Your DM (Direct Mail) outer envelope is the first (sadly, sometimes last) thing that is noticed on your direct mail. The mystery of the blind (blank, logoless) envelope only gets you so far. To improve your package opening and response rate, you need to start selling right through better envelopes.

Better Direct Mail Envelopes are a Serious Part of DM Best Practices.

In Otis Maxwell’s book, Copywriting that gets RESULTS! (affiliate link) the author shares lessons he was taught early in his career about how important the outer direct mail (dm) envelope tease was, and he shares the point espoused by (possibly) Direct Marketing great Herschell Gordon Lewis, that the majority of a copywriter’s time on a package should be used creating the outer envelope.

If you’re using direct mail and looking for ways to up the impact of DM outer envelopes without blowing your budget on custom printing and converting, read on to learn about eight techniques that boost DM outer envelope effectiveness through little tweaks and add-ons.

8 Little tweaks and add-ons that are proven ways to make better envelopes.

Teasing works.

If you aren’t using an outer tease line, tell me why not? Unless you’re getting satisfactory results from the mysterious blind package (and if you’re reading this, the answer is probably ‘no’), I have bad news. Most people don’t care about company’s name or logo in the corner, unless they 1) feel like they have a relationship with your company, 2) are a company that owes them money, or 3) happen to be the IRS.

The strongest thing you can do to for your envelope is adding a great tease line. Don’t go cheap on time used to develop an envelope tease. It needs to be well-crafted. The tease line’s job is simple, but it has to work hard. It needs to get the person curious enough to open the package, while also setting up the next relevant content area. Like the beginning of a great overture, it should prepare the audience, grab with emotion, and keep their attention. It should not go on and on. I said it before, but it bears repeating: It must build curiosity for what’s inside the envelope.

Color is cheap. Use more crayons.

20 years ago, getting more than one color on a pre-converted (pre-assembled) envelope was pretty much impossible. A marketer’s only option was to have envelopes custom printed, die-cut and converted. It was a pretty penny. Today, with the availability of small conventional presses and inkjet and laser printers that can print on pre-converted envelopes, you can add a lot of color to an outer envelope.

This envelope uses red, black and dark blue inks.

You may not be able to print edge-to-edge, but that isn’t always necessary to achieve some great impact. Your uses of color might include line illustrations, photos, or simple graphics to get attention and help the envelope stand apart from other mail in a person’s hand.

Class up your postage.

If you currently use an indicia for your direct mail, it is SCREAMING mass mailing to your readers. While most people understand that a lot of mail they get might be direct mail, there is still lift achieved on many mailings by using metering or a stamp (or several stamps) instead of a preprinted indicia. Consider changing to live postal metering or adhesive stamp applied to your envelope. For more information and guidelines about which type of postage to use, read my other post about which postage to use for different types of direct mail.

Get personal with good old-timey preprinted handwritten messages

Many people tout the use of personalization technology and how cool it is. But that’s not what I’m referring to. What I mean is adding a static message in handwriting preprinted more economically on the outer envelope.

Example of a pre-printed handscript tease line

If done right, you don’t need to pay for personalization technology to make a better envelope. The key is matching well-written tease copy with a very convincing natural font (or even scan someone with good penmanship’s handwritten message) to display as a tease line on the outer envelope. The style of handwriting, imperfections in strokes, the weight and character of the pen or pencil used, and the color of ink all contribute to the overall effect. Cool, low-tech stuff.

Make stress your friend.

Add urgency embellishment to your envelope. The classic rubber stamped red graphic with “URGENT”, “FINAL NOTICE”, OFFICIAL MAIL: TO BE OPENED BY RECIPIENT ONLY” or similar type of outer envelope graphic can be added at very little production cost.

Stress is a universal emotion. Even in a foreign language, the urgency comes through.

But here’s my take on this technique based on experience: When you get the person inside, after you’ve raised their blood pressure, you’d better be able to be authentic and consistent inside. If all of a sudden your inside message changes personality from the outer, readers will smell a rat, or should. Don’t be ‘that guy’ who ruins things for the rest of us direct marketers.

An example of using the stress of compliance. The marketer grabs attention momentarily heightening the importance of this mail with a command of compliance with some unknown rule. All I can say is, it is a technique that works.

Get sticky. Get weird.

