Going Solo: Postcards and Solo Mailings
Make Mine a Mini
Mini-catalogs, with dimensions roughly of 3-7/8 in. × 5 in., can serve as another cost-effective prospecting tool. “They're smaller than the traditional digest and can be mailed at letter rate,” says Royle Printing's Carpenter.
Royle has seen specialty catalogers whose product can easily be represented in a smaller format use mini-catalogs as package inserts or at trade shows, because they're more economical than a full size catalog, Haag says. “The obvious downside is that product images and type will be smaller; the layout and design need to be able to accommodate this.”
Again, most agree that mini-catalogs are not a replacement for a full-size book but another tool to be used as part of a contact strategy. “Catalogers need to be diligent about testing response rates to each of these vehicles, constantly looking for the right balance,” Haag says.
Data Quality is Job One
Data hygiene and addressability have always been critical factors for multichannel merchants, whether mailing catalogs, postcards, or solo mailers. The May 14 postal increase has given direct marketers more impetus to improve the quality of their addresses.
Printer Quad/Graphics helps clients save money by conducting a data-integrity test on mailing lists. “We look at their files and see if there are any address-quality problems, such as does that person really live there,” says vice president of direct marketing sales Eric Blohm. “Seventeen percent of the country moves each year. And we'll do a suppression list of people who have passed away, are in prison, or on do-not-mail lists.”
Typically, Blohm says, this sort of cleanup corrects or eliminates 4%-5% of addresses. “And when you put a cost to that — paper, postage, manufacturing — it can be significant.” The savings, he continued, enable clients to engage in more-sophisticated audience targeting and segmentation.
For example, if an apparel company sends a solo mailer to a customer who recently bought a blue suit, it might use an ink-jet box to showcase items linked to the suit purchase. “We put customers in different buckets, and for a prospect we'll send out a larger catalog with more products,” Blohm says. “Or we start changing the vehicle, using a postcard or a solo mailer.”
None of this can be done with poor-quality data, however. “Data mining is critical,” Blohm says. “We're finding tons of savings in the data quality. But it takes something like this postal increase, where everyone is in a panic mode.”
10 tips to solo success
Putting an effective solo mailer together is different from producing a profitable catalog, so proceed with caution. Shari Altman, president of consultancy Altman Dedicated Direct, has 10 tips to help you start or improve a solo-mailer program.
- Promote a product that has already had success with prospects on the Web or in your catalog.
- Make the most of the mail piece's space by showcasing the item as a hero product that has a “story” to tell.
- Make a highly desirable offer with a strong call to action, including a deadline for response.
- Use testimonials to provide proof of the value and benefits of your product and of buying from your firm.
- If you're sending your solo mailer in an envelope, always include a letter that reads like a one-to-one communication from someone at your company or a testimonial.
- If you don't have the expertise inhouse, work with a copywriter and a designer who have experience in developing successful solo direct mail packages.
- Ensure that the order form is clear, not overly cluttered, and simple to follow.
- If feasible, rent lists of solo-mail buyers.
- Assign unique source codes and, ideally, unique landing page URLs for each list to ensure accurate tracking.
- Make sure your contact center agents are aware of your promotion before they start receiving calls about it!
(This article originally appeared in our sister publication, Multichannel Merchant.)
