A little over two months ago, I wrote about receiving a solicitation from the Red Cross in a blind envelope right in the middle of the traditional giving season. Last
week, I received a similar solicitation but with a corporate
envelope.
Where the envelope in December had no hint of branding, this
envelope is unmistakably from the American Red Cross. The teaser
message reminds me that my donation helps the Red Cross respond to more than
60,000 disasters a year.
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| Red Cross Solicitation: Fully Branded Outer Envelope |
The letter inside is exactly the same as the December
letter. The only update is the mailing date.
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| Donation Solicitation Letter front |
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| Donation Solicitation Letter back Request for email address circled |
As a direct marketing professional, my gut tells me that the
blind envelope was part of an A/B Test and this is
the Control, but that is just a hunch. Perhaps the plan was for the holiday solicitation to be blind to differentiate it from the multitude of charity
mailers that typically arrive in December. The mailbox is not as busy in
February, the thinking would go, so now is time to show that logo again.
I wonder if it is also time for increased multichannel
engagement. This is a direct mail letter requesting a mailed-back, completed
response form. There is also an online donation option;
however, the mention of that is in small type.
No one wants to mess with a successful Control package (if
this is it); however, it may be time to consider that the internet is useful for many things,
including donor engagement. Buried on the back of the form – below the input
field for credit card information – is a request for email address. Instead, why
not, on the front of the form, ask all
donors for their email address to share stories of the Red Cross coming to the
aid of disaster survivors? Rather than treating this solicitation as solo mail
in a vacuum, include a link to the American Red Cross
YouTube channel or the local Red Cross as a means
of encouraging engagement?
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| Business Reply Envelope |
Perhaps that could be their next A/B Test.
Lessons:
1. Test your most successful direct mail
packages. Let new presumptions challenge your assumptions.
2. We live in an omnichannel world.
Don’t use direct mail in a vacuum – integrate it with your other engagement
channels.
