Sometimes technology grabs our attention and we tend to forget about some of the tested and other powerful means of marketing. But when it comes to sending a concise message to a targeted group of people, direct mail is still a hands down winner. With an approximate open rate of around 80% (DMA studies), the ability to highly target mailing lists and direct mail’s ability to drive consumers to do many different things, direct mail is still a huge bang for your marketing dollar. It is not only measurable but it’s also interactive. When creating a marketing campaign for a client, I will almost always choose direct mail over television. I see the benefits outweigh other traditional media in campaign after campaign.
But a new study from Creating Results shows that to get great results from direct mail, good design is important. By a margin of 2 to 1, adults gravitate to ads and direct mail that have one, vibrant image as opposed to a collage or series of photos. People with expressive faces beat out more sublime faces and bright colors trumped cool colors. And the older the consumer, the more they preferred to be able to identify the person in the photo.
Women also preferred to see more lifestyle photos instead of
product photos.
When breaking down a direct mail campaign, the targeted mailing list is by far the most important component to any strategy. But the second is design and keeping the results of this study in mind as you decide on a concept will help insure that your investment gets opened.
MStique Marketing's Diane Shannon and Mary Wilkinson have over 30 years of
successful direct mail experience between them. Direct mail is a powerful tool
and can be used to drive cume, create loyalty and increase sampling. To find
out more, call Diane at MStique Marketing at 888-707-4441 or visit us online at
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