The May 2009 issue of our ‘Sample of the Month’ direct mail case study features our client National Journal Group and their test of a roll fold self-mailer versus email marketing.

We also featured this self-mailer in our most recent direct mail video if you’re interested.

Campaign Details

The 4-color self-mailer measures 24″ wide by 8.5″ high (open) and roll folds down to 5.5″ wide by 8.5″ high (closed). The last panel has an L-shaped perf reply card. The offer is for a 2-week free trial subscription to The Hotline.

The Hotline is a web-only product that publishes political content daily at 12 p.m EST. Previously, the Marketing team for National Journal Group only used email to promote the 2-week free trials…this roll fold self-mailer was their first attempt at using direct mail to promote this online publication.

Both the direct mail piece and email blast share the same exact offer…and both were sent to in-house files (not rented files).

You can view pictures of the self-mailer by CLICKING HERE.

Update: you can view the email creative here. We designed the self-mailer, but not this email.

Campaign Results

One generated a whopping 68% more 2-week free trials.

The winner was…

Click Here

So are the results what you expected? Share your thoughts by commenting below.

And stay tuned for “part 2″ of this case study in about a month because the most important question of this campaign is: which direct marketing medium converted more free trials to paid subs? If you don’t want to have to remember to check our blog every so often for results, just sign up below for email updates. You can opt-out at any time.

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Welcome back. Have you subscribed to our blog's email updates yet? Remember - you also get the free whitepaper pictured left on cutting direct mail costs.

We have a new direct mail video to share with you below.

As always, the video is educational…we talk about a roll fold self-mailer we designed, printed and mailed recently for a client. On a related note, here’s the direct mail case study we released on this piece.

Specifically, we explain how the mail piece was produced: printed, perfed, scored, folded and glue-tacked closed. If you’ve ever wondered how all of this is done, this video is for you.

Questions or Comments? Please fill out the form below or email Ryan or Matt: ryan/matt (at) ballantine.com

Hi everyone, we’re done recording our 3rd video for this blog. It’s 2 minutes long and it talks about a new coating that is available called Soft-Feel that gives your direct mail piece a nice, velvety finish.

It’s a great way to take your existing control and add another dimension to it to see if it boosts response.

If you want samples of the Soft-Feel coating, please email Ryan: ryan (at) ballantine.com.

Click Here to view our June case study that features this self mailer.