Ever watch a donor open a carrier envelope?
Some are
rippers.
Some are cutters.
Some are slitters.
A left-handed
person opens an envelope differently from a right-handed person. A person who opens with a letter opener
is more tidy than someone who works a finger under the flap and then just tears.
Regardless -- watch a person go through a stack of mail and quickly sort what envelopes are going to
be opened, and what ones are going to be unceremoniously discarded.
This
process usually involves scanning and sorting.
Let’s say
that there are six letters in the pile. The recipient immediately fans through the envelopes, quickly,
searching, hoping for something interesting, and the ones that meet that special criteria, go into the magic pile that guarantees
they will be opened.
This all happens quite fast. Efficiently. Ruthlessly. The recipient focuses on the addressing,
and if it is obviously “junk mail” then it may discarded.
(And my definition of junk mail is not trashy mail, but simply something that the donor is not
interested in receiving.)
Let’s say that two of the six letters
make the first cut and are thrown to the side. The other four are discarded, never to be opened –
regardless of how clever you handled the “ask string” or whether you put the logo on page 1 or page 4, or the
color of the signature. All wasted. Sad.
And the two remaining envelopes? The first one is picked up and quickly flipped over!
Flipped over? Why? It doesn’t matter why – that’s just what
happens.
Envelope rituals vary, of course. Often an individual will sort
mail in as many as four different categories: (1) Trash. (2) Bills that must be opened
and dealt with. (3) Stuff the individual recognizes. (4) Interesting envelopes that
go into a “maybe” pile.
The trash goes to the
trash can. The bills go to a cubbyhole and perhaps are opened now or later on. The interesting
stuff goes through another sorting process. Really interesting. Mildly interesting.
Maybe, if I get around to it.
If the donor is in a hurry that day, it may
all get trashed. On a boring day, it may all get read, and at last, your strategically articulated marketing
techniques will become operative.
Exactly what kind of an envelope is most apt to get opened?
That depends
on so many things – primarily the interaction between your donor or prospective donor, the nature of the appeal, and
the contents of the package.
Often teaser
copy is counter-productive, but not always. Often a window is counter-productive, but not always.
Often identification of the organization is counter-productive, but not always. Often the application
of the postage makes a difference, but not always.
Often
the size of the carrier makes a difference, but not always. Often displaying the contents of the package
through a large window makes a difference, but not always.
All of these elements must be tested. In your specific context.
Vigorously.
For many years I created teaser copy to go
on a carrier envelope simply because the client felt that they were not getting their money’s worth from their creative
fee unless I did teaser copy for them.
But these days I’m afraid of teaser copy. Deathly afraid. Sometimes
the hallmark of creativity is the courage to leave it off!
Just Who is the Real Pro?
Remember, the recipient of your envelope has strong pre-conditioning.
Take a man or women, for example, 65 years old. They have received mail six days a week since they
were 25 years old. So multiple six days times 52 weeks times 40 years, and that’s how many times
they have had the experience of opening their mail. Around 75,000 envelopes. They are professionals at
it – nothing less.
In contrast with their experience level, let’s
say that you are a development officer and 35 years old. That means that your donors know far more about
direct mail than you do!
Your only hope for survival and/or success is to
understand that:
1.
The first important thing in this business is
getting the envelope opened.
2. And you will need to spend
a lot of your testing
budget making that happen.
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