Paper costs are soaring… printing costs more… postage just went up… but insurance marketers continue to rely on direct mail for the results they need. In fact, consumers saw a slew of direct mail in Q4 2022. Here's one reason why...

Did you ever notice...

The most successful direct response campaigns have something in common —

Specifics.

I was first introduced to this idea while on a call with the great Herschell Gordon Lewis. During the discussion, he simply said — “…specifics sell.”

And the beauty of this concept is that it applies to direct mail... email... display ads... websites... landing pages... etc.

Be personal. Be relevant. Be specific.

If you write in generalities, if you write in broad strokes, if you pen mere platitudes, your copy will not only

46 million. 

That’s how many people in the US have signed up for the USPS Informed Delivery Program. This makes up about 7-10% of total US mail recipients (300 million+).  

But what is Informed Delivery? Those who sign up for Informed Delivery get daily emails from USPS, showing a preview of what’s on the way to their mailbox.  

And the impact among the people who opt in is significant. In fact, Informed Delivery emails get open rates as high as  63%. When you compare that to the 15% average open rate for other emails, it blows those numbers out of the water. 

So what does that mean for marketers? 

These days marketing is multichannel, with multiple efforts, multiple touchpoints, and multiple ways of reaching consumers. And although reaching out may be a multi-channel, multi-effort endeavor, the way consumers respond is now more singular than ever before...

Get Ready to Pivot: Marketing’s Evolution in an Ever-Changing World

Amid COVID-19 and global conflict, marketing has not stopped evolving.

Newsflash: Marketers around the country identified trusted relationships as their customers’ highest priority in 2021. Impressively, the highest percentage of marketers reported that their customers now focus more on “trusting relationships” than “low price,” despite the economic downturn. This is not a fluke: according to the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, customers’ focus on trusting relationships has increased by 47% since this question was first asked in 2009.

It’s hard to talk about direct mail right now without talking about COVID-19.

Over the last 24 months, we have gone through the near-normal… we are now in the new normal — and are starting to head into the next normal.

Looking back, we see that in 2020, US marketers spent less and mailed fewer pieces than the previous year, according to Winterberry Group.

Direct mail volume was down 18.1% in 2020, with 63.8 million pieces of direct marketing mail being sent.

Spending on direct mail, along with other forms of offline media, experienced a steep decrease in 2020, too — down 17.2% over 2019 to $34.9 billion. This is a continuation of a multi-year slide in volume, although 2020’s slide was steeper.

However... direct mail came roaring back in 2021

On February 1, Ron Jacobs will be one of the keynote speakers for the page2022 conference, an annual event hosted by JAGAT, the Japanese Association of Graphic Arts Technology. The presentation is titled Reimagining Business in 2022: It's about Resilience, Relevance and Refocus.

The keynote presentation focuses on decisions that printing company managements, agency managements and marketing managers will need to make in the coming years to keep up with the way that prospects and customers are changing, and the new ways that your clients are going to market.

Every attendee has shown resilience, just to get through the last two years of Covid-19. The keynote addresses some ways that they can refocus their efforts, to remain relevant and help their businesses to thrive in the future.

Click the button below to sign up for the conference (note: the conference is in Japanese but Ron's presentation is in English). And keep reading to learn more about the keynote. 

For a limited time, Brand United is airing a webinar on Direct Mail for Financial Brands that was recorded in September 2021.

While it wasn’t intended, the webinar provides a clear contrast between the traditional direct mail and the arc of direct mail for the future. Bob Bly, a well-known direct mail copy expert and Ron Jacobs, CEO Jacobs & Clevenger, both make the case for what is working and what is not.

Webinar Title: How Financial Services Brands Utilize Powerful Optichannel Campaigns to Attract, Retain and Enhance Customer Experience and Communication
Duration: 45 minutes
Available Until: April 22, 2022

So you have a killer direct mail control package. Well done. It's getting some results... it's been working for years... it's a control, after all.

But here's the thing. You can always improve your control. 

Whether little by little through split testing or head-to-head with a brand new creative execution, you should always put your control to the test. And if a new control unseats your original... it's time to do it again.

Read on to learn how to build a package that can bust your control.

Insurance: it’s one of the most complex industries out there.

With all the intricate information about plans, premiums, benefits, and beyond… well, it can be hard to wrap your head around.

This is even harder to do when your goal is:
• Get people to open your package… then read it
• Communicate with them in the simplest language possible
• Inspire the reader to take action

It’s a difficult challenge, but worth the effort. 70% of customers prefer to receive information about healthcare and insurance through the mail. When it comes to the insurance industry, direct mail continues to outperform every other channel, including digital.

But what makes an insurance direct mail package successful?