This outer envelope technique adds graphics AND tactile engagement. If you add a “slap dot” or square angled sticker with added special message on the outer envelope, it’s an attention getter that creates curiosity. I have seen direct marketing packages that have what look like orange supermarket code stickers with only numbers and letters in them set at different angles. While I don’t know the ROI, I can tell you I’ve seen the same package and treatment often enough to form the opinion that it works.

A bright add-on sticker can draw more attention to your envelope.

Routing info boxes, bar codes, and scrambled eggs

You can add small graphic boxes and areas to the outer that give the impression of special ‘offer codes’ or look like the mail went through some registration or warranted special handling. In addition, the use of black or grey safety/non-read-through patterns (sometimes referred to as ‘scrambled egg’ patterns) create a sense of official packages with confidential information inside.

The pattern in grey is referred to as a ‘scrambled eggs’ safety pattern.

Don’t forget, you have a second side (almost)

Use the back flap, or rear of the envelope, to add messaging to your envelope. Even on conventional envelopes, there may be enough area on the rear upper flap or panels to support stickers, rubber stamp effect graphics, and more.

Remember: when people open envelopes, they commonly turn the envelope over. Use the flap, and other space on the back of your envelope, to build more curiosity.

Don’t be bland. Envelopes come in more than just white, and more than just wove finish.

Use a color stock for your envelope instead of white. One of my favorite options to get better envelopes is using manila (kraft) stock envelopes — the color and texture gets attention and looks very serious and official. Envelopes in this stock are widely available. You can also find popular colors that are pastel and bright from a variety of sources.

In addition to color, you can also try different paper stock finishes. If you are looking for a high-end, executive impression in your outer envelope, use a laid, linen or vellum finish envelope.

There’s no reason not to go for better envelopes for your direct mail. Test and test again.

If you already have a baseline ‘control’ package, make little changes, slowly, and conduct testing to see what works best. While there are other factors affecting response, your outer envelope should not be ignored. I’ll repeat it again: the job of the outer envelope is to create curiosity and get the person inside the envelope and in the right frame of mind for what they will find inside. And these eight techniques to create better DM envelopes are valuable, time-tested ways to improve your DM performance.

What do you wish you could change about the outer envelope of your current DM mailings?

This article first appeared on the PerezWorks blog.

Carlos Perez, Creative Director, Beasley Direct & Online Marketing, Inc.

Carlos Perez has 28 year’s experience as an advertising art and creative director, with more than a decade concentrating on direct marketing and branding. Carlos Perez enjoys working on both general and direct creative projects, and he frequently acts as a consultant on the marketing strategy development team. His clients have ranged from automotive and financial to hi-tech, including American Isuzu Motors, Bank of America, CitiFinancial, Diners Club, eHealthInsurance.com, Intuit, Microsoft, Network Associates, Pacific Bell, Southern California Edison, 3Com, United Airlines, and CBS Television. Carlos has worked for major general and direct response advertising agencies including Grey Advertising, Brierley & Partners, Bates Worldwide Advertising and J. Walter Thompson Recruitment Advertising.

The post 8 Affordable Ways You can Create Better Direct Mail Envelopes in a Hurry appeared first on Beasley Direct and Online Marketing.

In the world of direct mail, there are just some package formats that are perpetually test-worthy. The classic #10 direct mail check package is one of them.

If you aren’t considering the check package, dismissing it as unimaginative or overused, think again. You see many uses of the format because the direct mail check package format works because it engages recipients in several very human ways:

Greed: The hint of a check showing through the outer envelope is a powerful motivator for the recipient to take a moment more to check inside so they don’t miss out on something of monetary value.

Curiosity/Exclusivity: The implication that something of value (something that looks like a check worth money) and written out specifically to the individual.

Unexpected and value-related color and graphics: The appearance of color and pattern such as a banknote or check bonded background, poking through an address window on an OE (outer envelope) builds interest for the person holding the envelope. It can lead them to take the extra step and open it up. Unless there are inconsistencies and detractions on your outer envelope, few people can resist acting upon something they don’t normally see in their mail.

Timing: Tax-refund season, investment dividend time, open enrollment periods for benefits, and the first week of each month are times people expect to see checks in the mail. Even if the recipient might be getting payment electronically, the temptation to confirm a check that might be theirs is normally too great to pass up.

