Envelope Blurbs to Increase Direct Mail Response Rate
Introduction
Envelope blurbs have been a part of direct mail campaigns for at least half a century.
Direct mail is a type of marketing that involves sending postcards, letters, or other items to potential customers through the use of the postal service. It is one of the most effective methods for getting in contact with potential customers.
A recent study found that recipients were more likely to open envelopes with blurb on them than those without. They also found that there was an increase in response rates when adding descriptive words like “free”, “instant”, and “new” to the blurb.
Envelope blurbs can be used for other purposes as well. For instance, they may be used to build brand awareness by providing product information and features on the envelope’s exterior. Furthermore, they can also serve as customer loyalty programs by promoting new products or services with discounts, points or other rewards.
Number One Rule of Envelope Blurbs
Here is the Number One Commandment of all envelope copy: Thou Shalt Not Confuse and Obfuscate.
Here are two recent direct-mail envelopes that I found in my mailbox recently that raise more questions than they answer.
Envelope Blurbs Example 1: The Kennedy Center
The back of the solicitation envelope that the Center mailed has a beautiful multicolor pie chart as an answer to the question: “How Important Is Kennedy Center Membership?”
So you look at the pie-chart to understand how important the “membership” is and guess what? NONE of the pie slices is labeled “Membership”.
- The 37% slice is labeled “Contributions”
- The 19% slice is labeled “Federal Funds”
- The 44% slice is labeled “Ticket Sales & Other Earned Income”
So where is the Membership? I guess it’s “Contributions”? But if that is so, WHY MAKE ME THINK?
Why not just call it “Membership” so I can establish an immediate visual connection between the Question and the Answer?
But it’s not over yet.
The pie-chart is followed by a call to action: “Help make us whole!”
Yes, BUT HOW? That’s not clear either.
Here is the Other Cardinal Rule of direct mail envelope copy – If you are asking the reader to do something, you should also provide specific steps to complete the requested action.
From the pie, it’s not clear which slice should I help EXPAND to make it the WHOLE?
Should I help the Kennedy Center become WHOLE by increasing their Federal Funds?
Should I help the Kennedy Center become WHOLE by increasing their Ticket Sales & Other Earned Income?
Or,
Should I help the Kennedy Center become WHOLE by increasing their Contributions?
I suspect the Center would like me do the third pie-chart alternative.
Then why don’t they simply tell me “Send in your Contribution today!” ?
The lesson — do not force your readers to solve puzzles. That will drop your response rate considerably.
Envelope Blurbs Example 2: IONA Senior Services
Their motto, printed right on the envelope, reads:
“Experts on Aging”
Like in “we are experts in helping you get older”?
Probably what they meant was this: “Experts in Elder Care…”
What a difference the right and wrong copy can make.
Conclusion
Envelope blurbs are a lesser-known design technique for direct mail. However, it is one of the most cost-effective and proven ways to increase response rates.
Envelope blurbs are often overlooked because they can be easily added and take up very little space. But when done right, they can improve the response rate by 10%.
MORE INFO
(Image By Pretzelpaws at English Wikipedia – Taken by Pretzelpaws with a Canon 10D camera and cropped using the Gimp., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60324266)
