Business advertising

I don’t know about you, but I actually look at my “junk mail.” All of it. I usually find it to be time well spent. I read it to see what companies are doing that is good, bad, and indifferent. It’s amazing how many lessons of what to do (and not to do) I learn from the material that is put into my mail box. Last week I saw an advertiser wasting half the cost of a mailing.
It might surprise some people, but a piece of paper has two sides. When folded into a tri-fold flyer it can be divided into six panels. One panel is used for the address, postage, and return address. But there is another, very important function of that panel which is to carry a message to make the recipient feel compelled to open the flyer, glance at it and determine whether they should invest the time to read the rest of the flyer. Surprisingly I get many flyers in my mailbox that just have my name and address along with the postage on that panel... no offer, no enticement, no graphics… no humor… just blank space. Print that space with a question, a “teaser,” anything to get the reader to look farther rather than file it in the waste basket unread.
While we are on that same side of the paper realize that there are two more panels there. I’m dumbfounded by how many advertisers leave them blank and don’t use that space to tell their story in greater detail. Since you are paying to print the return address and postal permit on the center panel, printing on those other two panels is free so why not use them to visually engage the reader, add a coupon or testimonial?
Direct mail can be a very effective way of advertising but, if you don’t tell your story in an attractive, engaging manner it will be a wasted effort. In this case, half the available space was wasted (other than to get the mail delivered) because there was no effort invested in getting the recipient to open it, look inside, and read it.