In all these cases, by using the check package format, the marketer has at least gotten people to hold on a moment longer before tossing the mail into the trash bin and open the envelope. That’s the number one job – to get the envelope opened.

If it works so well, why do some marketers avoid using the direct mail check package?

Smart marketers aim for engagement, but avoid being shady or confusing. Sure, they lure the prospect into the package, but once inside, the role of the check-like component becomes clear. When I’m working on a direct mail check package for a client, I try to keep some basic stage management thoughts in mind. I treat the transition from the OE as a step that delivers on a promise.

Plainly put, don’t lie on the outside, and don’t confuse on the inside. Continue the importance of what grabbed the recipient’s attention once they open the envelope and engage with the inside components. Make the check component work harder to lead the person to action.

True, some direct mail check packages are shady and deserve the bad rap because they lure someone inside, and then go off in a completely different direction with no relevance to a check or some item of value once beyond the envelope. But well-done packages using the check component in a meaningful way perform very well. Check packages are versatile. They can be used for B2B and B2C direct mail, and work for product and service offerings, and if used imaginatively, for non-profit appeals.

Here are a variety of well-executed direct mail check packages and how they look in the outer envelope. If you’d like to see more views, sign up for news by contacting me. I’ll send you more views of the package and a review of the example you are most interested in. Drop me a line to sign up.

How to create an effective direct mail check package:

The illusion of a potentially valuable check is clear on the outside, and continues to provide a ‘check-like’ impression of value once the reader starts to engage with the interior components of the package.

• The check component within a direct mail check package can work several ways:
• It can be a coupon component, so it has some value in the next step of interaction, including a special offer number and directions of how to use it.
• The check/driver can reinforce the value of the offer
• The component can be used as a mechanism that ‘hands over value/goodwill’, as in a ‘giveback check’ in non-profit appeal packages

Don’t let the design tail wag the business dog.

Don’t make the mistake of having the check-like component look so much like an actual check that it causes confusion. Here are four often-overlooked ways to avoid confusion and issues.

• Don’t use faux routing numbers at the bottom of the component
• Clearly state on the face in readable-size type “THIS IS NOT A CHECK”
• Maximize your surface area — Use both sides of the check component
• Make sure the recipient has enough information to respond should they have the check component, but not the rest of the package. Not every detail, but at least a way to phone or visit online and respond.

Your direct mail check package can’t get by on looks alone.

Just because you include a $100,000 simulated check in your envelope doesn’t guarantee a win. A successful direct mail check package’s writing needs to be compelling and the entire creative message needs to be cohesive. Every part needs to have a purpose, every desired action focused, benefit oriented and clear.

For maximum ROI on your direct mail check package, be sure you are including a relevant, offer with a worthwhile perceived value. Whether it’s a % discount, upgrade or special exclusive pricing. Back this up with excellent tracking and follow-through on the responses rolling in.

Great books that share direct mail best practices should be part of your copywriting reference library, two of my favorites being Otis Maxwell’s Copywriting That Gets RESULTS, and the classic Direct Mail Copy that Sells by Herschell Gordon Lewis.

What’s your number one challenge in getting better results from your direct mail? Share in the comments below!

This article first appeared on the PerezWorks blog

Carlos Perez, Creative Director, Beasley Direct & Online Marketing, Inc.

Carlos Perez has 28 year’s experience as an advertising art and creative director, with more than a decade concentrating on direct marketing and branding. Carlos Perez enjoys working on both general and direct creative projects, and he frequently acts as a consultant on the marketing strategy development team. His clients have ranged from automotive and financial to hi-tech, including American Isuzu Motors, Bank of America, CitiFinancial, Diners Club, eHealthInsurance.com, Intuit, Microsoft, Network Associates, Pacific Bell, Southern California Edison, 3Com, United Airlines, and CBS Television. Carlos has worked for major general and direct response advertising agencies including Grey Advertising, Brierley & Partners, Bates Worldwide Advertising and J. Walter Thompson Recruitment Advertising.

The post Nailing the classic #10 direct mail check package appeared first on Beasley Direct and Online Marketing.

Whether it’s due to neglect or because something new (bad updates) or someone (hackers, malware) affects our site, the reality is, the longer your site operates, the higher the odds you will experience some sort of disruption to your site. Being proactive about an eventual problem with your site is prudent, saves you money, and might even save your business (or your job).

