(Direct) If there’s one consistent aspect of direct mail strategy you can count on, it’s this: Everything changes. As consumer and donor tastes shift — and they do, regularly — the tactics used to communicate with them should too. Here are some of the latest developments in design and production that’ll help keep your campaigns fresh.

Two-way mailers
Self-mailers with a built-in response device — commonly called two-way mailers — are increasing in popularity. These pieces typically include a tear-off response card and reply envelope, and are valued primarily for their production economy. Depending on your printing and mail provider’s bindery capabilities, the folding, gluing, and perforating can be done in a single pass. However, providers with the latest monochrome digital printing technology can also perform top-quality personalization on these pieces, even if they’re printed on coated stock. This makes the two-way mailer format attractive and relatively inexpensive for high-volume applications.

Teasers
Teasers enhance the perceived value of direct mail pieces. Try using postal requirement teasers such as “Do not bend,” but remember that this strategy will be most successful for premium packages such as address label or bookmark inserts.

If you’re enclosing a limited offer, try a delivery date postal requirement teaser such as “Deliver by month/day/year” and mail in plenty of time to meet the delivery date. Also, if you’re using a postcard, try a bright or bold teaser that makes your offer hard to miss. There are several different choices for applying teasers to mail pieces, including variable-data printing, that work on almost any stock imaginable.

Handwriting fonts
Savvy direct marketers know that the first impression a carrier conveys can pique the curiosity of recipients and yield responses. Thus, the font styles used to address those carriers have become more of a focus than ever. Fonts that mimic handwriting are popular and effective, and for good reason: When applied using high-resolution laser or ink-jet printing equipment, handwriting fonts are nearly indistinguishable from the real thing.

Carriers aren’t the only real estate being eyed by marketers for such personalization. Post-it Notes that include a personalized, seemingly handwritten memo can be applied to letters and other direct mail inserts, allowing attention to be called to your message as soon as a recipient opens the piece.

Dynamic imaging
One of the newest direct mail trends, dynamic imaging, refers to the manipulation of a photo or graphic to include a personalized element. For example, a picture of a sandy beach may include the recipient’s name drawn in the sand, or a bowl of alphabet soup could be arranged to spell out a message specific to each recipient.

Creating a dynamic imaging application is less complex than it sounds with the right tools. Photo-editing software is used to create a template image and all characters. Variable-data software combines these elements with your database to create individual personalized images. The creative possibilities are endless, and a variable-data print and mail services provider can help you take full advantage of dynamic imaging technology.

Does the lifecycle of a direct mail campaign have to end? With tools that help automate data collection, segmentation and implementation, the answer is no. Barcode application and scanning, customized Web-to-print capabilities and digital asset management allow you to use the information and results from one campaign to influence the design, scope and even the mix of media used for subsequent efforts.

Secure response management
Many of these innovations have been brought recently to the world of secure response management. Known as caging or “lock-box” services in the banking industry, secure response management is essential to organizations that rely on direct mail as a source of revenue, including nonprofit agencies and warranty, insurance or subscription service providers.

Secure response management actually begins early in the campaign plan. Matched barcodes placed on each of your mail pieces allows for valuable response data to be automatically scanned and entered into a new database, eliminating the time, cost and errors associated with keystroking.

Scanned images of each response document can be placed in an online repository, which allows for instant retrieval by customer service personnel and eliminates the need for physical storage of paper documents. That equates to faster and more accurate responses to customer calls, which in turn yields happier customers and higher customer retention.

This all-digital workflow will make your accounting department happy, too. Besides removing the overhead associated with space-consuming paper storage, secure response management offers daily financial reconciliation. Scanned data can be linked directly to banking and financial systems, providing instant access to information such as total revenue received and deposited. This aids cash flow management and provides a highly accurate ROI of your campaign.

That speed also can be used to help you capitalize on responses from a marketing standpoint. By matching the date and amount of payment or donation from a response with the campaign that brought it in, direct marketers can segment their customers for very targeted follow-up mailings.

Respondents can be tiered by their donation level to receive an appropriate thank-you package. Responses sorted by date can help you identify deliberate decision-makers — those who waited the longest before parting with their money. This customer segment often will hold the highest lifetime value, and may warrant a special follow-up that acknowledges its careful consideration of your offer or appeal.

Regardless of how you choose to target subsequent campaigns, the follow-up cycle is cut from months to weeks. That lets you reach customers or donors while your organization is still fresh in their minds.

Crystal Uppercue is marketing manager of EU Services, a direct mail production company in Rockville, MD.

IF THERE’S ONE CONSISTENT aspect of direct mail strategy you can count on, it’s this: Everything changes. As consumer and donor tastes shift