The August 2008 issue of our Sample of the Month Newsletter features a case study from our client, Institutional Investor News and their Fund Directions Newsletter.
The story centers around their 6×9 invitation style mailer (pictured above) that they use to generate subscriptions for Fund Directions.
The invitation mailer measures 6″ (height) by 9″ (width). Inside is a 1-page letter, 4-color brochure and reply card. The offer is for two complimentary issues.
CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES
Summary
Institutional Investor News used to mail a polybag mailer containing an actual issue of Fund Directions, a letter and reply card. They replaced this mailing with the invitation mailer above and response improved.
Strategy
Fund Directions is a different type of financial publication because it’s sold to the board of directors of mutual funds. As a result, the entire board has to vote on whether or not they want to purchase it.
They tested the invitation mailer because they learned their audience is more resistant to typical direct mail…they needed to test something that would get opened and an invitation format was the logical choice.
Results
A subscription to Fund Directions is a highly-customized program and Institutional Investor uses more than just direct mail to close the deal…for example, telemarketing and event marketing is included in the mix.
As a result, they don’t have hard response numbers for their direct mail campaigns. That being said, the last two invitation-style mailings resulted in a noticeable lift in new subscriptions.
Surprises
The Marketing team for Fund Directions was surprised that the invitation mailer beat out the polybag mailing containing a newsletter issue. They speculate that recipients might throw out the polybag mailer thinking it’s junk mail of some sort.
Future
Institutional Investor News is going to produce another similar invitation-style mailer based on the success of the previous two campaigns.
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Popularity: 11% [?]
Tags: Direct Mail Case Studies, Institutional Investor News, Invitation Mailers
The June 2008 issue of our Sample of the Month Newsletter features a case study from our client, Caesars Pocono Resorts.
The story centers around the 3-panel self mailers they use to generate room reservations. These mailers are the single largest driver of revenue for them.
The 3-panel self mailer pictured above measures 8.5″ (width) x 6″ (height) closed and opens up to 25″ (width) x 6″ (height). The paper is a coated stock and the piece is 4 colors on both sides.
CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THREE VERSIONS
Summary
Caesars Pocono Resorts mails out 3-panel self mailers to generate reservations for their various all-inclusive Pocono Mountains packages. They mail a total of 6 throughout the year and all are the same size, but vary in artwork and special promotions.
Strategy
Caesars Pocono Resorts sends them out when they know they want to push certain times or events. For example, they definitely push hard for New Year’s and Valentine’s Day, and then start focusing on the Spring, then Summer and then Fall. The mailers have a lot of staying power with their guests…they tend to hold on to them for a while.
Results
After each mailing, Caesars Pocono Resorts analyzes what segments of their mail file are doing well and which ones are not performing well. They look at the reports this year versus last year and, as a result, they try to send the mailers out as close as possible to the previous year.
It’s hard to gauge how well each mailer does versus each other because of additional factors such as the economy, special offers, seasonality, entertainers, etc. That being said, their profit ratio benchmark is 4:1 and their past winter campaign reached this goal with all 3 mailers (general Winter, New Year’s and Valentine’s Day).
Surprises
A lot of people say special offers driver mailers for obvious reasons, but Caesars Pocono Resorts finds that even regular rates generate good call volume…and entertainers are a bigger response factor for them. Also, their mailers have a really long shelf life. The minute the mailers hit mailboxes, they see the number of incoming calls in their call center jump, and reservations continue to trickle in for a long time (they use tracking phone numbers).
In fact, they sometimes get calls from members of their Forever Lovers loyalty program when they don’t get the mailers wondering where they are!
Future
Caesars Pocono Resorts will continue to mail out the self mailers along with a few other booklet type pieces. They are also testing some new things with the self mailers. For example, we just produced a mailing for them — their usual 3-panel mailer — but we applied a new varnish on the paper that gives it a nice velvety finish.
We’re going to be producing a video about this new varnish soon. Please subscribe to our email or RSS feed above if you want to receive updates when we post new content to this blog including videos, case studies, tips, news and more.
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Reminder: Did you read our new direct mail control report yet? It’s a 10-page PDF with information about what direct mail formats are working for other marketers in 2008. Click here to download.
Popularity: 21% [?]
Tags: 3-Panel Self Mailer, Caesars Pocono Resorts, Direct Mail Case Studies