Avoiding temptation of ‘autopilot’ thinking, and using good site management discipline. Two ways to head off many WordPress Site Crashes

Let’s face it: site maintenance is not everyone’s bag. So the option to have plugins and themes update automatically is really tempting. Set it. Forget it, right? Wrong. Plugins come from a variety of sources, and sometimes an update can cause conflicts and crashes. You won’t know about the problem until you visit the site, try to use a function, or try to log into the WP (WordPress) dashboard and can’t. All leave a really sick feeling in your stomach, like walking out to see your car has a flat tire, or won’t start, or is just gone-stolen. Ugh!

So if automatic updates to plugins are not a good idea, NOT updating plugins is worse. Outdated plugins leave your site more open to hacking, cause conflicts with other plugins that you might add or update, or can be incompatible if you upgrade your WordPress to current versions to gain improved security and added features.

I don’t disagree with the opinion that a WordPress site that’s working well doesn’t need updating (not broke, don’t fix it). BUT, drilling down into details, I would add the caveat that while a site THEME doesn’t need updating to meet security threats that pop up, Plug-ins and the WP framework software should be kept up-to-date and monitored by a human who is taking a methodical approach to updating.

Adjust mindset. Adjust budget, too.

The task of maintenance is not something a lot of developers really want to try to focus their business on. Creating new things are more exciting. Also, many clients don’t want to pay for the stop and start time needed for making these updates as they come in, and paying per hour to have maintenance done.

Updates and improvements and upgrades follow no schedule, and days could go by with nothing, then a smattering of little touches will be needed. The only part of prevention that can be scheduled is backing up your site (more about that below).

Unfortunately for many smaller site owners, they don’t have someone in-house who will follow a methodical, efficient approach, done with human oversight and background in WP issues to avoid as many issues as possible, and quickly recover from them when the issues do come up. Some providers offer maintenance plans suited to smaller sites. Specialized firms offer services on a retainer basis for maintaining larger sites. The bottom line is that no matter who does the work, site maintenance is cheaper in the long run than having your site go down. Suck it up, and write a smaller check now instead of a larger one later.

What should you be doing BEFORE you have a WordPress Site Crash?

Establish a plan. Figure out what your strategy will be to deal with problems that threaten your site operation or compromise security of information. You can keep things simple using the “IF/FIRST/SECOND/THEN” format:

• “IF I discover my site is hacked, FIRST I will/Second I will/THEN I will…”

 

• “IF my site goes down after a plugin update, FIRST I will/Second I will/THEN I will…”

 

• “IF a function of my site is no longer working, FIRST I will/Second I will/THEN I will…”

By this point, you get the picture. You need to think ahead about each scenario you could be facing with your site. What’s important is that you work using a preplanned disciplined process. I didn’t share specifics, because there are hundreds of scenarios and every site is difference, and it’s why money is paid to set up a plan if you can’t or won’t do it yourself.

Backup Early, Backup Often. Backup Regularly. Memory space is cheap. And there are some great premium backup plugins for WP websites to help you restore your site files and site database if you have a WordPress Site Crash. But they don’t work their best unless you are being diligent about establishing a regular backup routine.

Whether you backup daily, weekly, monthly or longer, you should be storing the backups offsite to protect them. And make and download a backup before any major update or multiple plugin updates.

11 things to do: the WordPress site crash equivalent of having a spare tire and tools

Here are things I recommend that every WordPress site owner have ready or take steps to do, whether part of a large organization, or a small one-person operation. Just like tools to deal with a flat tire or breakdown, you want these things in place when things go wrong.

