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INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO INCREASE YOUR DIRECT MAIL EFFECTIVENESS

Guest post by: Billy Sharma

Article Overview: Innovative approaches to increase your direct mail effectiveness by getting creative.

INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO INCREASE YOUR DIRECT MAIL EFFECTIVENESS

We are bombarded by over half a million dollars’ worth of commercial and media messages every day. As a result today’s audiences have developed a selective intake mechanism. Most recipients simply don’t have enough time in their busy, complex lives to read anything other than material that interests them.

The decision to read or not to read comes down to one thing: is the person interested in what you are saying and/or showing?

No matter whom you are targeting – donors, prospects or suspects – all have one thing in common. They read very little of what we send them. Too often they look at the package and say, “Oh-oh! They want money again,“ without reading the contents. Those who do glance at the material read less than 50%.

So the question becomes, “How do we make our material interesting enough to get readers to pay attention?“

I have found four ways to do that. They are:

1. AROUSE CURIOSITY BY SHOWING OR TELLING THEM SOMETHING ORIGINAL AND INTERESTING.
2. TELL THEM SOMETHING THEY DIDN’T KNOW BEFORE, SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY.
3. TELL THEM SOMETHING IN A UNIQUE WAY.
4. SPUR THEM INTO ACTION; TELL THEM WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW.

AROUSE CURIOSITY BY SHOWING OR TELLING THEM SOMETHING ORIGINAL AND INTERESTING

Words can arouse curiosity, e.g. the outer envelope of a mail appeal for Integra which asked the question, “What’s the biggest thing you can fit in an envelope?“

The answer inside - a child’s dream. Readers were to help fulfill this dream by sending children with learning disabilities to Camp Towhee. That direct mail piece increased the organization’s database by 10% in its first year.

Another example was a mailing for Second Harvest. The envelope read, “The face of hunger may surprise you.“ The message inside explained that 40% of Toronto’s hungry faces now belong to children.

That mailing more than doubled the average gift size of new donors from $56.73 to $117.31. The average gift size of current donors grew from $253.07 to $287.82.

However, the most powerful way of arousing curiosity is with a ’McGuffen’.

The word ’McGuffen’ was coined by my friend Michael Johnson. It’s an element you add to a package that captures the essence of your message.

An example: When I was asked to create a package for (UNHCR) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, I inserted a piece of cardboard with the caption “Refugees deserve a better shelter then this“ to conjure up the image of homelessness.

The package was mailed to 50,000 prospects. 726 donors sent in $61,500, a response rate of 1.45%. This is still the control package for UNHCR in Canada and the US.

For Interval House, Canada’s oldest shelter for abused women and their children, I was asked to go head to head with a control package unbeaten for 12 years.

The new package contained a toothbrush, clearly visible through a lower window in the envelope. The main message I wished to communicate was that, “There is no time to pack, even your most basic items when victims of abuse are fleeing for their lives.“ I was told this package beat the control package by 33%.

Another reason why a McGuffen works is because direct marketing is tactile — so when recipients get something extra in the mail it immediately arouses curiosity.

TELL THEM SOMETHING THEY DIDN’T KNOW BEFORE, SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY.

I spearheaded an awareness campaign for The Hincks Centre for Children’s Mental Health, now called Hincks Dellcrest. The big news was that early intervention to help emotionally disturbed children was a far better investment than keeping them in prison later.

The campaign consisted of two TV commercials, print ads, posters in bus shelters and subway stations and on buses, streetcars and subway trains.

TELL THEM SOMETHING IN A UNIQUE WAY.

Instead of saying kids with learning disabilities are often ostracized, I said: “When John had imaginary friends at age four his parents thought it was cute. Now at age 12, that’s all he has.”

The TV commercial won a Silver CMA Award.

SPUR THEM INTO ACTION; TELL THEM WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW.

This approach is most effective during a crisis.

The Christian Children’s Fund of Canada sent a two-part emergency mailing in response to the flooding in Tamil Nadu, India.

The appeal targeted only those who had sponsored a child in the affected area. E-mails were sent to children’s sponsors within 48 hours of the disaster. A direct mail package went to those without an email address, detailing how their immediate donation would help provide emergency shelter, nutritious food, clean water and medical care for children and their families.

In the first week, the e-mail generated over $10,000, while the direct mail piece raised over $20,000 in the same week.

Another good example was when FoodShare received an eviction notice. It was an emergency and the campaign asked donors for help. The outer envelope stated, "Help us replant ourselves." The response, generated over $265,000.

Related Articles
  GCD Explains Direct Mail Basics
  Prospective Prospects ~ To Mail or Not to Mail, That is THE Question
  How Does pURL Marketing Work?
  3 Key Elements of Direct Mail
  How to Sell Green & Increase Sales

Article Tags: audiences, camp towhee, children with learning disabilities, curiosity, direct mail, donors, envel, glance, half a million, li li, mail appeal, mail piece, million dollars, money, outer envelope, prospects, rsquo, second harvest



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