Affordable Direct Mail Marketing Ideas; Inspiration from our 2021 Letterbox Campaigns

Tips for how to create a successful Direct Mail marketing campaign.

Christmas Direct Mail Campaign

Easter Direct Mail Campaign

Whether your goal is to drive traffic to your website, generate in-store sales, or nurture brand awareness, direct mail can be a valuable component in your marketing strategy. Letterbox marketing is still one of the most direct strategies and the proper execution can dramatically improve your return on investment, particularly when included as an omnichannel approach. In this blog, we discuss two Printcraft campaigns for inspiration, guidelines and ideas on how to create your own effective Direct Mail letterbox campaign.

In 2021, we ran two fun, personalised and interactive promotional campaigns using Direct Mail strategies to drive engagement, brand awareness and nourish relationships with our existing clients. Both the Easter Bunny Box and the Gingerbread House are available to download for free from our Resource Library to help get you started quicker, saving you time and money. Additionally, if printed with Printcraft, the use of our Easter Bunny Box Die Knife is also free, saving you $350!

While the Easter Campaign featured a perforated shape, pre-creased folds and double-sided tape sections, we decided to demonstrate with the Christmas Gingerbread mail-out that it was also possible to create an engaging and fun campaign on a smaller budget. Below we take a look at the key features of each Direct-Mail campaign:

Direct Mail Inspiration Ideas for Letterbox Campaign

Easter Bunny Box Direct Mail Campaign

• Die Cut, Perforated & Pre-Creased

• Folded to fit DLX Envelope

• 250gsm Sovereign Silk FSC Mix

• 2 x Double Sided Tape Sections

• Personalised DL Flyer

• Custom Printed Envelope

Activity: Clients constructed the Bunny Box, took a photo and sent it to their account manager. Their dedicated account manager then delivered (or posted) a packet of Cadbury Chocolate Easter eggs to the client to fill their bunny box up.

Design: Choosing the paper stock (substrate) for the Easter Bunny Box was very important, particularly since it would be folded and used to carry 125grams of Easter Eggs! So, we selected a 250gsm stock and cello glazed, which worked really well, helping the little boxes to maintain form when carrying the eggs. The double-sided tape also helped to strengthen the Bunny Box, which our finishing department carefully applied by hand to each piece. Because of the manual application of the double-sided tape, the finishing team also hand inserted the Bunny Box DLX and personalised flyer into our custom printed envelopes for bulk distribution through our Australia Post partner.

Weight: The weight of this project was also important. Being heavier (thicker) paper stock, having two internal pieces (the activity and the DL flyer) plus the envelope and two strips of double-sided tape, we needed to be mindful that we didn't break into a more expensive postage bracket. The final, packed item came in at 119grams.

We designed the box from scratch using Adobe InDesign and Illustrator to create the graphic elements in CMYK and the separate keyline layer using spot colours, which indicate to pre-press and production teams which sections of the Bunny Box are to be perforated or pre-creased.

Producing print-ready files in CMYK before sending to any printer is a crucial step in the process which will limit the chance of discrepancies in your final product and speed up production times. To save time, you can download the free InDesign template for the Easter Bunny Box from our Resource Library and create your own design under the keyline layer.

Remember to export your final design in CMYK including converting colour swatches and images from RGB to CMYK! Any element of your file in RGB will disrupt the process significantly. Read more about CMYK vs RGB here.

Result: The Easter Bunny Box campaign was a huge hit with our clients, who had a lot of fun constructing the box and creating clever photo's to send to their account managers. We received so many great photos of our clients and their Easter Bunny Boxes that it inspired us to add a competition element to our Ginger Bread House Campaign for Christmas!

Create Your Own Bunny Box Campaign

Direct Mail Inspiration Ideas for Letterbox Campaign

Christmas Gingerbread House Direct Mail Campaign

• Folded to DL size

• 140gsm Uncoated FSC Mix

• Personalised

• Custom Printed Envelope

• Personalised Names on the House

• No Glue, Tape or Die Knife Required

Activity: During the Easter Campaign we found that many of our client's children had loads of fun constructing the Bunny Box, so this time we gave clients the option of constructing their colourful printed Gingerbread House or flipping it over for the colouring in version. Once constructed, clients took a creative pic and sent it to their account managers who in return delivered (or posted) a delicious Gingerbread Man, baked locally in Brisbane. All photos received by our account managers were automatic entries into our "most creative photo" competition* with the winner receiving an incredible Gingerbread House that is even decorated on the inside! *To be judged by Printcraft staff on Wednesday 15th December 2021.

Gingerbread Design Using Adobe InDesign

Design: Just like the Bunny Box, we used Adobe InDesign and Illustrator to create design elements for both the single piece 2pp DL flyer and the Gingerbread House which was actually 413mm x 220mm, crash folded down to a 10pp DL piece. This time, we only needed to create a separate layer to indicate where the DL would be machine folded, which helped to partially pre-crease the activity, without the extra cost of a die-knife.

Choosing the correct paper stock (substrate) was equally important for the Gingerbread House to ensure the final piece was fit for purpose. We needed to consider that one side would potentially be coloured in and the final constructed house didn't need to hold any weight. Uncoated paper is best suited to applications where the printed piece might be written on, and given the house wasn't going to hold any weight inside we selected an affordable 140gsm Uncoated FSC Mix. While it is possible to source a double-sided stock (gloss one side and uncoated the other) this can be quite expensive so we stuck with double-sided uncoated paper which we felt suited the raw biscuit impression of Gingerbread anyway - Yum!

Although there is no die-cut element to the Gingerbread House mail campaign, we've added this House Activity template to our Resource Library anyway for you to download for free since it could be used for many other purposes, like real estate, mortgage or insurance promotions, construction and many more.

Weight: The final weight of this letterbox activity, plus the envelope, came in at just 14grams, making it eligible for the most affordable bulk mail distribution bracket.

Result: The Gingerbread Mail Campaign is happening now! You can check out our wonderful client's creative photo submissions on our website here www.printcraft.com.au/gingerbread and stay tuned for the winner to see the incredible inside of the delicious prize Gingerbread House. We'll also feature some on our social pages here Facebook Linkedin and Instagram.

Create Your Own House Activity Campaign

Want to join in the fun and be on our mailing list for Printcrafts 2022 Easter and Christmas promotional campaigns?

Just print with us during 2022 to join our promotional mailing list, optionally have your products or services promoted to our networks and find out why our clients leave us such great 5 Star reviews.

We're here to help you make a tangible impact, with passion and industry experience since 1982.

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Gingerbread House made by The Little Gingerbread Cottage

Gingerbread House and Men were made by Brisbane local small business:

The Little Gingerbread Cottage