Projects – Direct Mail 

Direct mail offers many different format options. On this page, we have outlined many of these options for you.

• Direct Mail Envelope Packages
• Postcards
• Self-Mailers
• Surveys

Letter Packages

The letter package is considered the traditional direct mail package.  It typically includes an outer envelope, a letter and some type of reply device.  The letter package comes in many sizes and configurations.

Types of Letter Packages

#10 Standard Business Mailer – includes #10 envelope (with or without a window), 1- or 2-page letter, reply card (or reply slip with reply envelope).  Optional brochure or other insert.  Optional longer letter (4 pages) for certain applications.

• Standard #10 Business Mailer with 1-page letter – $1,800; with brochure – $2,800
• Standard #10 Business Mailer with 2-page letter – $2,200: with brochure – $3,200

6×9 Promotional Mailer – includes 6×9 envelope (with or without a window), 1- or 2-page letter, reply card (or reply slip with reply envelope).  Optional brochure or other insert.  Optional longer letter (4 pages) for certain applications.

• 6×9 Promotional Mailer with 1-page letter – $2,000; with brochure – $3,400
• 6×9 Promotional Mailer with 2-page letter – $2,400; with brochure – $3,800

Invitation Mailer – includes an A7 envelope with invitation card, an RSVP card and reply envelope.  Most invitation mailers don’t have an actual letter.  The invitation card serves that purpose.

• Invitation Mailer – $1,200

Key Factors to Consider

• Personalization – we all want our direct mail to be personalized, but it comes with a cost.  For letter mailers, we typically address the reply card and then position it to show through a window.  This gives us addressing in two places with one action.  Additional personalization is always available at an additional cost.  Call for an estimate.
• Letter Length – some letters can achieve its goal with one page of text; others need a second page, and in some cases, more than 2 pages are needed.  It depends on the application – or your particular objective.  We can help you make that decision.
• Reply Card vs. Reply Envelope – if you are using reply mail, consider whether the reply device will contain any personal information.  This will help you decide whether to use a reply card or a reply slip with a reply envelope.
• Window vs. Closed Envelopes – we frequently use window envelopes because they simplify the addressing and personalization process, but if you prefer a closed-face envelopes, we can help with that as well.
• Response Channels – we recommend using as many response channels as you can – reply mail, phone, fax and web/landing pages. Web/landing pages allows you to automated your process. More response channels will increase your response.

Related Projects

• Lead Magnets
• Landing Pages
• Follow-up Drip Email

Postcards

Postcards are highly popular these days because they are simple, direct and relatively affordable.  But don’t let this fool you.  To generate response from a postcard, you still need to apply the rules of direct response.

Types of Postcards

Postcards come in a wide range of sizes.  Here are the three most common sizes:

Small Postcard – 4×6 inches – because of their size, the Post Office offers a discounted first class rate.

Medium Postcard – 5.5×8.5 inches – perhaps the most common size postcard

Large Postcard – 6×11 inches – the largest size postcard before you reach surcharge postage levels

Some postcards come with a reply card:

Double Postcard – two-part postcard with a tear off reply card

Some postcards use technology to increase personalization:

VDP Postcard – for all size cards, VDP (variable data printing) allows you to add personalization throughout your postcard.  You can place the person’s name or other data into the text or headlines, you can add a map from the person’s home to your store, you can change the images based on the person’s profile (age, gender, etc.).  Depends largely on the data you have.

PURL Postcard – for all size cards, PURLs (Personalized URLs) can be added to give every prospect their own personalized landing page. When your prospect lands on their own landing page, they page will already be pre-populated with their contact information

Some postcards work best when you want to saturate a target market:

EDDM Postcard – EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail) is a mailing program provided by the Post Office.  It allows you to mail to everyone in your community or in selected carrier routes at a discounted rate.  EDDM postcards need to be larger than so-called letter-size mail.

• EDDM Postcard – 8.5×11 inches
• EDDM Postcard – 12×15 inches

EDDM Postcards are only effective for businesses that want to target every home in your target area.

Related Projects

• Lead Magnets
• Landing Pages
• Follow-up Drip Email

Self-Mailers

By definition, self-mailers are mailers that travel alone – without an envelope.

Typically, this refers to all folded mailers (but in truth could also include postcards).

The self-mailer is a single sheet of paper or card stock (of any size) that is folded one or more times to create a multi-panel flyer.

Here are two common configurations:

• a 3 panel mailer (sometimes called a tri-fold) measuring 9 x 12 inches which folds twice to a finished size of 9 x 4 inches; or
• a 4-panel mailer measuring 9 x 16 which folds three times to a finished size of 9 x 4 inches.

If one of the panels is a reply card, the self-mailer would need to be printed on card stock.

The size of the self-mailer can be as large or as small as you want with some restrictions from the post office.

The finished (folded) size of your self-mailer will determine your postage rate.  Self-mailers that are no larger than 6-1/8 x 11-1/2 inches qualify for so-called letter rates (the same you would pay for regular mail).   If the finished or folded size is larger, you will pay a surcharge, close to double the postage of regular mail.

You should also check with your printer to find out what limitations you may face with the paper dimensions of their own printing press. But other than that, you are free to test your imagination and creativity.

Folding options for self-mailers

Once the piece is printed, you can fold it as many times as you want.  Keep in mind there are several ways you can fold a mailer.

• You can “barrel-fold” your mailer so that when you open the front panel, it continues to roll out like a barrel.
• You can “gate-fold” your mailer so that the finished mailer appears to have two gates that can be opened from the left or the right.

Related Projects

• Lead Magnets
• Landing Pages
• Follow-up Drip Email

Lead Surveys

Surveys are most commonly used for market research and for customer satisfaction.  We use them to generate sales leads.

Lead Surveys are exactly what they sound like – survey campaigns designed to generate sales leads and collect key information about targeted contacts.

Lead Surveys are direct mail surveys that are structured in a way to maximize response and produce useful prospect data you can use in your follow-up sales contact.

Survey answers are voluntarily provided by your targeted prospects and delivered to you and your sales team.  Small thank-you gifts are often used to incentivize response.

We use Lead Surveys for both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) applications with strong results across the board.

Lead survey campaigns can be developed for both direct mail and email.

Direct Mail Lead Surveys
These are printed surveys that are returned by the prospect in a reply envelope. An option online version of the survey is also available.