In a recent study, a representative in the Automotive Industry said there are plans to test four different formats of direct mail:

1. Postcard
2. Email
3. Envelope and Letter (with buck-slips and other inserts)
4. Fax (not really direct mail, but the author categorized it as such in this study)

The automotive industry representative also said the industry planned to test different messaging and calls to action as well and variations in the format of each type of direct mail. These variations included size, medium (plastic, card stock, etc.), and response mechanisms.

I’ve mentioned the importance of testing different types of direct mail in a previous post and this response seems to reinforce that idea. It is crucial for struggling industries to increase traffic and sales to survive in this economy. In the area of direct mail, this need to see increased sales means that the automotive industry needs to figure out what format and variation of direct mail will draw the largest redemption rate.

One automotive dealership used an all-in-one, plastic, postcard-sized card mailer marketing piece that included two offers: one for a gas card with the purchase of a vehicle and a lower valued gas card for test driving a vehicle and one for a dollar off amount on any vehicle service. The dealership put one offer on the front of a pop-out, credit card-sized card and the other offer on the back. This direct mailer was successful because the offers were valuable to the customers, the pop-out card allowed the customer to place the offer right in their wallet so he or she didn’t forget about it, and the piece drew the attention of the customer.

The automotive industry is an industry that can benefit from the high redemption rates that plastic, all-in-one card mailers can pull. This industry isn’t the the only industry, of course, but I will highlight other examples in future posts.

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