So here it,
the direct mail piece that I actually opened! (and I might add that it was the first piece of mail that I opened out of the whole stack). I saw the real stamp in the top right corner and the “second notice” stamped on the envelope in red ink and I was eager to see who I owed money to.
When I opened it I found a direct mail piece for a local school seeking new student applicants! Then I saw the stamp actually said presorted standard on it (which is for bulk mail).
They got me to open it, unfortunately for them I am not interested in their school programs, but I wonder if it was a service I wanted/needed and with a good offer if it would have worked on me?
What do you guys think about this piece? Shady? Or smart? Does anyone know how to get these presorted standard stamps? And how much per piece an envelope like this would be with a bulk rate?
I don’t think you should need a gimmick to get people to look at your directmail pieces. I think a really cleaver attention grabber would be more effective
I think its smart. You opened the piece. That was the whole goal if you were interested or not. When we were in certain neighborhoods. we used to put a flyer in the door of 20 of the closest houses, with a post it note saying these guys were great J. Got alot of jobs from it. People would say after we were done, Im really glad my friend put your flyer in my door. I dont think its deceptive to get someone to view your marketing piece and act on it. If people dont want the service they wont call.
a gimmick would be something like putting it in an envelope and stamping something like “second notice” on it to basically trick someone into opening it, an attention grabber would be a phrase or slogan on your card designed to perk the interest of the potential client.
Just got a call from the Prime Ministers office, Canada is officially demanding that you give us our ‘eh’ back!
A few years ago I was putting out a late fall flier and I got the idea to put the flier in an envelope and print “Do not open until Christmas” on the front of the letter. I tried this on just a few streets. I did get some calls but I wouldn’t know how many other people opened the letter unless I canvassed those streets a couple of days later. I might try it again some day.
I dont like those tactics at all. I get those type of letters that look like the Federal Government is trying to contact me. I open it up and there is a company trying to sell me equal opportunity, sexual harrassment policy, minimum wage guideline posters etc. Its just annoying as heck. I guess people buy posters from them but I black list them because they created stress on me for those few seconds. I hate that type of marketing.
Well, was the stamp misleading? Did they send you a mailer before?
It is true that if the recipient feels duped, they’re gone and p-ssed.
There are huge mailing firms using these type of tactics to
get someone to open the piece. The difference is they have very
highly paid copywriters making sure to capture the person with
the contents.
If you sent a letter to a customer 2 weeks ago and send another that
says ‘second notice’ or ‘time sensitive’ are you lying? no. Will it get
their attention? probably
It is vital that the inside of the mailer does not have a flier or some
weak letter. A flier is death- no matter how good.
I am all for these teasers as long as the rest of the piece is solid and
it is not a lie.
