In direct mail, you have a formidable enemy—the wastepaper
basket. Your prospects take one look at your mailing envelope
and decide if they will open it or fling it into the trash can
(or recycling box). One way to persuade them to open your
envelope is to make your envelope irresistible. Here are a few
ideas.
1. Unusual colours Keep your mailing envelopes the same size and
weight, just change the colour from white to something different
or more daring. 2. Odd size or shape Send your message in a
jumbo-size envelope. Or in a square envelope. Or send your
message in a tiny envelope. Just remember that your envelope has
to conform to postal regulations for size and shape, and fit
through a normal mailbox. 3. Personalization Put your prospect’s
name right on the front of the envelope, perhaps in the form of
a question: “Hey, Alan, know who offers the lowest interest
rates?” 4. Cartoon Speaking of personalization, put a cartoon on
the front of your envelope, and put your prospect’s name in the
caption (so that one of the cartoon characters is using your
prospect’s name in what they are saying). 5. Teaser Ask a
provocative question, give a compelling statistic, feature a
gripping photo or use another device that intrigues your
prospect and motivates them to open your envelope to satisfy
their curiosity. 6. Go plain Sometimes just a plain old #10
envelope works as well as anything else. IBM discovered in tests
that they increased their response dramatically just by putting
their logo in the top left hand corner of the envelope. You may
increase the number of people who open your envelope by not
using your logo, or not mentioning your company name, just your
return address. The secret to irresistible envelopes is
creativity and testing. Be as imaginative as you can, and then
test your hunches in the marketplace. May you discover many
winners!
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