Key Takeaways
- A small, valuable audience can justify a higher-cost mailing. Evaluate the potential return against the full campaign cost.
- Curiosity can open the door. The drone and locked safe gave recipients a specific reason to respond.
- Make the item relevant. The drone connected directly to the company’s technology.
- Give prospects a clear next step. Calling for the combination created an opportunity for personal interaction.
- Integrate your channels. The physical invitation and five emails supported the same offer.
- Measure results beyond opens. Track qualified responses, appointments, sales, and profitability.
- Choose the format that fits your message. A 3-D package creates a physical experience; a videolog lets prospects see and hear your presentation.
33% is an awesome response rate.
Sound impossible?
It’s not. One campaign achieved it using a little-known strategy that breaks through the clutter and grabs your prospects’ attention.
Your prospects face a constant flood of advertising messages every day.
They may be a year older… they may be a little wiser… but they are also tuning out all advertising and marketing.
It’s often called “ad blindness.”
You have only moments to grab their attention before they overlook, dismiss, or trash your message.
And even when you get their attention, you still have to overcome their skepticism.
But it’s not mission impossible.
With foresight… creativity… and strategic direct response insights, you can give your prospects a compelling reason to pay attention—and respond.
Let me give you an example: Draganfly, an advanced drone manufacturer.
Its campaign generated a 33% overall response rate.
The company had a small target audience and a high-margin offer that justified what we call a 3-D mailing.
A 3-D mailer is a dimensional package, often a box with a unique item inside, designed to create a “wow” effect.
Imagine your prospect receiving a FedEx package. Instead of finding only a sales letter or brochure, they discover an item that creates curiosity, suspense, and interest.
We have used puzzles, shredded money, a treasure box, and more.
In this case, the target audience was a select group of investment newsletter writers who collectively reached more than 2 million paid subscribers—an audience of highly active investors.
The goal: Have these writers accept an expense-paid trip to a special event we created just for them in Las Vegas.
We mailed them a FedEx box. Inside was a drone for their personal use… and a request to join “mission possible.”
Everything in the box suggested “espionage,” “Mission: Impossible,” and “007.”
Here is what they saw when they opened the FedEx package:
A top-secret invitation explaining why they were receiving the package.
Satellite images of the precise location. A detailed agenda explaining how long the get-together would last and exactly what they would be doing.
Plus a drone… and what appeared to be a book.
Only the book wasn’t a book—it was a hidden safe in disguise.
And it was locked.
To get the combination code to unlock the safe, they had to call us.
Why would they want the code?
Because inside that safe was the remote control for the drone.
This combination of intrigue, mystery, uniqueness, and personal interaction helped us break through to a group of people who were otherwise difficult to reach.
The invitation response was especially impressive because we were asking a highly skeptical audience to give up three days of their busy schedules, travel to another city, and learn about a company and technology unfamiliar to them.
As our 3-D invitation demonstrated, “mission impossible” could become “mission possible” with the right approach.
But the box was only part of the campaign.
This was more than a physical FedEx invitation. It was an integrated multichannel marketing campaign that also included a series of emails.
Along with the 33% response rate to the invitations, the five emails generated an average open rate of 36.68%.
The campaign introduced the company to both the investment newsletter writers who attended the Las Vegas event and those who didn’t—giving them information they could share with their paid subscribers.
Like bookalogs, newsalogs, magalogs, and videologs, 3-D direct mail packages give prospects a reason to stop and look.
A FedEx package can create a sense of importance and curiosity before the recipient even opens it.
That makes a well-designed 3-D promotion a powerful option for reaching small, niche, skeptical audiences—and getting past the barriers that ordinary advertising encounters.
The key is to connect the package, the message, and the offer to a clear next step.
Then reinforce that next step through coordinated follow-up.
Action:
1. Want to learn more? Click HERE to watch this four-minute video brief on 3-D marketing.
2. Would a 3-D Package or a Videolog work best for You?e valuable prospects who are difficult to reach?
An offer that deserves more attention?
A product or service that needs a compelling demonstration?
Let CDMG help you evaluate whether a 3-D mailing or a videolog would be the stronger choice for your integrated multichannel campaign.
We can review your audience, offer, sales goals, and budget—and develop a coordinated approach that connects your mailing with email, digital advertising, landing pages, and sales follow-up as appropriate.
Our team can help you:
● Identify the prospects most likely to justify the investment.
● Evaluate a 3-D package against a videolog.
