Promotional Products Articles & Promotional Newsletters Educational

Let's face it. Direct mail, more often than not, ends up unopened in the trash bin. Today's busy individual has little time for perceived "junk mail." So how do you set your mailings apart from the stacks of credit card offers and sales pitches on customers' desks and counters? How do you overcome the perception of sending "just another" annoying, intrusive piece of bulk mail? One way is by including a free promotional item. Direct mail paired with a gift, emblazoned with your logo, name and slogan, stands a much greater chance of being responded to, and certainly of being opened and reviewed.

There are several obvious reasons why this method works. Promotional gifts arouse customer curiosity, first of all. If it's obvious an envelope contains more than just a letter, you can be fairly sure it will be opened.

Gifts help to imprint your company name into the customer's memory, too. If someone's air conditioner breaks, who are they more likely to call: the HVAC company whose name and number they have on a magnet and see every time they open the refrigerator, or the company they have to find in the phone book?

Free gifts also foster feelings of gratitude and obligation among recipients. If a customer feels they have been done a favor by being sent a useful item free of charge, they just might return that favor the next time they need the product or service you offer.

However, you shouldn't just pop a bunch of key chains into envelopes and send them off. Check with the post office first to make sure your packaging is appropriate for the size and shape of the gift inside. You also don't want a potential customer to have to make a special trip to the post office just to pick up your direct mail, so in most instances it should fit in a mailbox. Also, make sure the item will be of use to the targeted customers, and make sure the imprinting is done with style and quality. You want the image fostered by the gift to be one of professionalism.

If you go the extra distance and include a free promotional item with your direct mail, you'll go a long way toward keeping your mailings out of the trash can and promoting higher interest, more customer loyalty and better sales.