Custom Envelope are Marketing Tools

Printing on an envelope can be a powerful marketing tool. Used correctly, envelopes can provide much more than a cover sheet for your letters or serve as more than just storage vehicles for documents and letters. Envelopes can be part of your marketing message- Acting as a teaser that drives potential clients to read your marketing message. If you’re looking create custom envelopes, here are some useful tips:

•          Use color to capture attention. Bright, vivid color envelopes can make your mailing stand out from the rest.
•     Change the style of the usual triangular flap to a rectangle with a button on the top. You don’t need to use a real button. Print it on the flap for an unexpected little surprise.
•     Use a unique paper texture for the envelope such as wove, linen or coated. It has the advantage of being visually appealing and arouses curiosity.
•      If you print a corporate tagline on the envelope, keep it short. Don’t clutter the piece, keep it classy. You’ve only got a brief instance to catch their attention, so make sure your most essential message is clear.

Want to try adding custom envelopes to your marketing campaign? Visit Precision Envelope today and get free shipping on your custom envelope order! Just use the code “FREESHIP” at checkout. 

Direct Mail Marketing & Earth Day

Since today is Earth Day, I can't help but think about direct mail marketing campaigns. A large number of our customers are business owners, and order custom envelopes as part of a traditional mail campaign. Direct mail marketing continues to be a very effective form of marketing, but it can leave an environmental footprint. Certainly digital marketing such as email and Search engine optimization has that advantage over mail, but Direct Mail still remains one of the best marketing tactics in terms of ROI. So as a business owner, you can't afford not to run direct mail campaigns. And you need envelopes for your business. So how do you rectify the environmental impact of direct mail?

Truth be told, there's a number of great ways you can reduce (or virtually eliminate) your carbon footprint when running a direct mail campaign. Most printer and paper mill offers a huge variety of  recycled envelopes and paper, including different styles and varying amount of recycled materials. Recycled paper is high quality and it's prices are roughly the same as paper not made from recycled material. Plus your customers will appreciate that you're "green" mail campaign (some may even choose your business over a competitor for that very reason!).

An eco-friendly direct mail campaign doesn't begin and end with recycled material. Before starting your campaign, make sure to double check your mailing list so you don't end up wasting paper, and money. Make sure that addresses are up to date, and that the mail campaign is appropriate for each recipient on your list. This can also help you improve your campaign ROI by mailing to those people who you think are most likely to convert. And don't forget to proofread your artwork, and ask your printer to proofread it as well! An extra set of eyes is always a good thing when it comes to direct mail.

Remember, being environmentally conscious and a successful direct mail marketer are not mutually exclusive.     Be sure to take the opportunity to do something today for Earth Day- Whether it's something small like walk to the store instead of driving or a being project like using all recycled paper in your office, every little bit helps!

Don't Count out Direct Mail

The CEO of OgilvyOne Worldwide, the world’s largest direct marketing network believes in the power of direct mail. “Almost every household in the civilized world can be reached by mail” he says. “Maybe that’s why every one of our top 20 clients uses direct mail in its marketing mix.”

He cites four strengths of direct mail:

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1. Endurance: Printed messages last longer than digital ones. And, direct mail response rates are consistently 2-3 times higher than email response rates.
2. Acquisition: Direct mail has always been a great way to introduce products and acquire customers.
3. Impact: When American Express launched its most prestigious product, the Centurion Card, they did it with mail and it worked.
4. Sense: Direct mail is sensory. You can’t feel the banner ad or smell an email.

Envelopes: First Point of Contact

Bland looking mailings are not working on today’s savvy consumers. Instead, recent advances in printing and production that enhance your custom envelope with personalized messages and four color printing have made the envelope in direct mail marketing a very pertinent and powerful tool. Here are some tips from marketing experts in creating a custom envelope that will be opened:

• The more information you can put on the outside of the envelope, without having it look funky, the more likely it will be opened.
• An envelope with message and graphics on the front is more likely to be opened than one with graphics and text on the back.
• Your audience is more likely to open a mail piece with color text and graphics, compared to a plain white envelope without messaging.
• Relevance is also very important. If the message is meaningful to the recipient, you’re more likely to get a positive response.
• Placing a QR code on an envelope can take recipients directly to your company’s home page. 

Did you Know that Google Uses Direct Mail?

Who said direct mail is dead? Many corporate giants, like Google, Facebook, and Geico use physical mail to drive Internet marketing and expand their audience. Even with Internet marketing, direct mail marketing continues to have a tremendous amount of value. Here are some reasons why Google, which controls nearly 20% of Internet traffic, still users direct mail to send messages.

• Targeted mailing lists help them reach and entice specific audiences via pinpointed forms of marketing.
• Once a mail piece is in the door, the consumer can be driven to the website with an enticing call to action.
• With computer viruses, identity thieves and overwhelming amounts of spam, people are becoming more amenable to physical mail offers. 
• Users can make a more personal connection thanks to personalized custom envelopes and content, as opposed to one size fits all email campaigns.

Six Strong Tips for Creating Envelopes that will be opened

Envelope copy and design work hand in hand to get mail pieces opened. There are so many options when it comes to custom envelopes, that it can be somewhat difficult to know where to get started. Here are some things to think about when designing your envelopes:

1.   Consider using a non standard size envelope. The higher cost may worth it as it will stand out among standard sized envelopes.
2. Test color. Try mailing the same piece to the same audience in a plain white envelope and again in a blue one (or any other color). Keep everything else about the mailing the same.
3. Try using variable data/personal data on the outer envelope to customize copy and images.
4. Use the back flap for your call to action.
5.  Test the use of involvement devices, such as peel off stickers.
6. Use teaser copy to promote a major benefit or offer, or ask an intriguing question that is answered inside the envelope. 

Remember the Power of Envelopes

Envelopes are as and maybe more important as the materials they contain. In fact, if your envelopes can’t motivate your audience to pen them, your message and marketing investment will simply be wasted.  

So, start planning early. Envelopes should not be an afterthought. The design, copy, size and printed message should be consider at the start of your campaign planning.

For example, do you want to use a color envelope? What type? What size? Printed or plain? Teaser copy? This is where custom envelope printing can come in handy. If you're running a direct mail campaign for your business, or you're sending any kind material that really needs to stand out, a standard #10 business envelope won't cut it. Here's an analogy I like to use: Imagine you're sitting at a bar, and you see someone you would just love to strike up a conversation with. So what do you say that will pique their interest? What killer line can you use to draw them in to a conversation? Your envelope is that opening line. And the contents of your envelope is the conversation.  Consider the action you want your recipients to take and how your envelope can serve to motivate them, always remembering that envelopes are like appetizers- they should be enticing.