In direct mail, the return address is one of the five things a prospect will look at on an envelope.
They want to know who sent your letter as they determine to open it immediately, open it later or worse…simply throw it away.

Know who your prospects are

When marketing to your leads and clients, it is almost always a positive to put your company’s return address on the envelope.
But, if you are marketing to prospects who don’t know who you are or who have a false perception of you, a return address is almost always a negative and depresses response.

Tips on how your envelope can avoid the trash

Many times people will throw an envelope away because they think they know what the message is as soon as they read the return address.
Therefore, it’s always best to put just an address without your company’s name. It can be the signer of the letter and address but no company name. But remember, always list a street address – never a PO box.
In an upcoming issue, I’ll apply this to email and digital marketing as well. Creating an envelope properly is critical, see my video brief “Envelope Success Secrets.”
 
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