Email/Direct mail Package Size

Recently I picked up a discussion thread from e-consultancy concerning the appropriate size of emails. The forum discussion brought home to me the fact that many concepts used in direct mail marketing are in fact relevant to those for email marketing.

Some of these noteworthy areas are:

1. Weight and size limitation in direct mail packaging design is equally important. Unlike emails however, physical mails are charged by weight. Hence more care is given to managing the size. Other than the postage, it is important to also understand the configuration of mail boxes. Large format items which may make a strong impression may unfortunately not fit mail boxes and become undeliverable. It is also not infrequent, especially in less developed countries, to hear of postmen throwing away heavy items to lighten their bags.

It is always important to understand and be able to aligned these "basic configuration" issues and constraints...like those of bandwidths, speed of downloads, nuisance factors or jamming up mail boxes, etc.

2. Aside from these basic configuration issues, it is important to determine "what it takes" to create a communication that will deliver the desired effect. Do we need a lengthy letter?, a booklet or even booklets, gifts, and multiple components?

Direct marketing communications that is intended to achieve a sale would necessary be more lengthy compared to say an invitation to a cocktail party. It will have to simulate a sales presentation.

See how sales people present....they will reiterate important points many times, summarized, highlight, confirm....and attempt to close a sales many times during the presentation. A direct mail piece would have to do this too.

While there is a need to be conversational, repetitive on many points, it does not have to be verbose and long winded and painful for reading. Each point should be brought across with the least possible amount of words and with the shortest possible words.

Content..the king

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that content is always the King. Often the volume of content to achieve a particular objective may disqualify certain medium. Resizing and reconfiguring the content to fit the medium would often produce disastrous results. In such a situation we have to review the content in entirety...perhaps change its objectives, as some forum participants suggested, from a sales piece to that of teaser or lead generator.

A fuller account of this discussion may be found at ONE1-DM