Direct mail in an age of terror
By Jenny C. McCune • Bankrate.com

Bad enough getting your mailbox stuffed with junk mail. Now the stuff could kill you.

Biological terrorism has affected messages from direct mailers. But there is good news. Some companies say holiday season responses to the mail were the best ever. The reason? Many competitors got the jitters. Consequently, direct-mail volume was down, meaning less clutter for customers to sort through.

Several clients of Mason & Geller Direct Marketing of New York City wanted to ditch direct mail in the fall. The company's president, Lois Geller, convinced them to plunge ahead, although she did recommend smaller and more targeted campaigns.

"They were really glad they did," Geller says. "Although we ended up mailing a lot less, we had much better response rates than usual."

Eight ways to better direct mail messages
Direct-mail volumes are creeping back up, but as any business knows, there is always room for marketing improvement. Here are eight ways experts say you can reach out and sell someone using direct mail.

1. Use postcards. "We recommend the use of the postcard," says Al Lautenslager, president of The Inkwell, a medium-sized printing and mail company based in suburban Chicago. "Both sides get read. There's no envelope cost and no security issues." Because so many direct marketers have started using post cards, not everyone's a fan. Geller says that because so many direct marketers are using them, some messages are getting lost in a sea of postcards.

2. Avoid using plain envelopes. Anonymity used to be a way to pique the interest of consumers, since they'd wonder who had sent what when a plain envelope arrived in their mailbox. Post-anthrax, it's very important that people know exactly what you're sending. Colored envelopes in the business No. 10 size are also a good idea, since they look less personal and more businesslike. Wilson Zehr, CEO and founder of Zairmail Inc., recommends a dual window envelope, such as those you get when you receive a bill. "People can tell who sent it," says Zehr, whose Portland, Ore.-based company carries out direct-mail campaigns for clients. "They can peer into it."

3. Don't use a type or a font that looks hand lettered. While a personal approach used to be a "turn on," now it's a "turn off" since the Anthrax-laced letters were block printed. "Correspondence from a business should not be disguised to look like personal mail, a common direct-marketing practice before Sept. 11," says Karen Proctor, associate professor and chair of packaging science at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York State.

4. Use a return address. Some direct marketers recommend using your business logo as well as listing your Web site or a toll-free number. That way, consumers know who is sending it and can also call or visit a Web site to determine its contents. "People feel more comfortable when they know who it is coming from and can check with someone about its contents," says Zehr.

5. Integrate your direct-mail campaigns with telemarketing or an e-mail appeal. Use the phone or e-mail to notify customers that your catalog is being mailed and to encourage them to look out for it. Have a special discount in your catalog that customers can receive by ordering via your Web site. In other words, have one marketing message, but many channels.

6. Acknowledge current events, and keep your message to the point and honest. One of Geller's clients is the Arbor Day Foundation. She urged them to make a charitable appeal that acknowledged the tragic events of Sept. 11 and explained how the Arbor Day Foundation was a worthwhile cause that needed to proceed with its mission. She also advised her client to "soften" the message in a number of ways. "For example we used to say 'Prompt Reply Requested' now we're more likely to say 'Please Reply,'" Geller says. "I really think we've become a kinder, gentler nation, and direct mail has to reflect that."

7. Avoid the cutting-edge, whether it's the packaging or the message. "You need to deliver a predictable, normal piece," Geller says. "We used to try unusual [envelope] sizes to break through the clutter, but we haven't needed to do that recently and it could backfire."

8. Use a more targeted appeal. "Direct mail can be pretty effective, especially by targeting the people who want and need your product," says Dane Madsen, CEO of YellowPages.com of Las Vegas.

Not new, but still effective
While the anthrax scare did make messages more somber and succinct, many of these recommendations are similar to what successful direct marketers were doing before biological terror reached individual mailboxes.

"A lot of these tips are from successful direct-marketing campaigns from years ago," says Louis Mastria, director of public affairs for the Direct Marketing Association in New York City. "This isn't rocket science or something that we've developed because of the anthrax scare. Putting your logo on the envelope or otherwise identifying yourself just makes sense. But in the current context it takes on great value."

What Mastria finds truly scary isn't the threat of anthrax -- he points out the United States Postal Service delivers 680 million pieces of mail a day, of which only a handful has been contaminated -- but the threat of rising postal rates.

"That's the big deal right now because for many direct marketers postage is already the largest line item in their budget," he says. "This is what we will be talking about six months from now, provided there is no reoccurrence of anthrax."

Jenny C. McCune is a contributing editor based in Montana.

-- Posted: Feb. 13, 2002