30: 4-part Direct Mail Harmony

Embarrassing confession: I used to be a choir boy.

As early as the fourth grade, I used to compete in ensemble competitions. During my freshman year of college, I successfully sneaked into one of my alma mater’s televised choirs to meet chicks—even learned a few bass lines over a semester and a half of practices.

Now, I can barely carry a tune. I have 3 Doors Down and David Crowder—not choir music—on my iPod; but during the Christmas season, like so many of you, I pause when Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” or Leontovych’s “Carol of the Bells” is in ear shot. The complexity of pieces, when executed professionally, creates a whole greater than their parts. The four-part harmony enriches and multiplies the effect of a melody.

So, it is with direct mail. If you get one part of the deal out of whack, it takes away from the maximum impact of your advertising and may even bring negative reaction to your well-intentioned work. Your core message may be good, important—even needful; but you need all four aspects (below) to keep your marketing humming.

Photography
A picture is not worth a thousand words, especially when shot from your car. You can have a Madison Avenue designer and waiting millionaires who want your product or service; but if your photos look like they came from a booth in the arcade or a dollar-store disposable camera, you are hamstringing your efforts. Nothing limits your designer’s creativity more than crappy, low resolution photos—not even low budgets. If photography doesn’t come naturally to you, hire a professional. If that’s not feasible:

• Make sure your camera is 7 megapixel or larger.
• Take pictures at the highest quality setting possible.
• Use a tripod in low light situations (and illumine all lights possible).
• Take more shots than you need.
• Take closeup shots of details and far away shots with sky or “white” space.

Creative
You can have great images but not make the connection with your audience. (How many times have you seen a Super Bowl commercial and not known what it was advertising?) You can have gorgeous printing and the perfect prospect list, but if the design and writing detract from your mission, you’re wasting your images and print budget. Good design should be almost invisible—drawing attention to your product more than itself. All colors, fonts, and design elements should accentuate your images. Successful copy should:

• Use no more words than necessary.
• Avoid clichés [“Money doesn’t grow on trees.”] and hyperbole [“once in a lifetime opportunity”].
• Be humble, honest, and chopped into small chunks.
• Pass spell check.

Production
I recently attended a wedding where the best man read his speech from a Santa-list-long scroll of toilet paper. It was a good joke, but you wouldn’t want that laughter to hit your advertising. Engaging photographs and creative expressed on cheap paper will tell your clients you don’t put much stock in quality or value. Pretty printing delivered after the deadline is almost as embarrassing. If your printer is constantly making you sweat deadlines or not mailing inline, you’re falling behind your competition. If you’re not getting full US Postal Service bar code sorting and discounts, you’re taking money out of another deserving part of your advertising budget.

Distribution
If you have an award-winning piece but send it to people who don’t need or want your service, you’ve yelled into the wind. Record and segment your current customers, and try to find common denominators. (Some companies offer this service for you and can even take those denominators and exert them into specific geographic areas.) Don’t rely solely on purchased lists. Take advantage of magazine, trade association, and chamber of commerce lists. Partner with established firms when entering new markets. If you’re as brave as catalog companies, rise the tide for all boats by confidentially sharing contacts with your competitor(s).

The bottom line: This is a package deal. A big screen TV is almost useless without digital service. A high end sports car is impotent without the right tires. Cheaper gas will only bring more cars into your station, if drivers see your prices before they pull up to the pumps across the street. And direct mail only works when great photography pairs with professional creative work and when well-produced pieces go to the right recipients.

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