How lumpy mailers are helping marketers boost response rates.

Lumps in your gravy? Not so good. But when found in direct mail, lumps generate curiosity and demand attention.

AlphaGraphics, for example, scored an impressive 21-percent response rate by including lumpy, or dimensional, mail in a recent multichannel campaign.

“It’s more important than ever to do something unique in your approach that will attract consumer attention,” says Jesse Himsworth, AlphaGraphics channel marketing manager.

The marketing firm, which has more than 260 owner-operated locations worldwide, sent a branded Rubik’s Cube to 1,880 customers and prequalified prospects to showcase its digital color and direct mail capabilities.

The dimensional piece included a personalized insert outlining the company’s key benefits and directing recipients to a personalized URL. Once visitors arrived at the PURL, they were asked to complete a brief survey regarding marketing service needs. Upon completion, visitors were offered their choice of a $20 gift card from one of three stores.

How follow-up added another dimension
The visit to a PURL also generated an automatic e-mail to that recipient’s AlphaGraphics sales representative. Within four hours, the sales representative would call the lead to set up an appointment and deliver the gift card.

“Our owners are extremely busy people, meeting impossible deadlines day in and out,” Himsworth says. “The dimensional piece was a way for us to help them attract customer attention and gave them a turnkey solution so they could really focus their energy on sales.”

That’s why AlphaGraphics also supported the campaign with webinars on best practices for building lists, a sales process plan with a timeline for pre-calls, mailings and post-calls, and suggestions for what to say during pre- and post-calls.

Himsworth says the centers that adhered strictly to the sales process plan achieved the highest responses. Too, some of the centers made the sales representatives responsible for the costs of the direct mail pieces, which motivated the sales representatives to produce the highest quality lists possible and which, in turn, led to much higher response rates.

“Too often marketers put all their energy into worrying about the creative for a piece, and neglect everything else,” Himsworth says. “When combined properly though, the creative, list, offer, strategy and process of a campaign can produce exceptional results.”