Regular readers know I’m a fan of lumpy mailers. They’re powerful self-promotion tools – the kind of tactic that invariably finds your pitch on the desk of decision makers.
Of course, they’re not just a short-run tool used for self promotion. They’re also a damned effective direct mail tool.
And yes, as email and other ecommunications take the place of physical mail, I can make a cogent argument that the perceived value of dimensional mail is climbing, not diminishing.
Direct Mail magazine published a roundtable discussion of “dimensional mail” in a recent Technique article, and yes, I get all tingly when I see intelligent thought directed at one of marketing’s most-overlooked techniques.
Simply put, it’s worth a couple minutes of your time. To whet your appetite, here are a few excerpts:
What you’ve created is that moment where it’s just your target and your offer. And if your present is something they can play with for a moment, that’s good. If it’s something they show to their neighbor, even better. If it’s something they keep and use often, that’s great. And when they respond, you hit the jackpot.
“So the next time your creative department comes to you with the choice of another No. 10 letter for $1.25 per piece, or a box — that present — that rattles full of opportunity and costs $5 more, don’t dismiss it — not if your goal is to get your message into your customers’ hands.”
-John Brogan, Executive creative director, Catalyst Direct Inc.
“Dimensional print offers an even more potent marketing alternative than just any piece of direct mail. Viewed from virtually any angle, dimensional mail is a best-of-breed hybrid.”
-Mary Bittel, Manager of marketing& communications, American Slide Chart
Intrigued? Read the whole article here.
At the very least, dimensional (or lumpy) mailers are another tool in your copywriter’s toolbox – a truly effective one that few new copywriters understand.
Keep writing, Tom Chandler.
dimensional mailer, lumpy mailer, direct mail, direct mail news
Powered by ScribeFire.
While I’ve written a lot of direct response projects over my 22+ year career, I’ve happily avoided getting myself and my clients in trouble.
That’s because I’m a staunch advocate of ethical marketing practices, and long been an outspoken critic of deceptive mailing practices.
In an age of increasingly jaded customers, deceptive marketing practices harden customers, eventually harming all marketers — especially those marketing fairly.
That’s whyBRANDWEEK sourced me when they wrote a story about the growing practice of deceptive mailings. While they ran several quotes, this stood out:
“The public is exposed to so many messages that when a growing percentage of those messages turn out to be deceptive, the result is yet another upward ratchet in consumer cynicism,” said Tom Chandler, a 20-year ad copywriter and consultant based in Mount Shasta, Calif., who operates ChandlerWrites.com. “That growing suspicion of marketers and brands has become so profound, some companies can’t even get customers to open envelopes containing real documents.”
Delight, Don’t Deceive
The rule here is simple: rather than deceive, why not delight recipients with a novel or creative approach?
Most deceptive marketing practices rely heavily on fear appeals. Unfortunately, the psychology of fear is well understood; the next time fear is falsely used as a motivator, you’ll need more of it to get the same response.
Where, exactly, will that end?
There’s also the larger question of brand value; as a proponent of engagement marketing, I must ask why anyone would risk their brand?
“What I don’t understand is why organizations allow deceptive practices to undermine their carefully [and expensively] cultivated brand images in the first place,” said Chandler. “I recently received a series of envelopes from a large credit-card bank where I held an account. All shared the same alarmist stamp that “Important Information” about his account was enclosed. “Of course, it wasn’t important information,” Chandler said. “It was a series of cross-selling pitches. After a month or two, I canceled my account.”
The Ethical Marketer
Every seasoned copywriter I’ve ever spoken to has a similar story; a chilling encounter with a client pushing them very, very hard to do something unethical.
In the moment, it’s always tempting to succumb, reasoning the work’s unsigned and nobody will know (how I wish copywriters received the credit/blame for their work).
Believe me, you’ll know.
Of course, one marketer’s “deceptive” is another’s fair game. And where that line should be drawn is never clear, though one thing is; if marketers keep stepping over that line, eventually regulation will be created that limit those transgressions (and probably do it poorly).
As copywriters, we are responsible for our work, and blaming clients for “making” us engage in deceptive practices is simply a wonky moral dodge.
Keep writing, Tom Chandler.
I’m a big advocate of pursuing companies you want to work with instead of blindly marketing and accepting whatever comes back. But turning a short, carefully vetted list of prospects into a roster of clients has never been easy.
Enter the Lumpy Mailer
It’s the digital age, I’m online, so my first contact would come via the digital pipeline, right?
Wrong.
Are Hopping Smile Teeth the key to prosperity? Strangely, yes…
Imagine crafting a sales e-mail. Well written, carefully crafted and hugely persuasive, it’s a paen to lyrical copywriting – yet it’s likely to be wholly ignored, surrounded as it is by a tidal wave of other communications.
For all the prospect knows, it’s one of ten thousand mailed that morning.
It’s not unique. It doesn’t make them feel special. And the client has to act on it immediately, or you’re sunk.
Now imagine holding a padded envelope with a lump in the middle. Or a Priority Mail box that rattles ever so slightly. And then pulling out a fun toy attached to a strong sales message.
Bingo.
Put Them on Notice
By mailing a three-dimensional object – through a channel that’s fast becoming “obsolete” in so many marketers’ eyes – you’ve tapped into the very human desire for something unique.
Many years ago, I sent an ad agency a battered bowling pin, asking if they were truly bowled over by the work they were currently getting.
As part of another agency pitch, I once shipped a large toy robot arm with a pitch card in its grippers. It told them the edgy creative they’d always wanted was now within their grasp.
Last week’s prospect received wind-up chattering teeth attached to a card, which asked the prospect if they wanted the online world talking about their products.
Why go to all the trouble? Simple. I hand-picked this very, very small group of prospects, and I want them to feel “hand picked.” And I want to get my message across with clarity and humor.
And finally, I want them to take my phone call.
Don’t Forget to Ask
Once you’ve created a lumpy mailer, don’t assume you’ve dazzled them into submission. Readers still need to know what you want, and the mailer isn’t a complete sales pitch. It’s simply a foot in the door.
My goal? A phone call, though I sometimes create a landing page so the client has an option. (If you have even mediocre Web skills, landing pages are fast, affordable, and continue the dialog that began with the mailer.)
Still, don’t expect the lumpy mailer to do the whole job for you; it’s an amuse bouche — a single taste of your communication skills. It’s not designed to do the whole sales job for you, but gets you in the door so you can make your pitch.
It’s not a silver bullet (if the prospect doesn’t need you, they don’t need you), but it is a powerful way to grab a little mindshare and make a prospect smile — especially given that cool objects tend to live on the recipient’s desktop for a while.
Lumpy mailers aren’t cutting edge. They are, however, damned effective, and belong in every copywriter’s arsenal – for you and your clients.