The HOLY GRAIL of direct mail marketing: It's all in the presentation

Lets get real honest folks.

We need to rethink how we are sending out direct mail to our niche markets.

Think of all the junk snail mail you get on a daily basis.  How much of it do you actually open up? Less than 5%? Maybe 3% on a good day.

Now think about the mail you get in a colorful envelope, contrasting mailing label, embossed return address and cool stamp.  You typically think it’s a wedding invite or something important and open it before the rest of the boring mail.

Now think about the direct mail you send out--typically looks more like junk mail than anything. You get the attention of someone for less than half a second while they throw your mailer in the garbage.  Don't get me wrong, a consistent message to our past and future clients is important but what if you could tweak how that message is presented?   What if you simply put that mailer in a well-appointed envelope?  Would you have the attention of your target market while opening your marketing piece? I know you would!

I have been doing targeted campaigns using this approach for Minneapolis Condos and the conversion is much, much higher.  EVERYONE opens an envelope that doesn’t look like it was sent out to 10 million other individuals.  Why can’t every Realtor send out their mailer in an envelope using the same technique?

Items needed: Colorful non-business envelopes (like one below), contrasting (Avery 5160) mailing labels, return label embosser and stamps with some styple.

Step 1: stamp your envelopes with the embosser.

Step 2: print out your addresses on your mailing labels.  (I highly recommend using Georgia for your mailing label font—why? It’s the easiest font to read and it gives your envelope a classy look—trust me.)  

Step 3: Put your stamps and mailing labels on your envelopes, stuff your mailer and send out.

 Cost has always been a driving concern however I challenge everyone who wants to grow their business to do 2 direct mail campaigns using this approach and measure the results. 

Good luck to everyone in their marketing efforts!