Here are 6 rules to follow when designing successful direct mail pieces:
Make sure your marketing piece stands out from everyone else's. ...
Be sure to personalize the marketing piece. ...
Color is key. ...
Strong offer. ...
Full use of space. ...
The results should be trackable.
USPS Announces 2020 Postage Rate Increase
The USPS announced a price change that will take effect on January, 26, 2020 by filing a notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). The PRC has to approve the new rates.
The average increase will be approximately 1.9%. But as we have seen in the past, some rates will see a higher than 1.9% increase and other will see less.
WAM will keep you posted as the details of this price change become available.
Contact us at (616) 957-6245 to ask how you can save postage on your next mailing project.
Direct mail can be cheap and impersonal, or it can be cheap and personal. Generic campaigns put you in front of your customers, but do you capture their attention? With variable data printing, small businesses and marketers in niches can vary their marketing campaigns to target the specific needs of a diverse audience without having to create multiple pieces that may only be useful for one campaign.
What is variable data printing?
Variable data printing is a printing method that allows for some parameters to be changed, such as text and images, within an entire output as many times as desired. This is most often used in direct mail to change names and addresses. The software uses a spreadsheet created by the user or the mail house to determine what input goes where on the material. While it certainly makes creating large scale direct mail campaigns much easier and cost-effective to print, it can be used to further customize direct mail to a customer’s preferences and buying history, personalizing direct mail so that it appears that the it was made just for that customer.
How can variable printing help your direct mail marketing campaigns?
1. One print run. One direct mail campaign can be changed to target specific demographic groups with just a few tweaks. One campaign, one print run, one template. This makes small print runs affordable, and all print runs with a faster turnaround time.
2. Make it personal. If there’s one thing anyone is going to read on your direct mail (besides the word “free”) is their own name. This much variable printing can do, but to further capture a customer’s interest, a mailing, flyer, or catalog can be printed with targeted advertisement so that this customer is receiving what appears to be custom-made letter.
A campaign can target demographic groups or individuals by changing any content to appeal to that group. This would not only increase your return on investment, but allow you to experiment and create test campaigns smaller and more targeted than A/B tests.
3. Eye-catching images, fonts and colors. Customizing fonts, images, and colors allows you to completely transform your direct mail so that one campaign actually functions like many smaller, exclusive, niche campaigns. You could even use the same template over again and simply change the parameters to suit your needs.
4. Make it local. Do you have a storefront, or two? Do you sell your products in brick and mortar stores, at the farmer’s market, a festival? Let your customers know where to find your wares with maps and custom-printed lists of stores, hours, and directions to the places where they can buy your products.
5. Urgent message? A holiday-only sale? Moving locations? Opening a new store in a certain area? Announcing a new product line that a certain section of your customers would be interested in? Variable data printing can help you launch that direct mail with a few changes to an existing template so you can put the news out there immediately.
Creating custom information doesn’t have to be time-consuming and is not only available to those with huge print orders. With variable data printing, you can create multiple, personal, and tailored direct marketing pieces to appeal to each of your customers as individuals.
Please join us at the National PCC event happening Wednesday September 25. See below for the details.
How many emails and display ads do you see each day on average? Studies show that over 269 billion emails are sent around the world each day. And we encounter around 63 display ads daily as we browse the Internet. Overwhelming, right? On the other hand, the average person only receives around 2 pieces of mail on a daily basis.
Less mail to sort through means prospects are more likely to take the time to read your piece. And when consumers give you their full attention, there’s a better chance they’ll notice your offer and quickly take advantage of it. In fact, the Data & Marketing Association (DMA) reports that 79% of consumers act on direct mail immediately, which is much higher than email’s 45%.
Most unsolicited emails end up in the digital trash can pretty quickly, but that’s often not the case with direct mail. Get your offer to the right person, and your piece can easily outlast the few seconds devoted to most spam emails.
Have you ever wondered if the mailing you sent out has been delivered?
Maybe you need to coordinate some tasks based on when your customer receives their mailpiece. Or maybe you just want the reassurance that your message has been delivered to the intended recipient.
Add tracking to your next mailing and know when your mailing is delivered. Visibility is available down to the individual mailpiece.
Call us today at (616) 957-6245 to add tracking to your next mailing.
School is back in session which means school buses will be all over flashing their lights and waving their signs. We live in such a fast paced world, we barely have time to sit and smell the roses. We rush out of the house with our coffee in one hand and mascara in the other trying to catch up on yesterday’s emails. We find ourselves nose deep in our cell phones while we drive down the street not even noticing the corner full of kids slowly climbing the big yellow bus. Sometimes we forget how to proceed when a bus is stopped letting children on and off the bus. Please use the below picture as a reminder to watch for the bus that could be picking up your and my children.
Monday– Monday is generally the day when the most household mail is received. Avoid the risk of your direct mail campaign having to fight for attention by finding another day for your direct mail campaign to be received.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday– Delivery between Tuesday and Thursday is considered optimum. This is because recipients are well into the working week and likely to be going home that night. Nicely packaged attractive direct mail will be received well. These days are sufficiently far away from the weekend for households to be actively working and not in “weekend mode”.
Friday/Saturday– It’s best to avoid Fridays and Saturdays as households will be in “weekend mode”. Many households will be away for the weekend and often just throw away the direct mail they receive.
The USPS honors the nation’s brave and loyal military working dogs with a new booklet of 20 stamps. Each block of four stamps features one of each of the following breeds serving in America’s armed forces. Click on the links below to view a short video about each breed.
The background of each stamp features a detail of a white star. A star appears in the center of each block. The stylized digital illustrations are in red, white, blue, and gold to represent the American flag and patriotism.
