Why Envelopes Outpull SelfMailers in B2B Direct Mail Lead Generation.
By: Alan Sharpe

In businesstobusiness direct mail lead generation letters invariably outpull selfmailers including postcards. Your sales message belongs in an envelope for a number of good reasons.

1. Better privacy

An envelope announces to the recipient private correspondence enclosed. A selfmailer on the other hand particularly a postcard says this message has been read by all and sundry including the letter carrier and Joe in the mail room.

2. More personal

I realize that with digital imaging postcards and selfmailers can now be personalized with the name of the reader. But they still look like and read like bulk mail. A letter on the other hand always looks like a piece of onetoone communication particularly when it is handsigned by the writer and arrives with a handaffixed stamp on the carrier envelope.

3. Better response mechanism

If you want your prospect to answer a survey or return a business reply card you are better off going with a letter mailed in an envelope. There are selfmailer alternatives of course. Double postcards let the prospect tear off one side of the postcard and mail it back to you. And you can always incorporate a perforated tearoff business reply card into your selfmailer. But these two methods have the drawback of making your piece look like bulk mail which is death in B2B lead generation.

4. Exclusivity

Which brings us to the major selling feature of envelopes over selfmailers. Selfmailers by their very design and utility look like they are mass produced and mailed in quantity. Even when addressed to a prospect by name and job title selfmailers still look like dare I use the term junk mail.

But envelopes particularly #10 business envelopes carry about themselves the aura of exclusivity of a message that is for the eyes of the recipient only. This is especially true when the letter writer addresses the needs of the reader in particular by naming the readers company mentioning the CEO by name or discussing mergers new product launches IPOs and other events that have affected the prospects company in particular. This cannot be done effectively or believably with a selfmailer.

How to get your envelope opened

To make sure that your business prospects open your mailings and dont consider them bulk mail make each envelope look private personal and exclusive:

use a closedface envelope not a window

laser the address (no labels)

avoid teaser copy

dont use a bulk class postal indicia

use a firstclass stamp preferably a commemorative one

avoid gimmicks like writing IMPORTANT

2006 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the About the Author message).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alan Sharpe is a businesstobusiness direct mail copywriter and lead generation specialist who helps business owners and marketing managers attract new clients using direct mail marketing. Sign up for free weekly tips like this at http://www.sharpecopy.com/newsletter

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