Introduction to Direct Mail Printing

Direct mail marketing is one of the oldest forms of advertising, and continues to be a powerful way to promote and grow any business, even with the rise of Internet marketing. Open your mailbox, and you'll no doubt be greeted with an array of colorful brochures and flyers advertising business, products or political campaigns – this is direct mail, a cost-effective way to increase revenue and build strong relationships with prospective clients, customers and members. Here is a quick over of how to create a strategic direct mailing printing campaign.

1. Determine Your Goals and Budget – First of all, work out how many sales or new customers you to need reach or generate as a result of your direct mailing printing campaign. By determining how many sales you need to make a profit, and the average response rates for your type of industry, you can determine the size of your direct mail printing campaign, and thus your budget for design, printing and mailing. Think through your goals carefully to develop effective text for your marketing materials.

2. Consult a Graphic Design Specialist – A range of graphic design and commercial color printing specialists can provide advice on the format and design of your direct mailing printing to help you achieve the most effective results. Provide a design brief to outline any specific requirements that you may have, such as the use of certain PMS colors, font size, typeface, logos and general style required (for example, "corporate with clean lines" or "quirky and out of the box"). Be sure to give the graphic design specialist information about your budget, target audience and background to the project or campaign.

3. Choose a Format – Direct mail printing campaigns can take various formats, ranging from personalized letters, glossy brochures, flyers and postcards to CDs, booklets and more creative designs. Your budget will play a large part in what option you choose, and your graphic design consultant can provide advice on commercial color printing options.

4. Get Creative – If you really want your direct mail printing to stand out, and if your budget will allow it, then get creative! Think about it – people are used to finding standard commercial color printing flyers and brochures in their mailboxes every day. Your graphic design consultant can provide advice on a range of techniques you can use if you really want your campaign to get noticed. Design techniques include using bright, eye-catching colors and patterns, producing direct mail printing in unusual shapes, pockets or pop-ups, or printing on usual materials such as Perspex, fabric, or textured cardboard.

5. Mail Away – If your campaign is a personalized one, mail your direct mail printing using a computerized mail merge database, a service which most graphic design and printing companies offer.

6. Evaluate – Finally, track your responses and evaluate your commercial color printing campaign so that you can tweak and improve your methods for future campaigns. Consider whether you reached your objectives, targeted your intended audience, and whether you received feedback, questions or complaints.