Maximizing ROI Using Dimensional Mail

August 3, 2016

Dimensional mail is a wonderful direct marketing tactic. Things that are out of place tend to stand out. For example, when you wear your favorite team’s colors to an opposing team’s ballpark, you’re going to draw attention to yourself. In the same way, if your mailing is fat, over-sized, or three-dimensional, it stands out. People want to pick it up and see what’s inside. Results of dimensional mailings can be spectacular. However, they also cost more to produce, assemble, and mail. Dimensional mailings work, but you want to be smart about using them.

Let’s look at some techniques for maximizing the effectiveness of dimensional mail.

1. Be Intentional With The Audience Targeted – Dimensional mail works best in targeted mailing campaigns. In other words, don’t use a dimensional mailer on your entire database. They are best suited for generating sales of higher value products and services, such as long-term contracts or donor relationships, insurance or financial services, and real estate transactions.
2. Unmarked Packages Are Not Good –  Unmarked packages will do nothing but generate confusion and fear. Neither is an emotion you want from your audience when they receive a mailing from you. If you want to keep the package plain, one way to handle this is to use a strong tease on the packaging to generate curiosity.
3. Keep It Relevant – The gift or incentive should be practical (a product sample) or relate directly to the marketing message in some way. Bewilderment is not the sort of attention you want.
4. Research Production and Mailing Costs Carefully – The whole point here is to make money, so be sure you know what you’re likely to spend…and then recoup. Case studies can provide guidance and offer an idea of the response rates obtained by the kind of campaign you are considering.
5. Ensure It Can Be Mailed – What’s worse? A “return to sender” or an unopened package? It’s a trick question. They’re both awful. Consult with your local post office to ensure that you’re not violating postal regulations or mailing something they (or other carrier) would deem unshippable.
6. Test For Integrity In The Mail Stream –  Send test samples to yourself or to colleagues to gauge the impact on the package itself. Does it get damaged as it is wedged into small mailboxes? Does it survive the mail stream? Be sure to send them to locations outside of your city so you get a true idea.
7. Set Goals and Analyze Results –  Set goals for how many responses you want from specific regions and track and analyze the results. Take what you’ve learned to make your next campaign more effective.

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