5 Ways to Ensure Your Direct Mail Stands Out From the Crowd

To make the most of your direct mail efforts, you must give potential customers a reason to focus on your marketing ahead of the other advertisements they receive

The United States Postal Service delivers about 146.4 billion pieces of mail every year. Of these pieces, 77.3 billion are advertisements, so coming up with a way to stand out from the crowd is vital to your success as a direct mail marketer.

But how do you make yourself different and avoid the trash bin?

The key is presenting your brand as a polished, professional entity that can solve a problem.

By providing your readers with value, maximizing your advertising space, improving your presentation, and personalizing when possible, your brand will make a great impression on anyone who receives your direct mail.

1. Provide exceptional value

The main goal of sending direct mail to potential customers is to provoke a response. To accomplish that goal, you must provide a reason for the recipient to take action.

What do you want the reader to do?

If your goal is to attract website visitors, provide an incentive for them to visit your website. Likewise, if you’re looking to gain a direct sale from your direct mail piece, your best bet is likely giving the reader a discount.

It’s not enough to say, “Visit our website for more information” because you’re competing with countless other businesses for the customer’s time and effort.

Your offer should be direct and to the point while providing real, tangible value to attract the reader’s attention. Otherwise, potential customers are likely to merely glance at your mailings quickly before throwing them in the recycling bin and forgetting about them altogether.

2. Make the visual design a priority

Keep in mind that you want to ensure that your design is visually appealing and grabs the recipient’s attention. Otherwise, the reader might not even glance at your marketing material.

Experiment with various fonts and colors, and make sure you use plenty of white space to draw the reader’s eyes to the most critical sections. If your design is bland or cluttered, your reader will struggle to find the relevant information, and it will become less likely that your direct mail campaign succeeds.

Remember, your direct mail isn’t about fitting as much information as possible onto a single piece of paper. Your campaign should instead focus on getting the right message to each customer so he or she takes further action on your brand’s services or products.

By designing your material in a way that draws the reader’s attention to the most relevant sections and doesn’t overcrowd the piece with distracting details, your direct mail will be easier to read and act on.

3. Invest in expert direct mail copywriting

The quality of your copywriting goes hand-in-hand with the success of your design. Every word should have a purpose that brings the reader closer to taking action. Copywriting is a challenging skill to master, which is why most successful direct mailers put it in the hands of specialists — either keeping expert direct mail copywriters on-staff or hiring an agency that has them.

Whoever does the writing, it’s essential that you avoid fluff and “me text,” i.e. text that addresses your company’s point of view instead of your recipient’s. All direct mail copy must be written to engage the readers, address their concerns, make emotional connections, and give them every reason to take the next step into your sales funnel. A well-written direct mailpiece must be difficult for the target audience to pass up — it should be easier to respond to than throw out.

4. Have every mailing printed by a professional service

A final visual element that can make or break your direct mail campaign is the quality of the printing. If you’ve ever received a direct mailpiece or flyer that used low-quality paper, smearing ink, blurry images, etc., then you know how unprofessional poor-quality printing can look. Such advertisements often leave the impression that they were thrown together and printed on a personal computer rather than by a professional marketing team.

To help your campaign stand out from the crowd, consider using a professional printing service that has a variety of high-end finishing options from which to choose.

Many times, these printing services will offer variable data printing, as well, which allows you to change some aspects within each piece depending on pre-determined variables. When you do this, each recipient will get a letter with personalized information on it, helping you stand out from other marketers who aren’t personalizing their material.

If you really want to stand out, sending direct mail with a professional look and customized variables is a great way to get your audience’s attention.

5. Get the help you need

Putting a direct mail campaign together from start to finish is a lot of work, and there’s no guarantee that you’ll get it right alone. Luckily, there is help available to make sure the most challenging aspects of this form of marketing shine through in your mailing.

Gunderson Direct is one of the country’s most respected direct marketing agencies and has the expertise needed to handle campaigns of all sizes. We will work with you throughout the planning, production, mailing, and analytical stages, assuring that you’re always on the right track and working to improve your ROI. Contact Gunderson Direct to learn how to increase your leads and close more sales through direct mail.