Direct Mail: The Small Print Shop Owner's Choice

Most printing and graphic arts concerns make direct mail their advertising medium of choice. "IfI only had $100 to spend on advertising, I'd put every penny of it on direct mail."

Direct mail is the logical choice for two obvious reasons. First, not everyone buys printing. The people and companies

who do are identifiable, and they are what we call prospects. Their names plus the names of present accounts can make a viable, valuable mailing list. In other words, target marketing is unusually easy to manage in the printing business. Direct mail makes perfect sense to reach the targeted market. The second reason direct mail is the exactly right choice is because it demonstrates the very product which the advertiser is promoting: printing.

Every printed piece you send should show off what your shop can do. A large printing company in Georgia sends out beautifully printed color postcards to its prospects and customers every month. The firm has continued to grow and drive its competitors crazy.

While many still consider the magical return rate to be 2 percent, such a response often is not necessary to justify a mailing. I have known campaigns to make serious money for advertisers and not hit 1 percent! If you generate only one order out of a mailing of 1OO pieces and that order is for several thousand dollars, the low response rate is hardly a problem. Now, make it a mailing of 1,000 pieces resulting in 10 good orders. If several of those are from brand new customers, then you have gained immediate income and new clients that might account for many more orders in the future.

Of course, none of these things happen unless the direct mail is wisely strategized and cleverly designed. That might come down to something as simple as a sales letter and a reply card (see my April 2004 I&SCP column) or a not-so-simple campaign consisting of a series of mailings that are thematically connected.

Print providers are not always looking for orders when they mail.

Your objective might be "to get our name out." The orders will come as the company becomes more well known within the target audience. But, campaigns designed to get out the name typically lack the spark to do so. They're what are commonly called "image" campaigns, and they can be very bad. Often, the advertiser takes itself too seriously and its advertising comes off as pretentious or stuffy.

Often, a campaign with a liberal dash of humor gets the attention and readership necessary for success. Campaigns with strong, graphically emphasized themes generally make more lasting impressions than ones consisting of a string of disconnected mailings. It is no secret that regular newsletters do extremely well in the graphic trades.

After you have created one or all of the pieces to be mailed, take a good look at what you have. Could any of it qualify for the tag, "junk mail"? If so, change it.

You might have your own specialties that you'll want to promote in your direct mail. If one of those specialties is direct mail itself, so much the better. The signals are that direct mail advertising will be increasing in popularity in the next several months. Direct mail has a long history of success for those who are talented in using it. For a while now, the Internet and Web advertising have been chipping away at direct mail budgets. Now, increasing numbers of firms are reducing their Web commitments and increasing their direct mail. The reason? The Web is becoming crowded and problematic. Watch this trend carefully, as it can contribute to your increasing volume of direct mail work.

The more of this work you get, the greater the challenge to your prepress department. You might need to find a freelance copywriter, and might find yourself needing another graphic artist or two as the trend intensifies in the next year.

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This subtly flashy, colorful, smart direct mail promo by Value Express Is simply one of the best. Its personalizing effects with fake (yet incredibly real-looking) handwriting really grab the reader and aim attention toward the advertisers' $6 to $30 products. It's a high-performance direct mail package loaded with lessons in strategy.

Direct mail is going to grow. It's going to get better. You might have the interesting opportunity to use this trend to significantly improve your volume. But, remember the catch in all of this. You can't create repeat direct mail accounts unless the mail you create for them does what it's supposed to do. It has to be intelligently written, illustrated and designed as well as handsomely produced. Many small print shops today are acting as mini ad agencies for clients. The better you pull it off, the brighter your future in direct mail.

If you go after some of the larger direct mail clients, companies that mail in the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, you will want to show them not only what your shop can do (via your own demonstrative direct mail) but also how you do it. A shop open house is not a bad idea, especially if you can tie it to an event such as an anniversary.

Some print providers are getting deeper and deeper into addressing and mailing services for clients. Show off such facilities during your shop tour. Also, it is appropriate at times to feature equipment in your own mailings. This can be overdone, but for clients looking for an all-around print/mail/fulfillment shop, equipment information can be helpful in choosing a vendor.

When creating direct mail for yourself or for clients, remember that you must get the reader's attention and kindle interest in the message. Any techniques or devices to help accomplish these needs are legitimate. The right picture can provide the jumping off point.

Tf you want to make your business better and enlarge your customer base, you'll want to increase your use of direct mail. Use it creatively and with purpose. Determine your mission. Put it in writing. Proceed to carry it out with direct mail. It's entirely possible that you will amaze even yourself. I have heard more than one print shop owner say something like this: "It didn't start working for us until we really took it seriously and then worked at it very carefully."

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Grif's Picks of the Month*

The Weldon Studio, 611 W. 65 Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19126, uses smartly crafted color postcards and business cards to emphasize its four-color printing capabilities. The company runs a prepress and print brokerage service with emphasis on design.

LaserCopy, 624 N. Great Southwest Pkwy., Arlington, TX 76011, has been using the mail to promote its variable-data printing capabilities, which it has dubbed "Variable VooDoo Digital Magic." Along with clever mailers and explanatory pieces, LaserCopy mailed a voodoo doll complete with pins for sticking.

Copy Express at 301 E. Calhoun St., Woodstock, IL 60098, issued a 2004 calendar featuring truly great paintings by American impressionist Thomas Trausch. No one receiving one of these calendars will discard it!

SIDEBAR

"Direct mail demonstrates the very product which a print shop is promoting: printing."

IMAGE ILLUSTRATION 3AUTHOR_AFFILIATION

George "Grif" Griffin, veteran advertising practitioner, critic and columnist, has written more than 600 articles about advertising and sales promotion for the graphic arts/imaging industries, has taught advertising at the college level, has operated a successful small print shop in Ohio and has accumulated more than 20 years of experience in advertising at both the corporate and agency/consulting levels. Contact Grif via e-mail at grif400@yahoo.com.

Information about Grif's advertising workbook is available at www. transactionaladvertising. com.