Direct mail marketing is driven visually and is the quickest way to capture your recipient’s attention. The old saying “a picture says a 1000 words” is true. But remember, not all pictures are created equally. Choosing the right images will greatly impact your ROI! Make sure they convey your message in both your brand and your current campaign as conflict with the brand or current message will confuse the recipient. Your pictures literally “speak visually” for you. The images will fill in details that are difficult, if not impossible, to communicate with written words.

Here are 4 ways to make images speak visually in your direct mail:

1. Story Telling: These kinds of pictures take a series and put them together to walk the viewer through a story or a process. Each picture change tells one part of the story and shows a progression that when one reaches the last image the story is complete. Make sure to choose images that are full of detail and correctly portray your story.
2. Context: These kinds of pictures tend to be helpful, rather than distracting. They set the scene or mood you are trying to convey. Try to find scenes that frame whatever information you’ll be discussing. As a general rule, these are more large background photos that fill the entire panel on your mailer.
3. Analogy: These kinds of pictures work best to explain abstract ideas. An analogy takes the known to help clarify the unknown. If a person is familiar with the “known” scenario, they will be able to apply it to the unknown situation through comparison. Be careful to use concrete known concepts here. If you do not, the analogy will be unclear and confusing.
4. Compare/Contrast: These kinds of pictures highlight differences, growth, contrasts, projected outcomes, or any other shift from one position to another. These images can be very dramatic and help you illustrate a much desired outcome. As a general rule, a side by side comparison is the best use.

There are several things you can do to enhance the visual appeal of your direct mail, images just happen to be very effective. Purchasing stock images is perfectly fine as long as you are choosing ones that really represent what you are trying to say correctly. You may find it easier to create your own images to exactly match with your message. The right images really do boost response in direct mail. Make sure to consult people outside of your organization to look at your images and tell you what they see and feel. You will be surprised at how different they may look at the images than you do.

If you have any questions contact us today. We are glad to help!