Getting Prospects’ Attention By Mail

There are days when, as marketers, we feel like we have tried everything to catch a prospect’s attention… but have you honestly tried EVERYTHING? Let’s put yourself to the test with some of the weirdest, craziest, or just most clever things you can send by mail to catch the attention of your sales prospects the next time you send a direct mail campaign.

• Highly decorated envelope — This doesn’t sound crazy, but think again. What if the entire envelope was a treasure map that brought them to your retail door or showed them where their closest locations were relative to their home? You could turn the envelope into a catalog, art, or even the letter itself. The sky is the limit, and the USPS does not have many restrictions, so it makes it easy to let your imagination run wild to get their attention amongst a stack of mail.

• Odd-shaped items — You can mail a ball, sandals (yes…really), bottles (water, baby, etc.), spice bottles, rocks or bricks, messages in bottles, and so much more. Who wouldn’t look at a flip-flop that arrived in their mailbox and want to understand what is happening?! You wanted to catch their ‘flipping’ attention, right? 

• Food – Favorite food items to mail unwrapped include coconuts, potatoes, snack bags/boxes, and candy… but there are not a ton of restrictions provided it won’t break or leak as it’s put through its paces. Want to grab their attention with food? Package up some delicious breakfast muffins, box them up and overnight them to arrive early the following day. Who can resist breakfast?!

• Toys – So many toys can be sent as is through the mail, from full piñatas to frisbees, mini scooters, toy trucks, glued puzzles… the list goes on and on. If it fits the theme of your business, there’s a way to mail it. 

This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but it’s all about creativity at the end of the day. One of our favorite things to do is to dream up new and innovative ways to catch the attention of our client’s prospects. We do the hard work figuring out how to get it out while they get to soak up the surprised, funny, or exciting reactions when the recipients cannot avoid the “lumpy mail” they have received.

Ever gotten something funny, clever, or crazy by mail? Let’s hear about it!