From the category archives:

Direct Mail

Sue Llewellyn runs Many Hands Media, a company which works with companies and individuals to help them communicate confidently. She's a sparkling personality who really knows her stuff, and we were keen to create a postcard for Sue that really did her justice.

Suel

I wrote some simple (and short, for me!) copy that Sue and I honed together, chopping bits out, sculpting sentences and bravely chopping out more until we had words which powerfully communicated what she does. Now this is much harder than it sounds, because Sue's scope is very broad. She works with all sorts of clients on all sorts of projects, so creating copy that people would want to act on was no easy task.
Sue2
Caroline used these fab images from a colleague of Sue to create a striking, engaging and confident font, and then created a very simple, clean design for the back to compliment the look.

What do you think?

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in Case Studies, Direct Mail, Graphic Design, In The Studio This Week, Marketing

Well the ‘average’ direct mail
response rate is 1-2%, so most people see that as a good return, but I don’t
think that tells the whole story. Your response rate, in general, will be as
good as the effort you put in.

We’ve run campaigns for clients who
have gained a 24% response rate – it’s all about getting six key variables
right. Send it to the right target audience – don’t take the ‘throw enough mud and
hope it sticks’ route – take the time and trouble to work out who you need to
speak to. Secondly, think about the timing. When are people most likely to
think about buying your products or services. Are there any no-go times (if
you’re targeting working mums, or work at home mums for example, don’t plan a
mailing to land in the middle of half term – they’ve got other things on their
minds!). thirdly the offer has to be right – compelling and appropriate to the
target audience. Your copy needs to be powerful and your design needs to
attract and build trust. Finally, for maximum results, integrate with other
marketing activities – a telemarketing campaign, email marketing or PR.

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in Business Strategy, Direct Mail, Low Cost Marketing, Marketing, Print

We live in an age of e-marketing and sophisticated promotional methods… Is there still a place for the humble promotional leaflet or flyer – do they still work?

June 1, 2009

Absolutely,
but you’ve got to use them properly. Chucking your logo at the top of a piece
of paper and banging on about how brilliant your business is won’t cut it. Your
clients and prospective clients are overloaded with information and for your
leaflets to work, you’ve got to inspire people to take action. And that means
talking about how [...]

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Writing a sales letter? Don’t confuse readers with more than one call to action

April 1, 2009

When you're writing a sales letter you need to be incredibly focused on what you want people to do. Want to write a letter to introduce your business? Great, go ahead! But don't be surprised when you get no response. Why? Because you haven't asked for a response.

Powerful sales letters are focused. The writer starts [...]

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Email marketing? What’s the average ‘open rate’?

March 30, 2009

When you send out a piece of direct mail you never quite know how many people were interested in what you had posted them and opened the envelope, and how many went straight in the bin. One of the joys of email marketing is that if you use the right piece of software, you can [...]

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Five steps you can take to make your marketing literature more effective

March 24, 2009

Just how effective are the leaflets, brochures and flyers you use to promote your business with? 

Not very according to the twenty or so business owners I shared my breakfast with this morning. Although 80% of these business owners said that they had marketing collateral, not a single one believed that their literature brought them in [...]

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Copywriting – it’s the difference between telling people about something and compelling them to take action

March 6, 2009

A couple of weeks ago I had an email from a client asking me to quote on some leaflets. And as always, I couldn't resist having a quick read through her copy. It's like an addiction for me. I simply cannot stop reading copy and thinking about how I might improve it. Some people choose [...]

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In the studio this week… A brand identity for a new Italian deli, antipasto and sandwich bar in Guildford

March 4, 2009

What do you think of the leaflets we've just created for Vero Cibo? I'm particularly proud of them because it's a brand we've created from scratch.

Vero Cibo is an Italian deli, antipasto and sandwich bar that's going to be opening at the end of the month. And it's all systems go to create a fabulous [...]

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Can you really get through this year without spending any money on marketing?

January 5, 2009

You know when you're on an aeroplane and the captain tells you that you're just about to hit some turbulence? I don't know about you, but I buckle up my seatbelt and grip onto the handrests with grim determination until it's all over (afraid of flying? moi?). I feel a bit like that know. We [...]

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Brand New Customers Only…

December 10, 2008

Why is it that most companies seem incapable of rewarding loyalty? Insurance companies, (until recently) mortgage lenders, they all seem to offer big discounts to reel you in, and then hike up the prices once you're in.

I recently had a renewal come through for our RAC membership – £40 up on last year. Clearly we [...]

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