I still get tons of direct mail at home every week. Besides catalogs, the biggest mail users seem to be charities, other not-for-profit organizations, credit cards, politicians, whoever is wasting money on postcard mailings and, in last place, that old standby – miscellaneous.
In general, the creative standards have slipped in B2C mailings over the past 15 years or so. They haven’t slipped as far as B2B mailings have but they’re not what they used to be.
The standout category in direct mail is dominated by charities. There’s a good reason for that and it’s the same reason they use direct mail in the first place: it’s their bread and butter. Without direct mail, charities would die. They’re good at acquisition mailing and brilliant at mailings to existing donors. What makes them so great? Let’s review some of the principles.
The mailings are in envelopes. They’re not postcards or self-mailers.
The envelopes have teaser copy on the outside.
Everything in the “package” looks easy to read even before you start reading.
The writers are never showing off their brilliance; the copy is always in simple language, as simple as Dickens’s “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”.
They have letters and the letters have a personal, one-to-one, feel about them. The letters are from a human being and signed, usually in blue, by a human being, one human being, not two or three or, shudder, a committee.
There’s usually a (relevant) story of some kind that draws the reader in.
The writer makes a point if establishing a one-to-one connection with a simple device like “I don’t know how you feel about … but I …”
Sometimes there is a brochure, sometimes not. (Often, brochures are not worth what they cost.)
They often contain involvement devices, something for the recipient to “play” with, however minor it may be: a sticker you move from here to there, for example.
The copy might tug gently at your heartstrings, but it doesn’t beat you over the head.
The copy is as long as it has to be, no longer and, certainly, no shorter.
They do what all sales managers wish their salespeople would do: they ask for the order in several different ways.
They are positive, upbeat and focused on success.
They usually feature testimonials.
They keep coming.
I am flabbergasted every day that companies do not use direct mail more often.
I understand it is considered old-fashioned and unglamorous – both of which are completely irrelevant if it works. I hear that it is expensive, and it is compared to some of the options. But that, too, is irrelevant if it is profitable and grows in profitability as it is used more and more.
To me the best things about direct mail today are the same best things of 50 years ago: you control the message environment, you can test everything, you know exactly how well you’re doing, you get and keep customers, and your competition has no idea what you’re up to.
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Thanks for sharing your post. I haven’t really thought about it that much, but I do get a lot of what I call junk mail. The charities do send me a lot of opportunities and though I might not always respond right then, it probably does keep them and their mission on my mind.
That’s interesting that Michael reacts that way because I do too. I have regular charities I contribute to every month, but when I see a particularly moving photograph or story in one of my direct mailings, it reminds me to send a bit more to one of my related charities. I pretty much do everything online now to save mailing costs and time, so the direct mailings from the charities are definitely effective in my case but not always directly beneficial for that particular charity.
I agree with you that charities are the only direct mail that has any noticeable effect on me. Interestingly, though, what usually happens is that it gets me thinking about charity, and if I do anything, I’ll go online and make a donation to one of the charities I consider my favorites. So, in effect, one charity is direct mailing for the benefit of another. I wonder if anyone else reacts that way?