Pet Charity Mailer Opens Hearts & Wallets

AccuList USA has a long and successful history with mailing lists and data services targeting "pet parents" and organizations offering pet-related products, services and causes. One of the surefire ways to engage an audience is to use adorable animal pictures combined with copy crafted to open hearts--and wallets. Here's a recent example of direct mail to inspire our pet marketing clients, courtesy of a post by Target Marketing magazine. Best Friends, which runs the largest no-kill U.S. animal sanctuary across multiple locations, was seeking donations for its mission of ending pet homelessness. The outer envelope of their newsletter package immediately grabs attention with a picture of one of the nonprofit's doggie stars. The heart-tugging gaze is hard to ignore, especially coupled with an intriguing teaser: "Hey, whatever happened to Justin? Find out inside!" When recipients open the envelope, they find a newsletter showcasing the sad story of a pup who had a rough start, including a photo to tug at donor heartstrings. And once emotions are triggered, the format makes it easy to act by putting a donation reply form and call-to-action right at the top of the letter. If prospective donors still hesitate, the Best Friends' copy offers data on the importance and urgency of action by providing examples of the impact that specific dollar-amount donations will have. The copy also educates recipients on the organization's mission, vision and history so they connect with the larger cause. Since a picture, especially one of a winsome pup, is worth a thousand words, go to our on-site blog post for a link to the article about the mailer.

In Direct Mail, What's Old Is New (& Effective) Again

Keeping up with the latest direct mail options combining print and digital technologies doesn't mean ignoring the tried-and-true, pre-digital tactics that still deliver mail response! Thank Paul Bobnak, director of Who's Mailing What!, for sifting through mail volumes to spot some successful new takes on old tricks for attention-getting envelopes. In a recent Target Marketing magazine article, he noted the reappearance of four "old-school" tactics. One is an envelope highlighting Yes-No-Maybe stickers, once a favorite of subscription drives; Bobnak cites a recent mail piece from UPMC, a healthcare system, with the Yes-No stickers visible in an outer envelope window. Posting an outer envelope quiz is another proven way to intrigue prospects into opening--a ploy often used for health care and financial services offers. Bobnak shows how a few qualifying envelope questions work well today for the Harvard Health Letter. The interoffice-routing-style envelope is an old trick for catching the attention of office workers and has been a go-to for B2B. Despite e-mail's workplace dominance, interoffice paper still exists, and Bobnak notes the recent engaging nonprofit marketing use of an interoffice envelope by Sacred Heart Southern Missions, a social ministry. Then there's the photo lab envelope, seemingly obsolete in this digital photo age. But high-quality printed photos still come in envelopes, Bobnak reminds, and that syncs with the message of Dissolve, a stock footage agency, which recently prospected with a photo lab envelope containing quality photos from its collections. Once recipients open the envelope, the old-school marketing basics of the letter copy offer still matter, too. Thus, in another recent Target Marketing magazine article, Summer Gould highlighted seven items required for a great direct mail letter: a first sentence that hooks the reader; an offer that is attractive; a story line that pulls important emotional triggers; flattery that convinces the reader he or she is special and appreciated, which today requires personalization; questions that qualify; a problem solved by your product or service; and benefits that matter to the prospect or customer. For more detail and links to real-life examples, see http://www.acculistusa.com/for-direct-mail-whats-old-can-be-new-effective-again/

