BHP Printing Blog

Sales letters and postcards are two very different, but popular, direct mail formats that can produce powerful results. Recognizing the unique benefits of each can help you choose the right match for your next campaign.

When to send direct mail letters

The strength of a sales letter is the amount of space you have. This is the format to use for telling a lengthy sales story. Sometimes the details of your offer simply can’t be conveyed in a few words. This is especially true if your product or service has a high price point, since big purchases require more convincing than smaller ones.

Copy that spans multiple pages can actually increase a target’s involvement with your piece, which could translate into higher response. In addition, you can package a letter with reply cards, coupons, testimonials, brochures and other relevant sales materials that could likewise increase your mailer’s effectiveness.

Consider sending a sales letter to:

• Introduce your business
• Share updates about your services or products
• Offer exclusive discounts to a targeted group

When to send direct mail postcards

A direct mail postcard’s greatest strength is its accessibility. This is the format to use for quickly connecting with your audience. By not hiding your offer in an envelope, you boost the chances that it will be seen. Take advantage of the opportunity by crafting a message that is direct, concise and easy to understand.

Postcards also are generally less expensive to produce and mail than sales letters. Their lower cost makes them ideal for testing elements like offers and mailing lists before launching full-blown campaigns. In addition, postcards are less formal than letters, so you can communicate more casually.

Consider sending a direct mail postcard to:

• Drive traffic to a website
• Present special offers and coupons and announce sales
• Thank recent customers and keep in contact with lapsed ones

Of course, you don’t need to use letters and direct mail postcards in isolation. They can work well together, too. You could send a postcard to follow up on a sales letter, for example, or send a postcard as a “teaser” for a forthcoming sales letter. Both formats also could be useful elements in a larger, integrated campaign.

Original article - Deliver Magazine

In the next few weeks your business will be printing their holiday greeting cards. Your greeting cards can be personal and specific. With variable data printing each greeting can be personalized with your clients name. Your greeting’s image can even be holiday specific if necessary with variable image printing.

Show your customers or potential customers that you are thinking of them this holiday season. But with direct mail greetings, save your business time and effort. No more shopping for the ideal, yet generic holiday greeting, and no more hand addressing hundreds of cards.

Holiday direct mail marketing can serve two or more purposes. Inform potential clients or customers of your goods and services through direct mail and wish them a happy holiday season.

Direct mail postcards can help you promote your business easily, effectively and affordably. But to capitalize on these benefits, you need a reliable and efficient program in place. That's where Blue Hill Press postcard printing services come into the picture.

There’s a large, highly educated, influential segment of the population that likes to spend and is receptive to direct mail. They’re the young consumers who make up Generation Y, and if you’re not engaging them yet, it’s time to start.

This group is also known as Millennials and rivals the Baby Boomers in size. Gen Y numbers around 80 million U.S. residents and were born between 1977 and 1995.

This is a group that kept their wallets open when others closed them. Market research publisher Packaged Facts says Millennials are less likely than any other age segment to have cut spending during the recession.

Pew Research Center estimates is about one in eight Millennials ages 22 and older have moved back home because of the recession, so these kids are going to be making the decisions about what to buy for the household. Millennials have tremendous influence on others, so companies should still target them.

They’re essentially on the go the firm says. “Because they are difficult to reach you have to use multiple marketing platforms to surround them with different touch points.”

Considering only technology to reach them may prove shortsighted. Direct mail is effective.

“Sending something by direct mail is a way of breaking through the clutter because they do receive so much communication that comes digitally.” “And you still can’t replace the personal touch from direct mail.”

Though households headed by Millennials receive less advertising mail than older Americans, many are receptive to it. A 2010 survey from the marketing services firm Epsilon found that for certain categories, participants ages 18 to 34 preferred to receive marketing information from offline sources than from online sources like social media. Likewise, a survey from interactive marketing provider ExactTarget found 75% of people ages 25 to 34 have made a purchase resulting from direct mail.

“The leap for marketers is to recognize the different lens Gen Y applies to reading their mail and adjust the marketing message to make those Gen Y differences a measurable advantage,” Dorsey says.

This group also wants to see people like themselves represented in the graphics of the marketing material and preferably in candid shots.

In this age of user-generated content, the more authentic the images appear, the more credibility we place in the company that sends them.

Businesses also use direct mail to reinforce marketing messages sent digitally, as with a brochure that followed an e-mail. You still need to include direct mail. If you don’t, you’ll totally miss the mark.

Original article – Delivermagazine.com

Direct mail is one of the most powerful ways to market your products and services, but it is easy to make mistakes and water down the effectivness. Here are 10 problems we often see:

1. Be sure to identify your audience. With mail you can target specific people, so take advantage of that and target the demographics that are most likely to respond.

2. Don’t use a bad mailing list. Sending direct mail marketing to those who don’t match your criteria is a waste of money and can be embarrassing. Blue Hill Press can help you find up-to-date lists that are tailored to your needs.

3. Relying on unclean data. Clean up your in house direct mail lists so you are sure you are not sending mailers to inaccurate addresses, those who are deceased, those who have asked to be taken off your list and people who have moved.

4. Have a compelling offer. Remember this direct mailer needs to motivate people to act. The opposite will happen if you don’t have the right offer. You can change your offer to appeal to different segments.

5. Be personal. Greeting prospect by name creates a personal relationship. This can make your prospects feel like you value them individually and understand their needs and interests.

6. Have a call to action. Be specific on how people can take advantage of your offer. Also, create a sense of urgency so they’ll act fast.