Before you write off all this as too much to do, use a little imagination. Whether your organization is large or small, you’ll find that all the items on this list of tips are scalable and can be assigned to yourself or others on your team:

1. A site manager with adequate WP knowledge should be in charge of 3 coordinated functions: Regular backups, Monitoring alerts and warnings, and implementing plug-in updates.
2. Site backups and backup file transfers to an offline drive should be done and verified on a regular schedule. Weekly, Monthly at the least on a busy site.
3. All WordPress, WordFence and other security plugins should be directed to send alert emails to that site manager (and maybe a backup person)
4. When warnings and alerts are received, the site manager should allow 24 hours to pass before starting action. With the large number of WP sites in the world, and because you are already using WordFence, the odds of a hack happening to a site in the first 24 hours of a threat alert are extremely low. ONE EXCEPTION is if a warning is received that your site may already have malware. WordFence file scrubbing measures should start immediately.
5. When warnings and alerts for needed updates are received, and BEFORE any updates are done, the site manager should
   • Confirm what the change(s) are in the update by reading the WordFence alert and notice within the site dashboard,
   • Scan the plugin developer’s FAQ and change log pages and support/comments pages for any hints of problems with the new update
   • Search on the Web with the plugin name and version and ‘problems’ to see if any reports of issues are coming up for others
6. Before a session of one or more plugin updates are done, a backup should be manually run of the site and database
7. Updates to plugins should be done one by one manually (not automatically) and the dashboard and site checked for function related to the plugin is operating correctly, and to be able to identify early if a particular plugin update might be causing a conflict with another existing plugin.
8. If an update does cause a plugin, the plugin should be restored to previous version or disabled and removed, and the issue reported to the developer. If needed, the plugin should then be replaced with a similar plugin that doesn’t cause the conflict.
9. Plugins and WordPress updates should be handled in separate steps
10. Before any WordPress update and after all plugins are updated, a backup of site and database should be made and downloaded. Then proceed with the WordPress update
11. Once WordPress is updated, a check of site functions should be made via visit to the site after log-off

Security deserves a complete article unto itself. There is not a one-size-fits all solution, so you need to find the tools that work with your site needs. But I’ll state that I’m an advocate of at least two levels of security. At the bare minimum, be sure you are using a product like WordFence, and not just running it in the background, but taking time to monitor and respond to messages it is sending to you.

Another layer of security comes from something a lot of people overlook—Hardened access. Create obscure usernames and passwords. Block directory browsing, and monitor and restrict file access, to block intruders early on and know where they’ve been if they do get in.

Don’t be scared, but be prepared

While a hack can happen any time of the day or night, realize when you are most vulnerable to a site crash. It is a triggered event.

Most crashes (the dreaded blank white screen instead of site or dashboard) happen right after an update. That is when your site troubleshooter can be called in to access files via FTP and extract the problem file (plug-in usually) and free up the site, before continuing on with a way of replacing or suspending use of the guilty plugin until the developers who authored it can create a new version. Depending on the quality of support, this could take just a few hours, to days, or even never. So always be ready to replace a plugin, and before you use plugins, carefully check who created them, and what the service history has been.

My RULE OF THUMB for approaching updates:

1. Update Plugins 24-48 hours from availability, but not before.
2. Update WordPress 3 days to 1 week, but not sooner than 24 hours.
3. Update THEMES only if there is a NEW feature you are sure you want to add, but no sooner than 3 weeks from when an update is published. Old themes run fine on newer WordPress, and with updated plugins. All you miss is any new WordPress Dashboard functionality. Nothing is lost for the visitor.

The bottom line to avoiding a WordPress Site Crash, or recovering from one is, set up a plan, work confidently following a process, and turn away from fear or denial. Like preparing for so many other unknowns in life, this works.

What do you have in place now to recover from a website crash? Please let me know in the comments below.

This article first appeared on the PerezWorks blog.

Carlos Perez, Creative Director, Beasley Direct & Online Marketing, Inc.

Carlos Perez has 28 year’s experience as an advertising art and creative director, with more than a decade concentrating on direct marketing and branding. Carlos Perez enjoys working on both general and direct creative projects, and he frequently acts as a consultant on the marketing strategy development team. His clients have ranged from automotive and financial to hi-tech, including American Isuzu Motors, Bank of America, CitiFinancial, Diners Club, eHealthInsurance.com, Intuit, Microsoft, Network Associates, Pacific Bell, Southern California Edison, 3Com, United Airlines, and CBS Television. Carlos has worked for major general and direct response advertising agencies including Grey Advertising, Brierley & Partners, Bates Worldwide Advertising and J. Walter Thompson Recruitment Advertising.

The post How to Avoid a WordPress Site Crash (and Be Ready When One Happens), by Carlos Perez appeared first on Beasley Direct and Online Marketing.