Test These Ideas to Re-energize Your Direct Mail

Direct mail continues as a solid marketing performer across many industries, but even the trustiest workhorse can fall behind without occasional spurs to response. So if you need to inject new energy into your 2015 mail campaigns, consider these suggestions from Paul Bobnak, research and content director of Who's Mailing What! and DirectMarketingIQ. Bobnak recently looked over the mass of 2014 direct mail and picked out four standout ideas that mailers may want to test this year. First, consider individualized maps. Maps are common components to drive consumer traffic, especially in retail, but a postcard by Patient First, an urgent care center chain, made tweaks that really boosted impact, Bobnak asserts. Patient First used variable data to create a personalized "You are here" starting point at the prospect's home, made the map bigger "than you'll see in almost any direct mail package," and positioned the map above the postal indicia to maximize effect. Second, Bobnak suggests calling out the competition, especially on price increases, citing campaigns by both Comcast and Verizon cable services that boldly pressed consumer pain over competitor bills that had "gone up recently." Third, make testimonial copy work harder for you by boosting authenticity, Bobnak urges, pointing to the tactics of LifeLock, an identity security provider that sold its value proposition by highlighting "real-life" case studies with actual customer photos. Finally, update your direct mail with the digital icons that have acquired such call-to-action power, Bobnak suggests, using a 2014 Citi MasterCard letter as an example. To see the actual direct mail examples, go to http://www.directmarketingiq.com/article/4-direct-mail-ideas-try-2015/1

Most Direct Mailers Opt for Medium-Sized Pieces

Wondering about direct-mail creative trends for 2015? Don't be surprised if mailers stick with medium-sized creative pieces and still pump out a good share of No. 10 envelope packages. At least that's what you would expect based on a Who's Mailing What! study of mailing patterns through 2013. As recently reported by Direct Marketing IQ, direct mail pieces with medium envelope/package sizes have dominated offers received by Who’s Mailing What! since 2010, averaging 71% of mail offers each year. One-third of these medium-sized pieces used a No. 10 envelope, and Retail Traffic Builders were the top users of medium sizes for the years reviewed. In contrast, larger-sized mailings—ranging from 2.5"x20" to 11"x14"—were used for about 26% of the offers received each year, per WMW. Those larger-sized mailers were most used in the Catalog and Retail Traffic Builders (brochures) categories. Keeping it small (3"x9" or smaller No. 7-3/4 or No. 9 envelopes) appeals to a minority of direct mailers, with just 3% opting for smaller-sized mailing pieces. For more detail, go to http://www.directmarketingiq.com/article/medium-sized-direct-mail-pieces-dominate-whos-mailing-what-offers/1

Attention-Getting Design Trends Bolster Mail Impact

Attention-grabbing design is one way direct mail marketers can break through the promotional noise that bombards its busy audience. In a recent Target Marketing Magazine article, Paul Bobnak, director of research at Who's Mailing What!, cites three new creative trends that help the direct mail catalogued by his firm to stand out in mailboxes and earn recipient response. First, he notes an upswing in impactful, four-color envelopes, including full bleeds and color on both sides. Second, there is increased use of icons mimicking those from digital screens (desktop, tablet or mobile). It's an especially popular tactic in mail aimed at younger, highly digital audiences, but many mailers now commonly use icons on reply forms and call-to-action devices as prompts to online action or reminders of available response options. The third trend spotted by Bobnak is increasing use of advanced personalization. In a quest for the proven response lift delivered by personalization, mailers are rolling out personalized targeting that goes beyond including the prospect's name to leveraging mailing list data such as geography, buying/donation history, age, gender, etc. in targeted text and imagery. For Bobnak's comments, see http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/3-trends-direct-mail-design-2014-top-50-mailers/1

Fundraising Envelope Changes Spur Response

"Testing isn't difficult or costly, but it is the lifeblood of your program," Bryan Terpstra, senior vice president of RobbinsKersten Direct, advised direct mail fundraisers in a recent report by The NonProfit Times. But where to start testing? How about with the first thing a recipient sees: the envelope. If the target audience doesn't even open the envelope, the great appeal inside is wasted. That's why moving from a standard #10 envelope to a larger package can really spur response, not only helping a solicitation stand out in the mail but enabling fundraisers to increase the size of text and graphics, inside and out, Terpstra notes. He provides the following example of how much difference an envelope change can make: When the Special Olympics increased its format from a 6-inch by 4-inch package to a 7.25-inch by 5.25-inch package, its response rate jumped nearly 10%. Of course, once that envelope is opened, there are letter and copy treatments, including changing the "gift array" or "ask ladder," to test as response boosters. For more direct mail testing suggestions, see the article at http://www.thenonprofittimes.com/news-articles/envelope-change-boosted-fundraising-results-10/