Advertising your business or service via direct mail is still an extremely powerful method when used correctly. The Internet has not completely digitized the world as of yet. In many cases the Internet is making direct mail marketing even more relevant while driving costs down!
Before the Internet and the technology boost that came with it, it was extremely difficult for advertisers to calculate their ROI on any given direct mail piece. Now, direct mail has simply become another way for a company to generate leads and present their offer. This has brought costs down as advertisers and marketers are looking to keep it cheap and simply sell the offer on the back end via the Internet. Direct mail is no longer the beginning and end of a marketing campaign. It is just a step in the process.
Keeping this in mind, here are 10 direct mail design tips that will guarantee you receive the best possible conversions and the highest return on investment.
1) Graphics
One thing that has not changed is the purpose behind the use of graphics in direct mail pieces. They still need to act as another sales agent, pushing the prospect or customer to complete the desired action. Your graphics should only be used to accomplish two things:
- Create an emotional response in the prospect.
- Transfer and pull the prospect with that emotional response (need) into the copy of your ad, which just so happens to provide them with the solution to that emotional need.
If your graphics do not exist to accomplish these two things, forget about using graphics. They will only distract the prospect away from the desired action you wish them to take.
2) Fonts
Your fonts need to be extremely readable. If they are not easy to read, your message won't get through. It is widely thought that the actual body copy should be done in a serif font of some kind, and your main headline, bullet points and other sub-headlines should be a bold serif or sans serif font. I have not seen any conclusive evidence through testing that this increases conversions. A clean font, elegant enough to catch the eye and keep it, but which communicates as easily as a simple email would is the way to go.
Also make sure that the color you use for your font does not clash with the background graphics. Don't put light font colors against light backgrounds or dark fonts on dark backgrounds. You don't want your prospects to have to work hard to see what you are saying. If they have to, they will simply throw it away with the other trash they received in the mail that day.
Lastly, although it is generally accepted that a bold, red-colored font works best for a headline, this is not always the case with all markets. Your audience may respond better to a blue headline or even a black headline. You will need to test this for yourself.
3) Photographs as Conversion Boosters
The use of a photograph in your mail pieces can greatly increase your conversions, as long as you use the correct photo! The best photos you can use are ones of people who match your target market. Again, this connects the message to your reader. A good photo will be able to illicit a general emotional response and create a connection with your target market, while allowing them to fill in the blanks with their own experiences. This is very powerful.
For example, if you are marketing a product to mothers, a picture of a woman holding a baby (denoting motherhood) will make a big difference in how your reader will perceive the rest of your mail piece. As they are reading the rest of your ad, the mother will be filling in the blanks from that "motherhood" emotion with her own experiences as a mother.
4) Handwriting and Bullet Points Effects
Use these effects when you want to draw your reader's attention to certain parts of your direct mail piece. An example of this would be the placement of your actual signature next to a guarantee you are making on your product. This helps forge a positive connection with your reader and potential customer.
Additionally, think about making use of creative bullet point graphics to draw more attention to the best features of your product or service. I once received a great direct mail piece from a formal wear company that I had recently bought a suit from. They used little bow-ties as bullet points, and it was very effective in pulling my attention to the features listed there.
5) Know Your Audience
This ties in with the example above. Just as you are not going to use a photograph of a man when you are marketing to mothers, you need to know your audience well enough to deem if graphics or photos are even needed.
The older generation won't typically appreciate a graphically heavy ad. Yet the younger generation of today is used to being bombarded with graphics and generally will not respond to a text-heavy ad containing a lot of information. It all depends on how your audience processes information. You want to know this and design accordingly.
6) Product Placement
If you are selling a physical product, include an image of it in your ad. You cannot get any more straight forward than this. If your product is physical, let it represent itself.
Even if your product is digital, it is still helpful to create a physical representation of it. If you are selling a digital ebook, have a digital cover made for it and include this in your ad. People still want to feel like what they are thinking of buying is a tangible item they can touch and feel.
7) Stamps
If you are doing a heavy amount of mailing, such as a mass postcard marketing campaign, you may be tempted to use a postage meter. Although it takes more work to use real stamps, I would encourage you to do so. The recipients of your mail pieces are going to be less likely to toss your ad in with the rest of the junk mail if you use a real stamp.
8) Personal Touch
Make your envelopes, postcards and other mail pieces appear to be addressed personally. This means that both the sender (you) and the recipient addresses appear to be done by hand.
Also, keep in mind that a mail piece from a person (a first and last name) will appear more real and personable than a company name. If you use a letterhead, use a personal letterhead as opposed to a company one. This is much more work, but it pays off in greater lead conversions.
9) Use Teasers
You want to use teasers in your mail pieces, and you want to include them on the outside of the envelopes. If your direct mail piece is in an envelope, keep in mind that the first step is for your prospect to simply open it!
A teaser is a bit of copy you can include on the front of the envelope that forces your prospect to open up the envelope to read what is inside. It is a preview of coming attractions. If they don't even open the envelope, nothing matters.
10) The Envelope
You will even want to consider what kind of envelope to use. The standard white #10 envelope has long been considered the envelope of choice for direct mail, but that does not mean it is the best choice for your audience.
A larger envelope might be better for you or a square envelope instead of a rectangle one. You may even want to test out different colors to see what works best. Whatever you decide, just don't forget about the envelope. It is the first thing that your prospect will see. At this point they have two choices. They can throw your mail in the trash or open it. Give them more reasons to open it.
Direct mail has always mixed science, art and human psychology. It is a well-established advertising medium, so you will be able to find much more information about proven methods for reaching a market and getting them to take specific action. That is where the art and psychology meet. The science part of this equation will be what you come up with through your own testing.
Your audience might be unique. It all depends on your product and service and how you wish to present it to your target market. Either way, you are going to want to test and track some or all of these direct mail design tips I have mentioned until you come up with a formula that works best for your business.
Adam Bauthues - Hi there! My name is Adam Bauthues! I am husband to my beautiful wife Helena, and a father to my three children, Anthony, Skyanna, and ...
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