Tip for more complete Brand Guidelines: Remember all your media

For marketers and their designers, well-done Brand Guidelines are a godsend. They help establish the ground rules that protect investment in the Brand. In today’s world, many companies communicate using electronic visual media and every year, less is done in print. So just as with a business that may not do a lot of online marketing and forget about setting standards for graphics and color for Web or video, it’s easy to overlook print media that may not be used very often. But leaving the task for later can become a headache that doesn’t have to happen.

Your designer who’s establishing color palettes for your brand is the first and best person to think of to help you make sure all your brand colors are specified for all media: RGB, Hexadecimal, 4/color Print, and Pantone PMS spot colors. In creating brand guidelines documents for you and providing specifications, they have already established color families, hierarchies and rules of use in your most top-of-mind media. You’ve already invested in their time and skill. Save time, and possibly your Brand integrity, by making sure all media and color systems are included in your Brand Guidelines document.

Why is it worth taking the time for colors you’ll hardly use?

Sometimes, if left unassigned and unspecified, the color of one project can create a big black eye.  A vendor may choose a color for medium such as silk screening or solid spot color that they think is ‘close’ to the example in a PDF guidelines document that specified color in other media, but not spot print color. “Best Guess” is not an accurate way to specify color. It’s a far better investment of time at the front end of brand guidelines creation if you include complete color specifications in your Brand Guidelines documents that list different additive and subtractive color systems and the most common ink and color mix systems.

What gets left behind most often, and what does it take to specify colors well?

The world of color in marketing communications continues to change at a blinding pace. As little as a decade ago, the color system most alien to veteran graphic designers was the hexadecimal color system.  The new science it involved and the lack of control in web viewing devices scared the heck outta most, frankly. Now, since so much design work has shifted to Web, and the lion’s share of paper printing has gone digital and toner-based, the one-time standard for color, the PMS (Pantone Matching System) spot color, is often overlooked and left out of brand guidelines documents. And it’s no wonder — fewer projects are printed using spot inks. Digital printing most times renders a spot color unneeded.

To specify spot colors, it takes online tools that help you compare digital colors to CMYK (four-color process) by formula, and a good set of PMS print swatch books is important. But it’s worth taking two steps:

• First, for CMYK color checking, the extra step of having digital proofs with swatches of your brand colors on paper, produced by a professional print-proofing house.
• Second, for spot color checking a set of PMS ink ‘draw downs’ on paper from an ink house or lithographic printer for your brand colors.

The swatches, paper proofs and ink draw-downs, when viewed along with your designer’s most calibrated computer monitor, you will be able to confirm that your brand colors pass muster for consistency across media.

Sleep better at night, and dream in color (or black and white if you prefer).

Even with standards to follow, color can be a touchy subject. People (read: decisionmakers and customers) have visceral reactions to color that can be unpredictable (Remember the white/gold vs. black/blue dress meme a while back?). Why go through the trouble of editing and adding to color standards more than once if you don’t have to.

So just as other aspects of branding should go through vetting and approval, color should not be overlooked and should be specified in your guidelines as completely as possible. No one wants to make the choice between getting stuck with boxes full of unacceptable branded merchandise, or going back through the entire brand approval process just to get OKs on a color. Time is money, so the decision to take care of color details in advance when setting up brand guidelines would seem to be rather black and white. Or Black and Blue.

What part of your brand creates the most frustration for you? Share in the comments below!

This article first appeared on the PerezWorks blog.

Carlos Perez, Creative Director, Beasley Direct & Online Marketing, Inc.

Carlos Perez has 28 year’s experience as an advertising art and creative director, with more than a decade concentrating on direct marketing and branding. Carlos Perez enjoys working on both general and direct creative projects, and he frequently acts as a consultant on the marketing strategy development team. His clients have ranged from automotive and financial to hi-tech, including American Isuzu Motors, Bank of America, CitiFinancial, Diners Club, eHealthInsurance.com, Intuit, Microsoft, Network Associates, Pacific Bell, Southern California Edison, 3Com, United Airlines, and CBS Television. Carlos has worked for major general and direct response advertising agencies including Grey Advertising, Brierley & Partners, Bates Worldwide Advertising and J. Walter Thompson Recruitment Advertising.

The post Creating Brand Guidelines? Don’t Shortchange Yourself When It Comes to Color. by Carlos Perez appeared first on Beasley Direct and Online Marketing.