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Direct Mail Branding: What to Do (and What to Avoid)

By: Andrew Glover
July 30, 2020
Categories:

Your organization needs to make a strong first impression for your direct mail marketing to be effective. You have less than a minute with each interaction to make a worthwhile impression on your recipient. Use that time wisely by crafting a mail piece that captures their attention instantly.

Unless you’re opting for postcards, your first goal with every mailer is to get recipients to open the mailpiece. This means every aspect of your direct mail branding is crucial, even on the envelope. A great offer or message is useless without the potential member knowing who sent them the mail.

The best direct mail designs are ones in which you communicate the defining characteristics of the brand throughout. Here are a few direct mail branding tips you should follow and what you should avoid.

Branding Appearance

Your direct mail competes with a sea of other promotional pieces. Your prospect is more likely to see your mailer before they know what it’s about. For that reason, you should make sure the outer appearance is every bit as appealing as the content within.

Decide on two to three basic colors that are associated with your brand and stick with them. Choosing colors from your logo is an excellent way of staying consistent with your color palette. Make sure the chosen colors reflect your brand’s personality and look attractive across all marketing channels.

Focus on using the same brand colors during every communication. Your prospects and members gain a familiarity with your brand colors when you use them consistently in your direct mail and other marketing channels. They will know right away that a piece is from you, and the consistency helps them continue to recognize your brand whenever they see it.

You can test brand colors by sending sample mailers to multiple addresses. Tests are a great way to make sure your mailer looks perfect before you send many more to your audience.

Logo Placement

Another vital aspect of your branding is your logo. Place your logo on any and every piece of direct mail. You want your logo to stand out on the mailer, but you also don’t want it to take up too much space. Once you’ve created your message, you can experiment with logo placement. Determine where it fits best in the piece without taking up too much real estate.

Ask others what they think about the logo size and placement on the piece. You want your audience to associate your message with your logo, but you don’t want it to distract them from the message. Logo placement is a bit strategic and may take a few tries before it’s just right.

Messaging Tips

Keep your message clear and straightforward. A simple message leaves a better impression on an individual than a complicated narrative. Focus on keeping your message centered around your mission. You may want to remind your prospects and members about your current goal and how that goal will lead to your long-term mission.

Always use a compelling offer. There must be a clear call-to-action that prompts a response to your offer. If you send a piece of information about your mission with no actionable imperative, there’s no reason for a prospect to respond at this time, even if they are interested.

Avoid Offensive Messages

You should always avoid using potentially offensive messaging. This will rarely be a problem when you keep your messages simple and to the point. But just in case, ask others in your organization what they think of the message, or seek someone from outside of your organization to review the message. Ask them if they see any aspects that may offend anyone. If you doubt any aspect of your messaging, write a few alternatives, and see if others find the wording more pleasing. You don’t want to offend any potential prospects or members based on a poorly worded message.

Postcards with Valtim

Postcards are a fantastic way to send a simple mailer to your audience. You can include every vital aspect of your project on an easy-to-read postcard. With a postcard from Valtim, you can add your branding colors, place your logo in just the right spot, and provide a call-to-action message in line with your organization’s mission.

Contact Valtim to learn more about designing our postcards and incorporate a postcard in your next direct mail campaign.

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