While trends in marketing and consumer preferences may change, there are four basic tenants of direct mail that will forever remain the same. No matter how much direct mail evolves, say from square mail to shaped mail, these cornerstones will still mean the difference between whether or not people will read what you send. But here’s the catch. Many marketers skip 1 and 2, which account for 70 to 80 percent of your campaign’s success.
Imagine this. A day or two before you receive a marketing message in your mailbox, you receive a preview of what’s arriving on your smart phone via a special app. Or perhaps you’ll have an email inbox that lists mail and packages that are on their way. This is a reality that’s a lot closer than we might think, according USPS Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe.
On this site, you can calculate the ROI of your shaped campaign versus a traditional postcard campaign in just a few easy steps.
Today, business cards can be much more than the traditional 2 x 3.5” rectangle. Companies who want to instantly differentiate themselves are now turning to shaped business cards to leave a lasting impression on the recipient.
“Shaped handouts help non-profits stand out. Because they have a longer shelf life, they keep the organization top-of-mind much longer than a traditional rectangular promotional piece,” said Jim O’Brien, co-owner of Tampa-based ThinkShapes Mail.
VDP systems are intuitive and easy for digital printers to implement, helping marketers go from a dismal average 2% response rate for static communication to a 10 to 15% response rate when VDP is brought into the direct mail equation.
Associated costs could be as much as 31 times the purchasing cost of paper, which includes not only the retail price, but storage, copying, printing, postage, disposal and recycling. So what’s the solution? Companies who switch to print-on-demand have reported savings as much as 27% in their printing costs alone, according to American Digital.
Our pledge to you in 2013 is to continue to hone our processes and production procedures to keep your projects on track, on budget, and delivered on time.
Just a few short years ago, marketers were riding the digital wave and predicting the extinction of “snail mail.” But nothing could be farther from the truth in 2013. According to the Direct Marketing Association, early estimates anticipate a 2.4 percent ad spend increase on direct mail for the next two years as well.