● Develop the concept, direct response copy, and offer.
● Produce the package or video presentation.
● Coordinate the supporting channels and follow-up.
● Track qualified responses, sales, and campaign profitability.
● Plan a test to guide your next investment.
CDMG’s team, led by Craig and Caleb Huey, brings together direct response strategy, creative development, media buying, digital direct response copywriting, and testing.
We’ve helped launch products, reposition brands, and grow businesses.
Let’s determine which approach gives your offer the strongest opportunity to generate a profitable response.
Call Michael at 615-933-4647 or email him at [email protected] to discuss your 3-D or videolog multichannel campaign.
3. Want even more details? Get my book, The New Multichannel, Integrated Marketing: 29 Trends for Creating a Multichannel, Integrated Campaign to Boost Your Profits Now.
Click HERE to order the book online.
You can also order it on Amazon, HERE.
Or get the audiobook version HERE, or on Kindle HERE.
You can also get an autographed version HERE or by phone at 615-814-6633 (M-F 10am to 3pm).
You can also send a check for $26.13 (includes shipping) payable to Media Specialists and send it to this address:
Media Specialists
1313 4th Ave N
Nashville, TN 37208
FAQs:
Q: What is 3-D direct mail marketing?
A: It uses a dimensional package, such as a box containing a relevant object, to attract attention and encourage a specific response.
Q: What made the Draganfly campaign distinctive?
A: Recipients received a drone, a themed invitation, and a locked book safe containing the drone’s remote control. They had to call for the combination, creating a natural opportunity for conversation.
Q: Why combine 3-D mail with email?
A: Email reinforces the offer, provides additional details, and reminds recipients to respond. In this campaign, five emails supported the physical invitation.
Q: What is a videolog?
A: A videolog is a printed brochure or mailer with a built-in screen that plays a video. It brings a demonstration, presentation, or sales message directly into your prospect’s hands.
Q: How do I choose between a 3-D package and a videolog?
A: Consider whether a physical item or a video presentation will better communicate your benefit and motivate action. Audience size, offer value, production costs, shipping, and follow-up also affect the decision.
Q: Should I expect a 33% response rate?
A: That was the reported result of this particular campaign. Your results will depend on your audience, offer, creative approach, and follow-up.
Q: How do I know whether the campaign is profitable?
A: Track the full campaign cost against qualified leads, customers acquired, and the profit those customers generate. A high response rate matters most when it produces valuable business.
About Craig Huey:
Craig Huey is President of Creative Direct Marketing Group (CDMGinc.com), a 30-year leader in direct response advertising and multi-channel marketing. Under his leadership, CDMG has:
- Tested more than 10,000 digital marketing variables.
- Mailed over 10 million pieces of direct mail in the last year alone.
- Won more than 120 awards for marketing excellence.
Craig is also the publisher of Direct Marketing Update, the trusted newsletter for company presidents and marketing directors looking to maximize ROI with cutting-edge, accountable advertising strategies.
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Let us be your second opinion
CDMG’s award-winning team, run by marketing veterans Craig and Caleb Huey, is dedicated to improving your advertising, marketing, branding, and bottom line with a proven approach that maximizes response rates and ROI.
With expertise in media, data, digital, and creative strategy, we’ve earned over 120 prestigious awards, in 2024 alone.
Why CDMG?
- Proven Success: Over 128 prestigious awards.
- Data-Driven Strategy: We don’t guess. We know what works. Our campaigns are crafted with precision to deliver maximum ROI.
- Expertise Across the Board: From media buying to digital copywriting, testing, and direct-to-consumer strategies—we’ve got it all covered.
- Real Results: We’ve helped launch new products, reposition brands, and turn small businesses into multimillion-dollar success stories.
Let us help with your video needs!
We produce:
• Pre-roll videos
• Video sales letters (VSLs)
• TV commercials
• Infomercials
• Addressable TV
• Videologs
…and much more!
Our team has launched new products… and helped reposition companies to a higher level. Our strategies and tactics have generated leads, and built powerhouse e-commerce programs that have helped turn small businesses into multimillion dollar success stories and grown large companies.
Our formula is data driven, accountable advertising that supercharges your growth. Every campaign is crafted precisely, focusing on what matters most to drive your success.
Let’s discuss your marketing challenges and give you a second opinion.
Contact Michael Oppenheimer at 615-933-4647 or email him at [email protected].
Start transforming your marketing results today with CDMG, Inc.