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?

Henry David Thoreau said we need to "simplify" over 150 years ago...

And it's still just as true today.

Especially in the world of direct mail design.

Because direct mail design, much like digital design, has been changing over the years.

There is a long-standing debate in direct mail —

Long detailed copy? Or short, quick-hitting copy?

What’s the best? Most effective? Most responsive?

Effective August 29, 2021, many USPS services will see their first significant cost hike since 2019. The cost of a first-class stamp will increase 5.45% (from 55¢ to 58¢), while the cost of a domestic postcard will increase over 11% (from 36¢ to 40¢).  

Today’s online shoppers face an ever-growing number of choices and mountains of information as they traverse the long and winding path toward a purchase.

Well recent research from Google has revealed that there are some specific strategies to help marketers make sense of what’s often referred to as the “messy middle” of that purchase journey. And it may help your brand land in the right place with the right messaging to the right shopper at the right time.

You are ZOOM-ed out. You’re Webinar-ed out. You’re emailed out.

And — if you are — you KNOW your customers and prospects are. So, what’s the best way to reach the digitally exhausted, the weary-eyed masses in the post-pandemic world?

Direct mail is constantly evolving. And innovation can pay off. It can generate higher response rates among your target audience... and it can even get you a discount from USPS. 

Direct mail has been a powerful marketing channel for decades.  

But looking ahead... it seems that direct mail is poised for a new renaissance in the 2020s.  

Customers are becoming more wary of digital tracking and privacy on the web... 

And the integration of new media with tangible mail creates a powerful, lucrative marketing opportunity. 

This is especially true when you’re trying to micro-target new customers and build lasting relationships with existing customers.  

After all, these innovations simply help do what marketers have always tried to do: get the right offer in front of the right person at the right time.