a mid-tone of metallic inks print over a process-color image. This is a fairly sensitive printing procedure, but when pulled off correctly (which Acme does!), the results are sheer brilliance.
9.) Double PMS hits - Double hits, or printing the same PMS image twice in the same pass creates a very deep and "turn-your-head" noticeable color. Again, so much so, that it draws attention.
10.) Tip-on - A tip-on can be any sort of printed piece that is glued to another piece. You often see this with credit-card mailers or post-it notes on direct mail pieces. There are a number of varying tip-on applications, but ultimately, a tip-on looks and feels different when you receive it in the mail. Additionally, our Pawtucket, RI facility just added tip-on capabilities in their plant.
11.) Gang-runs - A gang-run (in this direct-mail discussion) is the process of running multiple different direct-mail pieces on the same sheet. This can be utilized to create semi-variable direct-mail projects by printing a number of different direct-mail pieces on the same sheet.
Ultimately, all of these ideas may increase the budget of your project, but by no means, break the bank. Remember that it's a number game and if you spend a little more, but cost-justify this with an increased response rate, then you have succeeded!
*This source is from - "Consumers' Response to Direct Marketing: An 8 Part Series"
**This source is from - "Study: Consumers Responsive to Junk Mail" (Sass, 2007)
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
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