5 Smart Ways to Boost Direct Mail Results Using Cards

4 days ago

4 min read

As the universe of digital marketing options continues to expand, marketers are feeling the pressure to allocate more and more of their budgets to digital channels. At the same time, the moments that move a customer to act often occur when something tangible lands in their hands. A well-designed plastic or paper direct mail card can add muscle to your mail in a variety of ways, and because of their perceived value, cards often survive the surrounding package, continuing to do the work long after the rest of the package has been reviewed, discarded, and mostly forgotten.

Image of an embossed "Faux Card" in a direct mail package

Are you wondering what value a plastic or paper card might add to your next direct mail campaign? Cards can drive response in a variety of ways. With thoughtful design and messaging, cards can draw attention to key messages or calls to action, they can establish an emotional connection with the recipient, they can boost the enhanced value of your offer, and they can nudge your audience along the decision journey, functioning as a speedway to “Yes”.

When building a card into your direct mail campaign, your design, copy, and production choices should align in pursuit of a single objective: encouraging the mail recipient to take the desired next action.

Employ Membership Cards as a Renewal Lever

“Membership has its privileges” started as a tagline for American Express years ago and became a popular catchphrase to convey the value of status. Membership cards are used, of course, to promote established membership clubs and loyalty programs. They are also used in an informal way, however, for any sort of non-profit or subscription service that is looking to win or retain long-standing donors or customers.

When including membership cards in your direct mail package, be sure to use high-resolution artwork; and membership cards should always, always, always be personalized. No exceptions! Choose a card background that will not be too distracting or impact legibility of your personalization. Similarly, you will want to avoid covering up important art elements with your personalization. Always consider your personalization before finalizing your card artwork.

Make Your Message a "Keeper"

Does your audience have an emotional connection to the work that you do or the product or service that you sell. Are you mailing to a hobbyist? To an animal lover? To an artist or an art lover? To a donor who cares deeply about your cause?

Keepsake cards are particularly popular for nonprofits, businesses targeting hobbyists, and high-profile brands with access to licensed characters or images. Your customers will enjoy the cards simply on their own merit. Keepsake cards do not have to be “rare,” nor do they have to part of a larger “collection.” Keepsake cards do not have to be expensive to produce, but image selection and image quality are very important.

Cards designed to be keepsakes often find their way to refrigerators, desks, or wallets, increasing visibility and extending the life of your marketing campaign. If brand building or relationship development are campaign goals, keepsake cards can impact awareness long after the in-home date. Whether you use a single design for your entire mailing list or use different card art versions for different segments of your list, be mindful that your canvas on a card is very small. Avoid cluttered backgrounds and tiny fonts. Source photos and artwork that is high resolution and well produced, ensuring your cards are perceived as worthy of retention.

Accelerate Decisions with Promotional Cards

Promotional cards in direct mail are typically simple, both in purpose and in design. A direct mail promotional card highlights an attractive special offer that is intended to act as your “hook”. Consider these examples:

30% off your next purchase
90-day free trial
Free mystery gift with purchase

The printed design for a promotional card should be clean and simple, using a large typeface and colors that draw the eyes. Don’t worry so much about whether and how to represent your brand on the card. Your accompanying letter can promote your brand – the purpose of the card is to promote your offer.

Use Cards to Bring Attention to your Call-to-Action

When incorporated successfully into a direct mail package, CTA cards can serve to improve open rate and to draw your customers’ eyes immediately and repeatedly to the call-to-action. Direct mail CTA cards share many of the same characteristics as promotional cards and have a similar purpose to the CTA hyperlink buttons in your email marketing campaign.

Cards that add weight and bulk to your package or peek through a window in your outer envelope have been shown to improve open rates. And after the package is opened, a well-designed card immediately draws the eye.

Cards that are used as a vehicle for your call-to-action put your conversion message front-and-center. Design content is often no more than a tagline and a phone number or web address. Use bold, simple fonts and graphics – avoiding noisy background or too much text. Call-to-Action cards generally do not require prominent logos, personalization, or back artwork.

Activate "Faux Cards" as a Card Marketing Teaser

Merriam-Webster says that although “faux” is the French word for “fake,” it has come to mean “chic fake” – not crude or misleading fake. A faux card in direct mail is a chic fake card designed to generate interest in the product it represents.

What are the use cases for direct mail faux cards? Faux cards are used by marketers in direct mail to promote credit and debit cards, to drive enrollment in insurance products, and to market membership programs. They are sufficiently similar to their “real” counterparts to be recognizable as promoting the real thing, but not so similar as to cause confusion.

Connect Physical Engagement to Real Data

Organizations recognize the full value of card‑based direct mail when tactile engagement generates hard numbers. Use promo codes, member IDs, source keys, personalized QR links, or RSVP codes to measure impact and response.

Marketers taking a thoughtful approach to messaging and design, and following through with continual A-B testing, are likely to see cards as central performance assets in a dynamic multi‑touch marketing ecosystem.