Each month we feature some pieces from our best direct mail campaigns collection that inspire our own direct mail marketing efforts, and we hope they inspire yours as well.
Today, we’re revisiting a popular direct mail format: letters!
This time though, we’re narrowing our focus a bit and looking at letters used in the financial services or insurance industries. See what elements earned these letters, and their brands, a spot on our Best Direct Mail Campaigns collection.
This letter comes from Caribou, a fintech company that connects car owners with auto refinancing companies. Let’s see what works well in this pre-qualified and letter-based direct mail campaign:
Social proof: Caribou knows the importance of social proof so it puts that right at the top of the mailer by highlighting its high rating on Trustpilot. It also shows off its accreditations from the Better Business Bureau to earn trust.
Offer: The two offers are simple to understand, Caribou is reaching out to see if there are better auto loans available to the customer or the company can compare auto insurance options - both geared toward saving the customer money.
QR code: Caribou makes it easy for recipients to take action by scanning a QR code and getting results in just minutes. But, they can also type in the URL if they want.
Design: This mailer has a simple design with content blocks and bright colors to draw the recipient’s eye. It’s easy to scan and has somewhat minimal copy.
Opportun, a California-based banking company, sent out this letter to let recipients know they were prequalified for a loan from the company. Let’s take a closer look at its campaign:
CTAs: Opportun is giving its customers or prospects a range of options on how they can act on this mailer. They can go online, they can scan a QR code, they can call, or they can visit a branch to learn more about taking out a loan.
Copy format: Opportun is making this mailer easy to scan and understand by using bullet points and numbers to break out the easy steps involved in its loan process.
Copy: The copy tells the receiver that this loan can help them achieve their goals and build a better future, whatever that may look like to them personally. The loan is also affordable and will have a low rate, making it easy on the recipient’s budget.
Social proof: Like Caribou, Opportun is building trust with the recipients of this direct mail campaign by showing how they’ve helped over two million people and lent out more than $14B.
Vanguard, an investment advisor, sent this direct mail campaign to promote its personal finance advisor service. Let’s take a closer look at what other elements are working out for Vanguard’s mailer:
CTAs: This letter offers a variety of ways for customers to take action and get started with the service. They can call Vanguard, they can visit a dedicated landing page, they can scan a QR code, or they can even take action by mailing something themselves.
Images: Okay, to be fair this only one image on this mailer but it’s used so well! Vanguard uses an image of a man looking off to the side, though he happens to be looking directly at the CTA and phone number for recipients to call. It’s a great use of a psychological principle where we look for faces and we follow eye movements, we want to see what others are looking at so we will also look at the phone number.
Color scheme: This direct mail campaign uses Vanguard’s brand colors of black and red well, and uses the red color to call attention to specific lines of text and break up the black text blocks.
Copy: The copy Vanguard uses here also works really well. It uses words to make it feel like this service is simple to use and get started (“simply complete and return the enclosed response request,” and “it all begins with a conversation,”), it’s personalized, and customers get the right help they need but can also be a bit hands-off if they want to be.
Meet your marketing goals one direct mail campaign at a time
When it comes to creating a great direct mail campaign, you don’t have to start from scratch. Explore our best direct mail collection to find ideas of what you can incorporate into your next mailpiece or what elements you should be testing to further optimize your own marketing campaigns.
This blog provides general information and discussion about direct mail marketing and related subjects. The content provided in this blog ("Content”), should not be construed as and is not intended to constitute financial, legal or tax advice. You should seek the advice of professionals prior to acting upon any information contained in the Content. All Content is provided strictly “as is” and we make no warranty or representation of any kind regarding the Content.
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