Branding Your Direct Mail Campaign
Before you embark on creating a direct mail campaign, take some time to brainstorm ideas for what your campaigns will look like and how it will continue your company’s branding effort that you currently have online.
Your website should have a professional logo, specific colors and easy-to-read fonts detailing your message. Your social media sites should be constructed using these same elements and they should also be incorporated into your direct mail design.
The primary goal of branding your business is to gain customer recognition. The more people see your branding online, the more they will recognize your company and listen to what you say.
One goal of direct mail is also creating brand awareness, which in turn can help your direct mail open rate and sales conversions. If people recognize your logo and /or colors from your online presence, they will recognize the direct mailers you send out. This recognition will entice them to take the extra time to read your offer and possibly make a purchase.
Let’s examine one of the world’s best known brands, McDonald’s. Occasionally they send out coupon booklets in the mail or stuffed into the Sunday newspaper. Even if you just look at the rounded yellow M logo, there’s no mistaking it for any other restaurant than McDonald’s.
Also recognizable is the red and yellow color scheme as well as the product images of the most well-known burgers, such as the Big Mac. Between the logo, colors and photo images, anyone receiving this flyer will instinctively know it’s from McDonald’s before they even read the text.
Before you dismiss this example as too hard to achieve, brand recognition does not happen overnight. Even the world’s richest man, Warren Buffet, took many years to make his fortune. The important thing to remember is you have to start somewhere.So if your website and online presence is already set up, then move to a direct mail campaign to further extend your company’s brand image.
Questions To Think About
Creating a direct mail campaign takes planning so before going to the drawing board, think about how your direct mail piece will continue your online branding. Obviously use your logo and colors but what about the size of the piece? The shape?Folds?Card stock?Perforations?
What will make your piece memorable for years to come?
Even if you start off direct mailing a postcard, you can hire a talented designer to make it memorable. Include your social media pages on the postcard so you can engage them in conversation and immerse them into your online community.
As your business grows over the years, you can send out more complex mailings, from thank you letters with see-through envelopes to larger boxes with a promotional gift for past customers. If you’ve been nurturing this customer relationship through social media and email marketing, these mailings will most likely get opened and receive high conversion rates.
The elements tying all these campaigns together, however, will be your branding elements.
