There was a great article in the current issue of Inside Direct Mail (written by Alan Rosenspan) titled “50 New Ways To Improve Response”.

The article divided the tips up among 5 categories:

• The Outer Envelope
• The Letter
• The Brochure
• The Reply Device
• Miscellaneous

We thought it would make for an interesting and helpful blog post if we shared with you 1 tip from each category.

Here they are…

The Outer Envelope

Use a window with a color tint. We’ve used both yellow and red, sometimes tinting the cellophane, sometimes just using color on the window to give the appearance of a tint. It makes the envelope stand out more.

The Letter

Test an unusual salutation. If you can’t personalize it, why settle for “Dear Colleague” or “Dear Friend”? An antique magazine began its winning letter with, “Dear Lover of Beautiful Things.”

The Brochure

Show a photograph of your target market on the cover, but remember the 20 percent rule. Show photos of people who are 20 percent younger than your target market, 20 percent more attractive, 20 percent better dressed — because that’s how most people see themselves.

The Reply Device

Make the boxes big enough. If you want people to give you their credit card information, their phone numbers or anything else — make sure they have enough room. And don’t use glossy paper. Their pens will smear and they may decide not to respond.

Miscellaneous

Test frequency. Some clients say, “I can’t mail again — I just sent a mailing last month!” Do you remember what you received in the mail last month? Last week? Yesterday? As David Ogilvy said, “You’re not advertising to a standing army. You’re advertising to a passing parade.” People who don’t need you one week might need you the next.

Popularity: 33% [?]

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Tags: Direct Mail Creative, Improve Response, Inside Direct Mail

The post office offers many tools to help make a direct mail campaign execute problem-free and more cost-effective.

One of the areas that we take great advantage of here at Ballantine is our local Postal Design Specialist.

These employees of the USPS are given the task of making a mail piece design flow through the postal system with no problems such as machine jam-ups or not qualifying for the automated mail postage rate.

The ideal time to take advantage of them is when you’re in the early design stages of your project. You can send them a mock-up of your mail piece and they will respond quickly with suggestions.

All of their information is based on the Domestic Mail Manual — actual written rules that all mailers must follow. If not followed, the consequences could be very expensive.

For example, if the post office deems your letter size mailer as non-machinable, the surcharge could be as high as $0.25 per piece.

For information on a Postal Design Specialist nearest you, contact the USPS.

Popularity: 46% [?]

Tags: Direct Mail Creative, Postage, Postal Customer Council, Postal Design Specialist, USPS

The July 2007 issue of Inside Direct Mail featured our client E Magazine.

Here’s the story…

They were having trouble getting direct mail to work for them to acquire new subscribers…they tested both a voucher package and a double-postcard, but both were not effective.

Circulation Specialists, Inc. - E Magazine’s circulation management provider (we handle the printing and mailing) - recommended trying brand new creative, pricing and formats…the end result was a response rate that almost doubled.

You can view the campaign details here.

E Magazine was about to give up on direct mail…but they put money towards really excellent creative and completely revived their acquisition efforts.

Recommending to you that you should invest in new creative before throwing in the towel on direct mail isn’t something you haven’t heard before…but this success story proves that it’s an investment worth considering.

Popularity: 28% [?]

Tags: Circulation Marketing, Direct Mail Creative