A well-executed newsletter every month or two is an economical and effective way to do so. But many newsletters fail at the job.

Your company’s house newsletter or other publication can be a useful tool for raising your company’s profile and stimulating sales.

Promotional newsletters that plug a business most strongly often seem not to plug it at all.

Studies in the U.S. and Europe highlight the factors—some of them surprising—that cause people to open the direct-mailing envelopes

Your outer mailing envelope can’t say too little, and it can’t say too much, either, writes New York direct-marketing expert David R. Yale.

Whenever sales slacken and profits head south, most companies start to beat the bushes in search of new customers.

Marketing consultant Robert W. Bly offers four pointers on increasing the power of outer envelope pull.

Nationally respected marketing consultant Robert W. Bly offers pointers on creating high response envelopes:

Changing your outer envelope, without touching any other part of your mailing, can punch up response by 100% or more

Renowned copywriter Bill Jayme, once said that the outer envelope of a direct mailing is where the sales prospect decides to stop

he late, great Bill Jayme defined the direct-mail envelope as “your headline.” Other mailing practitioners shy away from such candor

There are two basic envelope styles, writes Ernest W. Nicastro of the Positive Response company, that aim to impel a mail recipient to open

New York-based direct-mail expert David R. Yale offers these pointers on how to hone your business brochures for maximum effectiveness: Assume that people do not want to read your material You have only seconds to grab your prospects’ attention and induce them to go on reading. The way to do it: Present benefits so compellingly that you overcome their resistance. Drive casual scanners to become detail-hungry readers ... Turn random readers into interested readers ... Then cha

Brochures are highly important marketing tools — especially when illustrating a technical development, explaining a step-by-step procedure, or showing a beautiful object. Yet brochures take big bucks to produce. So you had better make them as productive as possible. Consultant Darrell Zahorsky advises: Pack your brochure with emotional clout Most people — including even hardheaded executives — buy with their hearts. Then they make up logical reasons to justify their purchases

Your business brochure has many uses – the possibilities are endless. An effective brochure is strategically limited in scope. Too much information can dilute the effectiveness of the piece and hamper its impact. Use this creative brief to help solidify your thinking. What is the purpose of this business brochure? Business enterprise information Product information Corporate identity and branding Who will receive this business brochure? Current clients Prospective clients Ind

High Readership Almost everyone reads postcards. Your customers take in your message as soon as your card reaches their hands. Double-card mailings of subscription offers have beaten much costlier long-copy letter packages. Economy Postcard mailings cost little to produce and mail. A single card involves no folding or inserting charges, and can be cheaper to mail first class than at bulk third-class rates. Even when you mail to very few sales prospects and so can't receive bu

Why are postcards a good marketing choice? Your customer, prospects and suspects like to receive information from you. 98 percent of consumers bring in their mail the day it’s delivered, and of these, 72 percent bring it in as soon as possible according to the Mail Moment study, conducted on behalf of the U.S. Postal Service. Postcards are... Impactful — because your message is seen right away as the mail is being sorted. Informative — explaining how your company can help c

With money tight these days, many direct-mail advertisers are turning to inexpensive media like postcards – especially for new business lead generation. A great advantage of using a postcard is that 87% of mail recipients claim to at least scan postcards that they receive. Here are 10 pointers from Portland marketer Wilson Zehr on making postcards work: Use postcards appropriately. Nobody – despite what some postcard companies claim – expects postcard mailings to close many s

By their mid-50’s, your sales prospects will begin to experience: diminished visual acuity slowed focus loss of color sensitivity blurred perception of boundaries and edges increased difficulty with glare weakened ability to perceive contrasts increased need for light Yet many advertisers continue to produce promotional materials without adjusting their design and typography to the decreased visual abilities of their aging customers. For their advertising to reach older custo

A picture is worth a thousand words, they say. But all pictures are not created equal. Depending on what you are trying to communicate, and where, graphic materials vary enormously in effectiveness: Pictures do not belong in letters Most advertisers who lard letter copy with photos or illustrations learn that the technique does not work. Graphic material is costly and distracts the reader’s attention from the letter’s all-important message. Like marginal doodles, it is simply