Great envelope design commands attention, motivates opens, and influences brand perception. Envelope design also impacts ROI, as it directly affects production and postage costs. With the right strategy, you can design well-crafted envelopes that get noticed, get opened, and drive measurable results. To that end, here are best practices in envelope design for optimal user experience and ROI.
Consider First Impressions
Envision yourself as your customer sifting through a stack of mail. What type of mailer would beg to be opened? Consider how the following attributes impact first impressions:
- Colors: Study color theory for branding and user perception. Which colors foster trust and motivate opens?
- Size: Larger envelopes stand out and are more likely to be opened
- Tactile Sensation: Matte, gloss, and soft touch finishes feel amazing in users’ hands, while embossing raises your design off the envelope surface. Identify ways to use tactile sensation to make your envelopes stand out
- Shape-cuts: Uniquely shaped envelopes differentiate your mailers in the stack
- Personalization: Variable data printing makes it easy to personalize your envelopes, increasing the likelihood they’ll get noticed and opened
- Quality: Quality matters, as users are more likely to ignore low-quality envelopes and more likely to open and respond to high quality mailers that look and feel great
Establish Credibility
Users need to trust your organization if they are to open your envelopes, read your mailers, and, ultimately, respond. In addition to artwork that resonates with your audience, you can leverage envelopes to establish credibility with:
- Heavier paper weight
- Security tint
- Tamper-evident seals
- Large sizes
- Blind embossing (such as a seal)
Make It Easy to Open and Respond
Envelopes should be easy (and even fun) to open, and when appropriate, they should make it easy for recipients to respond to your offer. Consider these ideas:
- Employ interactive, perforated openings such as tear-strips, zippers, and pulls that differentiate your envelopes and make them easy to open
- Add a perforated bang-tail that promotes your offer and makes it easy to detach and remit payment
Amplify Your Messaging and Brand
Creative envelope design can amplify your copy and branding to improve direct mail response. Here are some ideas for amplifying your messaging and brand:
Extendalopes: Extended envelopes feature one or two drop-down panels for additional messaging. They’re proven to boost response rates – for example, response for one of our customer’s quarterly rewards mailers increased from 1% to 8% when they used Extendalopes
Double windows: Add a second window that promotes what’s inside or draws attention to a unique product feature, benefit, or special offer
Custom tints: Custom inside tints featuring your logo reinforce branding
Shaped windows: Windows shaped like your logo or a product can highlight your brand
Relevant papers and finishes: Kraft paper suggests sustainability if you serve an eco-friendly audience, foil-stamped fonts imply value and prestige, and vertical embosses add a tactile element to your messaging
Understand Cost Factors
Positive ROI depends on understanding how envelope design impacts production and postage costs. Keep these tips in mind:
- Creative designs can lower costs, as the USPS incentivizes the direct mail market. For example, it’s often more cost effective to add a vertical emboss
- Other design features can increase costs, such as deviating from the standard rectangle shape. For example, a square envelope could cause you to go from a letter rate to a flat rate, doubling your postage
- Inserts could increase envelope thickness to over ¼”, preventing them from passing through the USPS’ automated system and increasing the risk of split seams. You might save money by eliminating inserts in favor of the Extendalope’s drop-down panels
Work with an Experienced Partner
An experienced envelope partner can help you achieve direct mail success. They’ve likely produced millions of mailers and have insight into what works – and what doesn’t.
An experienced partner can also help you avoid common envelope design mistakes such as:
- Materials that scuff during mailing
- Printing crossover bleeds across folds or seams (creating misaligned designs)
- Fonts that are too small and difficult to read
A design that looks amazing on your computer screen might look terrible on folded paper, so an experienced partner can help ensure your design is easily executable within the production process for a beautiful and effective envelope that’s destined to succeed.
An experienced partner can also help you satisfy USPS regulations, take advantage of cost-cutting strategies, handle print management, and run samples so you can see exactly how your finished envelopes will look and feel before you commit to a full run.
Envelope design has significant influence on direct mail marketing success, so follow these best practices to craft envelopes that optimize the user experience and drive positive ROI.
