Wednesday, October 28, 2015

What Can Direct Mail Learn from Email?

Doing some reading and research, recently, we found this list from Digital Marketer, showcasing the best and worst email subject lines they had seen over their years of experience. The full list is worth reading, but what stood out to us were a few of the topics they believe are necessary elements of any successful email campaign. Here are three of the eight elements they suggest:

1 – Self-Interest
These are your bread and butter subject lines – you should be using them most frequently.
They are usually direct and speak to a specific benefit your audience will gain by opening the email. Self-interest subject lines also help pre-qualify openers by giving them a clue about your email’s body content.

2 – Curiosity
If self-interest subject lines work because they communicate a direct benefit of opening the email, curiosity-based ones succeed for the exact opposite reason. These peak the interest of subscribers without giving away too much information, leading to higher opens. Be careful though, because curiosity-based subject lines can get old fast and are the most likely to miss their mark.

3 – Offer
Do you like free stuff?  Do you like to buy things?
So does your email list. When you are giving something away or selling something your subscribers would be interested in, directly stating that in your subject line is a great way to convince them to open the email and learn more.

Notice anything?

These same topics and talking points would be just as at-home in a direct mail piece as they are in email. Really, what it comes down to is simple human nature. As much as some of us may not want to admit it, people are typically pretty predictable. By grabbing a consumer's interest with an eye-catching package, envelope, or postcard, you can dramatically improve the success of whatever piece of marketing that package is holding.

Simply sticking a coupon into a plain white envelope is not enough (except when it's exactly what's called for), and smart marketers and business owners are taking the extra time to develop more complex and interesting ways to deliver their marketing materials to their customers.

For the latest advances in print marketing, and information on how to take your mail pieces to the next level, contact us at 866.872.9249 or at info@trayinc.com