Print Solutions Magazine, November 2004 -- Case Study: Direct Mail

Look all you want. Good design adds value to any business. It's important that your eye-catching piece represents not only the image of the company, but also the price point of the product or service.

When Spring, Texas-based Southland Fence & Supply Co. wanted to boost its customer base and add value to the SLF name, the fence company tapped Limb Design, Houston, for an image makeover. The result was a direct mail introductory package that focused on the high-quality materials SLF uses. The package can be customized to target homeowners and homebuilders.

The Missing Link

Limb Design's goal was to aesthetically represent the organic building materials SLF uses. The design firm also wanted to create a masculine look and did so by using tan, evergreen and black, along with metallic inks, "to give the illusion of metal," says Aimee Smith, Limb's executive director of marketing and communications. "Recycled paper was used to represent wood, and the screw posts were used as closures to bind the brochure."

The package included a pocket folder, letterhead for a personalized note, a mailing label, an oversized envelope, a referral card, a brochure and a direct mail post card insert. The label can be used to send the entire package or just the brochure, which can serve as a standalone piece. The post card insert was overrun and sent as a residential mass mailing and also as a handout/coupon in the introductory package.

The project budget was $23,000, covering design, copywriting, photography (shot at SLF) and printing. Printer Disc Pro printed 25,000 direct mail post cards, 2,000 referral cards, 2,000 brochures, 5,000 interchangeable labels, 1,500 pocket folders and 2,500 each of envelopes and letterhead. The pocket folders were mailed in oversized silver envelopes. Thank-you letters to customers were mailed in standard envelopes with referral cards offering future-business incentives to both those customers and their referrals.

SLF received one call for every 50 post cards it sent, for a total of more than 100 inquiries, Smith says. "Through direct mail efforts, the company was able to target homeowners in specific areas of the city," she says. "By doing so, the company eliminated the waste that other forms of advertising allow. Profit on a per-job basis went up, and opportunity costs were lowered as a result of these campaigns."

Smith says complete results haven't been determined yet. "Building a fence is time-sensitive and is either built right when the home is, or replaced after 10 to 15 years," she says. "The company is tracking the response, so hopefully when these homeowners and business owners are ready to buy, they will remember the SLF name."

Limb Design's Kristin Moses provided art direction for the project. Copywriting was a joint venture between Limb Design and writer Doug Williams. Southland Fence worked with a mailing house to distribute the pieces. This was the first collaboration between Limb Design and Southland Fence, but based on the success of the direct mail campaign, Limb is creating a branding and marketing strategy for SLF's new company, Drake Custom Homes.

--Sarah Morton

Limb Design, Houston, created an introductory direct mail package for Southland Fence & Supply Co. that boosted the end user's customer base and enhanced its image. The package can be customized to target homeowners and homebuilders. Limb Design's goal was to aesthetically represent the organic building materials SLF uses.

Limb Design, a 12-person design firm in Houston that recently expanded its services to include marketing-plan development and consultation, has been in business for 22 years and has tripled in size during the past three. According to Aimee Smith, the company's executive director of marketing and communications, Limb Design often creates "non-traditional pieces that aren't just throwaways." Smith offers these pointers for making sure your next direct mail project is a hit:

Make your copy compelling. The message should sing to the audience, enticing them to open the piece and/or pass it along to the appropriate person.

Mix and match. Creating an interchangeable piece like Southland Fence & Supply Co.'s is cost-efficient and functional. It contains basically four direct mail pieces in one, and the label works for all pieces.

Think continuity. A series always works best. Depending on the nature of the products and services that are being solicited, timing usually plays a big part in the success of direct mail projects. Smith suggests that clients present a series of offers.

Make an offer, and include an expiration date. Including offers and showcasing products that are pertinent to the audience are other ways to capture the audience's attention. Make sure the offer has an end date; otherwise, there is no immediate call to action. Create a sense of urgency.

Lure them in with graphics; keep them with copy. "Getting someone to open or look at a direct mail piece, much less compelling someone to keep it, is an achievement in and of itself," Smith says. "We want to lure the audience with beautiful graphics, and then once we have reeled them in, we want them to pore over the copy."

Be odd. If your piece is an unusual shape, you automatically have a leg up on bill collectors.

Get it to the mailbox. Having the utmost confidence in your mail house is crucial. The message and the graphics can only do so much sitting on your office.

Go to next page
Table of Contents