The DMNews told a story of how several companies have had success with envelope customization. Marketers are making use of recent developments in printing and production technology to enhance the outer envelope with customized messages, four-color printing and other embellishments.
“The more information we can put on the outside of the envelope without it looking funky, the more apt recipients are to open it,” says Kelli Adkins, VP of integrated services at Prime, a commercial printer.
The printer found in its own mailings that the second-best response mechanism is a No. 10 envelope printed “with enough pertinent information on it,” Adkins notes. Some of that information includes a general URL address that enables Prime to track how many people responded.
A telecommunications company decided it wanted its mailing “to stand out.” It asked for a coated stock, closed-faced envelope with a six-word tagline and the customer’s first name printed in black on the front. More than 2 million pieces were dropped and the effort produced “a high lift” in response. The additional cost for printing the tagline “was minimal”.
For many marketers the primary concern is keeping costs to a minimum, which is why more aren’t currently taking advantage of the prime real estate on the outside of the envelope, industry sources say.
Four-color printing, which has come down in price, is another strategy mailers can use to create an envelope with impact. “With all of us trying to make our dollars work harder for us, the envelope is a good place to start your dialogue with your target audience”.
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