3 Direct Mail Design Tips to Really Increase Your Response Rate

3 Mailer Design Tips to Really Increase Your Response Rate

  

In the past we have preached the 4 Steps to Designing a Mailer:

• 1.) Stopping Power -  get the recipient to stop the immediate impulse to recycle the mailer.
• 2.) Relevant Message - the message  must be relevant to your customers needs and your service.
• 3.) Product Information - buyers want lots of information and long copy sells
• 4.) Compelling Offer - every recipient will want a deal.

 All 4 Steps are still essential, but here are 3 tips to really increase your response rate:

•  Make it Personal. There are some direct mail campaigns that can be successful with a catchy headline and a strong offer. But many businesses, especially smaller businesses, live in a community and draw from a specific trade area. Those businesses need to mail continually throughout the year to keep awareness up, and sometimes the catchy headline just gets old. My advice is to get personal. Successful local mailers will have a photo of the owner and sometimes the owner's staff or family. Often the copy is written more like a personal letter rather than bullet point features and benefits. Ultimately, I think, people want to do business with other people and not a faceless business; people want to do business with Dr. Bob and not Metro Dentists.

•  Show Credibility and Trust. With any new business relationship there is the risk of being ripped off. The goal in designing a mailer is to reduce that perceived risk. Trust and credibility are subtle and subconscious things so it's important to have design elements that trigger a trust response. Here are a few trust and credibility triggers:

•  Testimonials. People want to know about other people's experience.
•  Social Media Logos. Let’s people know that those resources exist.
•  Website. A place for more information. Real companies have websites.
•  Accreditations. Professional associations, degrees, and 3rd party endorsements.
• Supplier Logos. Equipment used, shipping services used, credit cards accepted.

• Be Professional with Photos. As far as I can tell there are 2 ways to make a mailer look professional: design elements and photos. Design elements include a font choice, color choice, logos and shapes (I realize this is overly simplistic). A rule of thumb is that design is hard and photos are easy. It's hard to make a mailer look professional with only design elements. But you can make a poorly designed mailer look professional with photos. So use photos as the sure way to get a professional looking mailer. Photos also tie back to making your mailer personal. Hey, take it one step further: get a professional photographer to take personal photos of yourself and your business. If that is not available as a resource let us know - we have a partnership with www.fotolia.com that you can browse and select images to use for your directmail piece as partof our inclusive service.

So get started! Printz has a march special where you get $20 off your print project by entering the code LUCKY through the end of the month when you check out on your printing project.