Brand development specialists often face the daunting tasks of sending direct mail pieces that actually get delivered, opened, and paid attention to.
In my former corporate life as an HR director I got TONS of catalogs, pitch letters, resumes, and general junk selling stuff from reference books, to seminars, to training supplies. Most of it I barely glanced at as I tossed it in the recycle bin.
Some places encourage the mail room staff to just toss stuff that looks even remotely junk-like.
So what's a marketer to do?
Use some creativity to design and send a piece that people are more likely to open.
Yesterday I received a piece promoting a company that does outsourcing for a special type of graphic signage for a particular industry and I actually it. Here's what they did well:
1. Didn't use an envelope. The information -- one 11 x 14 page and an 8 x 11 1/2 flyer -- came rolled up in a plain cardboard tube. That's packaging you're compelled to open.
2. Prize inside. There was a little lollipop shaped like a baby's pacifier that rolled out of the tube when I opened it. Now I really HAD to know what the messaging said!
3. A sense of humor. The main document was the 11 x 14 sheet and it had a large picture of a crying baby in one corner along with the headline "Don't Cry!" The subheadline tied in nicely and touched on the genuine feelings of frustrations that their propspects probably have over this technology.
4. Got me thinking. The simple 2 pages got me thinking about them and the conference that they mentioned they're displaying at. I have no intentions of going to the conference but if it got ME thinking about it I'm sure it did the same for those who really are in or near the bull's eye of their target market.
Was it expensive? Compared to a regular #10 business envelope it probably was. But a #10 envelope is too easy to judge as junk mail and it's too easy to just open the envelope, pull out the thing that's making the envelope "lump" and then recycle it. The real answer about the expense relates to how much a lead is worth, how many leads visit their booth at that conference, and how many of those leads become qualified and move through their sales funnel.
Assuming the list is made up of more qualified prospects than me, I think it's a gamble worth taking.
So what do you do to break through junk mail clutter to get to your prospects?
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