Simon Hinks gives a brief overview of why direct mail is so important and just how creative it can be

Over the years,

direct mail (DM)

has bought us many new ideas or creative concepts which have found the receivers pulling, tearing, sniffing and tasting the offers being sent to them. It’s what they call making the offer interactive or forcing the receiver to take an action to find out what the offer actually is, in some cases it’s origami.

That’s the thing about

DM

, it allows a greater development of a creative concept than an email on a flat screen. It’s more interactive especially when it involves having to peel off stickers and choose which offer you’d prefer.

Let us not forget direct mail is a three-dimensional piece of paper that allows the sender to attract the interest of the receiver in such a way that the brand can be enhanced and the product sale can be made.

A creative idea can clearly demonstrates the key features of a product or a service. Ultimately

paper DMs are more likely to stand out

in this busy world where we’re bombarded by multiple messages through multiple communication channels.

Say for example, if I like what I’ve been sent because it’s interesting, quirky or unusual I’m more likely to keep it on my desk or at least pinned up on a notice board in the office.

How many emails of creative interest would you expect to find pinned to a notice board for all to see nowadays? I’ll tell you. Not many at all.

However, it’s important to be aware from a creative perspective that the number of folds and the call-to-action must all work hard together in order to generate the greatest likelihood of a response or sale.

Creatively I’ve found invitations to events most intriguing, usually done in the format of a real ticket. I remember being invited to watch England play a football game and being sent a ticket in the format of an actual Wembley ticket only to realise it was the watch the game on a large tv, but by then I had accepted the invitation.