Christmas is a busy time for everybody or so it seems. Many organizations think the public may be too busy to respond to direct mail campaigns, but research suggests the opposite. Any organization which hits the market with a Christmas direct mail campaign could generate a lot of success for their organization in terms of sales, charitable donations, raising awareness or in meeting other objectives. So why not plan a Christmas direct mailing this year? Read on to learn some great ideas to make a success of your campaign.
Don’t forget to plan
As George Michael of Wham once sang “if you’re going to do it, do it right”, this is certainly true of planning a Christmas direct mail campaign. The best direct mail campaigns are always planned in advance, so “plan for success”. Ensure you understand what success will look like with carefully defined goals (e.g. increased sales, information delivery or a simple “thank you”).
Timing is crucial!
One benefit of a Christmas campaign is that we know when it must be finished. Don’t make the mistake of thinking 25th December, as the campaign must be mailed long before this date! Although a campaign including print, mailing and postage can be turned around within a matter of days in some circumstances it’s best to have ample time to plan.
Although the optimum time is thought to be around mid-November timings will naturally vary from one organization to another. Also, bear in mind Black Friday (which is always the last Friday of November), as you might want your Christmas mailing campaign to benefit from this opportunity too. Don’t forget to allow time for a follow-up mailing too, which can also massively increase campaign response rates through a memory jog to recipients!
General direct mail optimisation tips
A Christmas direct mail campaign is still just another campaign, so here are some general tips true of all campaigns to apply to your Christmas mailing.
Personalised direct mail is now almost “the norm” and the default expectation of demanding recipients, so don’t disappoint them! We are talking far beyond simple contact address and information here, instead WOW them with personalized information relevant to them. Where relevant vary the images to products/services of interest from past purchases, perhaps market buying the same product again (e.g. a Christmas gift from last year), perhaps personalize mailings by gender of socio-economic group where information is available.
Do check the data, make sure it’s accurate through quality checks to remove errors and duplicate records, also filter out deceased records and recipients opting out through preference services.
If your Christmas campaign is multi-channel (which it should be) then integrate your direct mail campaign with other initiatives. So, for example, if you are utilizing social media to publicise the campaign perhaps share your social media URLs or specific Facebook posts, Twitter tweets, Pinterest pins, etc. If your campaign involves telesales then refer to the direct mailing piece in the call. Similarly, if the campaign has featured on radio or TV, say in the mailing comments like “as seen on TV”, etc.
Make understanding the mailing as clear as possible to recipients by clearly understanding the underlying message/intent of the mailing, have a clear call to action and indicate expected action from recipients, subtly but with clarity.
Don’t forget about Christmas – adding some themes
Most people love Christmas, with turkey and all the trimmings, so don’t spare adding some Christmas themes to the mailings! Use traditional Christmas colours to add a flavour throughout the mailing, colours like green, red, gold and white are particularly apt for Christmas mailings. It’s true to say though that these can vary from country to country.
Stimulate the senses with Christmas related themes, we’ve already talked about sight with colours but stimulate the eyes with an eye-catching high flair mailing piece. Make the envelope appealing and make the recipient find it irresistible to view what is inside. Tempt the taste buds by including free Christmas products inside (e.g. Christmas chocolates, Christmas biscuits or sweets). Potentially add fragrances of Christmas to the mailing, e.g. Christmas pudding smell or gingerbread perhaps? Rather than the mailing all being smooth add some different textures, maybe embossed holly, or other textures added to flat surfaces.
Mailing out Christmas Cards in either a postcard format or as an insert can work well too (the Alzheimer’s Society in the UK had a successful Christmas fundraising campaign through the use of a Christmas Card).
Potentially brand with Christmas traditional themes such as “the twelve days of Christmas” (e.g. Gordon’s Gin campaign, see the image below) or perhaps twenty-four days of offers through an advent calendar style approach (like this BMW campaign).
Include Christmas freebies and promotions
The inclusion of free products and promotional discounts for Christmas stock are a well “tried and tested” formula, the secret of success though is adding innovation, creating that WOW moment for the recipient.
Of course, the campaign could just include a simple voucher or coupon and respond to a recipient’s simple desire to save money. Including free items or “freebies” is likely to have a positive effect, so consider including free product samples, maybe a wrapped Christmas present (would need to be small), a Christmas cracker, snow globes and/or a range of other similar Christmas novelty items.
Wishing you a successful Christmas mailing campaign
Well, all that’s left to say now is we wish you a successful Christmas direct mail campaign. Follow the tips in this article and you are off to a great start to a high ROI campaign with a significant response rate.
Image Credits: Johanna Mayr, Dean Harding and Jitesh Patel