7. Be creative. Your direct mail marketing needs to be engaging and relevant. Professional copywriters and graphic designers can help you best communicate your message.

8. Continuously test. Your campaign can always improve, but you’ll never know how if you don’t conduct small tests of variables like your list, offer, format and colors.

9. Be sure you can track the offer. You need to know how well the marketing piece performed. You can do this with QR codes on coupons and creating a special phone number.

10. Follow-up. Be sure you can quickly fulfill any orders or requests created by your direct mail piece. You don’t want to disappoint new prospects by dropping the ball.

Contact Blue Hill Press for your direct mail piece, we are experts in what works.

With direct mail you can sell any good or service at any price point. It just needs to be done right. You can reach new customers via direct mail as well. Find new customers with direct mail and appeal to your existing customers as well.

There are many advantages to direct mail:

1. Targeted. Want to reach prospects within a particular radius around your business. You can get a mailing list. There is a list for people whose demographics correlate to the customers you already have.
2. Direct mail lets you target only your potential clientele where mass media does not.  
3. Interactive.  With variable data printing, you can address each potential customer by name and provides a way for them to reply to you.
4. Obvious.  People sort the mail by going through the mail. When you use your direct mail piece correctly, and communicate a strong message,  you’re getting your message across to 100% of the people.
5. People like mail. Most people look forward to receiving and looking through their mail.

For help on putting together a productive direct mail marketing piece, contact Blue Hill Press.

After you have decided on the layout of your direct mail piece, you then need to decide what kind of paper you want. When it comes to direct mail, the paper you choose can have an impact on the mailing’s cost and effectiveness.

In order to make the right decision, you need to understand the basics of paper. Here are 4 key paper qualities to consider for direct mail pieces:

• Finish is the paper’s surface texture. The finish affects the appearance of the printed piece. Paper is usually either uncoated- dull and unreflective - or coated for a shiny or matte finish.
• Weight refers to the paper’s thickness. Thickness or weight has an impact on the appearance of the printed piece, your mailing’s postage, and the printer’s presses.
• Opacity identifies how much printing will show through on the other side of the sheet. A lighter opacity is preferred for direct mail.
• Brightness refers to the ability to reflect blue light and affects the paper’s readability.

But there are some other factors to consider when deciding on paper. There’s much more to paper selection, and the other things to consider include:

• The paper needs to coincide with your brand, image and personality. You don’t want cheap paper for an upscale product.
• Ask to see printed paper samples to determine if you’ll be satisfied with the quality of your project.
• Sometimes small changes can save you money either on paper or postage. For example, a slightly smaller size direct mail postcard may save you a lot of money in postage.

You should always discuss with your printing company the purpose of your mailer. At Blue Hill Press, we can give you the best advice possible about your direct mail, we have been doing this for a long time.

You have heard all the benefits of direct mail, and you have even heard a few success stories. But maybe you are still confused as to where to start.

First you need to plan your approach. Don’t decide on the big picture campaign until you know what you want to accomplish and with whom.

Second, create a mailing list. Look at that list as more than names and addresses. Be sure the socioeconomics meet your needs. Also, consider variable data printing so you can personally add each name in the salutation. Also, you don’t need to waste money on addresses that aren’t current.

Thirdly, create your direct mail piece. Have a professional help you develop it and print it. Do you want a letter or a postcard. A direct mail sales letter and a direct mail postcard are two very different things and there are scenarios where one would work better than the other.

Fourth, send out your direct mail piece!  Be sure to talk with your printer about cost effective ways to mail your marketing piece. 

Contact Blue Hill Press for more ideas and help in designing an effective direct mail piece. 

When it comes to reaching both existing and potential clients, direct mail is a great option. Even with the internet, a direct mail piece is still a great way to keep you in front of your clients and customers. Every direct mail piece can serve as a reminder to existing and potential clients of your goods and services.

Besides brand recognition, direct mail post cards give you complete control of the message you are sending out.  You can target your prospects by getting information directly in front of them.

Direct Mail, when done right is a cost-effective piece of marketing. Done right means the piece is well put together, eye-catching, and has the right message. But direct mailers also need the right presentation, with a call-to-action. When a direct mail piece is done correctly, you can close a sale faster.  This is where Blue Hill Press can help you.

Build your business with Blue Hill Press. We can help you create professional, informative and concise direct mail pieces, contact us.

Digital printing is a cost-effective alternative to offset printing for your short-run needs without compromising print quality. Digital printing is also the most exciting thing that's happened to the printing industry in a long time.

Digital printing lets you print very small quantities and they can be done quickly. Unlike offset printing, which uses plates, digital presses print directly form your digital files. 

Business owners can really benefit by using digital printing technology. Some of the benefits are:

1. You can print as many or as few as you’d like. You can even print just one piece, even if it is full-color printing.
2. Lead times are much shorter with digital printing.
3. Different versions of your marketing pieces can be printed. Make a brochure or a newsletter from the same file. Testing the effectiveness of your marketing piece is easier with this functionality as well.
4. Your direct mail postcards or brochures can be personalized by using variable data printing. This allows "one-to-one marketing." Each piece can have different content. Digital printing marries a database with the design template.
5. Each department can have their own sell sheets or other printed materials, tailored specifically for their own clients or prospects.
6. The content can be changed much more often with digital printing, which allows you to keep your material current and accurate.
7. Costs are more easily controlled because you can print only what you need.

Ask Blue Hill Press about digital printing and how it can benefit your business.