What Do Seeds Have To Do With Direct Mail?

Did you know that Americans get an average of 1.7 pieces of junk mail everyday (I know it seems like at least twice that at my house!)? It’s estimated that 75% of that junk mail goes straight to the trash before it’s even opened, so the real challenge for most businesses that use direct marketing is to actually get people to open their pieces.

You just can’t sell people your product if they never even see your message… that’s the first big hurtle in direct marketing.

Recently I received a piece of unsolicited mail that got my attention… In fact, it actually got me to open it even though I knew I wasn’t interested in this company. Let me set it up for you.

The company, which I won’t actually name, is a gardening club and they’ve been trying to sell me a membership for several years. Their method for getting new members is to offer a deal where you get to test different garden products from them in exchange for their membership. I’ve received all kinds of direct mail pieces from them including post cards, brochures, envelopes full of stuff, etc. But this time, they sent me something a little different.

The big green envelope they sent made funny shaking noises that peaked my curiousity… I had to open it and see what what inside. Whoever designed this marketing piece is brilliant at getting people to open the envelope! I bet their open rate for this piece is very high because most people will be curious enough about the noise to actually open up the package.

I still didn’t buy a membership… the entire offer just didn’t appeal to me… but I did open the package and see their marketing message.

So what was inside… an inexpensive packet of flower seeds!

Here’s Another One

A few weeks ago I received a plastic coconut in the mail. (It was one of those coconut cups that you put a straw into and use at a tropical party.) It was strangely wrapped in plastic with no identifying information in it, and I thought it was probably a mistake or a sample sent from a company who wants me to sell them on one of my sites (I get this kind of stuff all the time).

Frankly, I wasn’t particularly interested in the coconut, so it got tossed aside where my eight year old son found it. He was fascinated by it, as any eight year old would be, and opened it up. Lo and behold, there was a very long sales letter inviting me to join an affiliate program!

This was certainly one of the most interesting direct mail pieces I’ve received in a long time… the trouble is that the letter inside didn’t live up to the outside packaging. I didn’t join the affiliate program, but I am seriously looking at their product.

Mission accomplished!

What kind of direct mail samples do you get?

I guess all that junk mail we get is good for something… at least if you’re in the business of marketing your business (and you should be). Junk mail provides us with a wealth of opportunities to see what works and what doesn’t and gives a us a lot great examples to put in our swipe files.

When it comes to direct mail, the biggest obstacle for marketers is to get their prospects to open the mail and read the marketing message. The examples above gave me a whole bunch of great ideas to use in my next direct marketing campaign… hopefully they’ve inspired you too!