If you’re sending out direct mail, then it will often comprise of more than one piece of printed media. For example, a recipient might open your printed envelope and inside they will find a personalised letter which is accompanied by a printed leaflet or brochure, and perhaps a postcard. Together, they tell the complete story that you want those receiving your communication to understand and appreciate.
A vital question to answer
That said, here is a crucial question to consider. How much of your message will they fully understand if your carefully crafted communication is ‘shattered’? What this means is that, often, those creating the direct mail piece will use the combination of elements to tell a complete story. It’s also frequently the case that the recipients are expected to access what they receive in a certain order – they read the formal letter, open and read through the accompanying impactful brochure, leaflet or flyer, and then respond by using a printed postcard.
Check out one of our previous articles: Printed Envelopes Give Your Business Advertising the Edge!

Customers choose their own reading order
However, people are awkward, and not always by design! On opening the envelope, the letter may quickly be cast aside in favour of the colourful brochure. The postcard might fall to the floor and be picked up and examined before the other items in the package. Because of this, there is one vital point where many direct mail communications sadly suffer…
Make each part actionable
Each part of the communication should carry enough of the story to be actioned on its own. Once you’ve identified the key points you wish to make and the action you are eager for the reader then to take; by picking up a single piece this whole story should be clear to them. This is vital, not simply because the individual might reorder their reading priorities as previously described. It’s equally possible that this person could pass only the brochure on to a colleague or subordinate for them to consider. If you have set up your communication in a way that means the postcard is the way you wish them to respond, you are now fighting against the odds to gain the level of response you wish for.
Checkout this great article from Marketing Donut offering a few tips and tricks to help your next direct mail marketing campaign: Running a direct mail marketing campaign
Making quality printing pay by using PrintUK.com
When you spend time carefully designing your direct mail communications, possibly including printed envelopes, and then use our high quality printing work, knowing that it will reflect so well on your business, it surely pays to make sure that any recipient has the maximum opportunity to fully understand and then respond.