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I wanted to share this great article with proof that direct mail marketing still works effectively.
https://www.edq.com/resources/data-quality-infographics/how-direct-mail-is-winning-in-the-age-of-the-internet/
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 source: Pinky Swear Foundation In an effort to spread the word about our online store I stumbled upon the Pinky Swear Foundation which stopped me in my tracks.
This story deeply touched me and I felt compelled to share it with my readers. This organization uses an “Orange Envelope” campaign to assist families who get blindsided by a cancer diagnosis. It’s a life altering experience when one of your kids has to deal with cancer. The full story is here Pinky Swear Mission & Story. How It All Started In December of 2001, Mitch Chepokas was 9 years old when he was diagnosed with bone cancer and his prognosis was grim. During a stay in the hospital he overheard another family talking about their financial struggles that he implored his Dad to take him to the bank to withdraw his savings. Then they put the money into individual envelopes and left them on nightstands, slid them under doors and Mitch signed each one with his name along with XOXOXO. He expressed to his Dad how this made him so happy that he wanted to do it again next year. His Dad had to tell him that he might not make it to next year. I can’t imagine that moment. MItch then made his Dad pinky promise that he would do all he could for kids with cancer after he was gone and his Dad kept his promise. In the Spring of 2003 Steve and his wife Becky started the Pinky Swear Foundation. It is such a sobering story. It took a brave selfless 9 year old who used his own money in envelopes to help ease the burden of other families. Today The Pinky Swear Foundation has helped over 15,000 families and has raised over 15,000,000 dollars. As i said above, to honor Mitch’s envelope idea they have a program called “Orange Envelope”. Enclosed families receive a;
I applaud Steve and Becky Chepokas for honoring their son’s memory with a pinky promise. His heroic efforts has helped so many families. He will not be forgotten. Consider supporting this great cause by going to their support page. https://www.pinkyswear.org/donate and you too can make a difference. Thanks for taking the time to read and taking action. Envelopes. The universal method of getting your correspondence from point A to point B. Many of you still have a shoebox in your closet with old letters from loved ones or important letters of accomplishments. Am I right? Before telephones and the internet, it was the only way to get your message across miles and miles of land or water. Yet, in this ever growing technology age do we still need envelopes?  Some Statistics According to the Envelope Manufacturing Association (EMA) Well over 185 billion envelopes are produced each year in the United States. More than 85 percent of these enter the mail stream to be delivered by the Postal Service. That’s a lot of mail. In 2005 The Economist published an article called “Pulling The Envelope” where they claim more than 80% of letter mail is from businesses, not individuals. More than half of that is monthly billing statements which is on it’s own decline due to statements being emailed or can be accessed via an app. That was in 2005. In the 1990’s there were roughly 6 million involved in the envelope manufacturing and print industry. There are 1 million fewer today. So what does this all mean? Are envelopes truly dying or are they simply adapting to the new art of mail? Industry Changes Envelopes USA has over 30 years of experience in the envelope printing industry. What we have seen is those who adapt to the changing landscape do rather well whereas those who hang on to the old way, die out. In fact small family owned print shops are fading away as they either close up shop or sell their business to a larger corporation. Digital Printing One of the biggest changes in the envelope industry is digital printing. Instead of the standard offset presses there has been a big increase in the use of a digital envelope printer that looks much like a copier. This helps “cut out” the need for chemically processed plates. You just need a computer. In the short run this helps a company save on labor and print cost. However in the long run the standard offset analog press still provides the best value for long runs of 20,000 or more.  The Rise Of Direct Mail Direct mail has seen a increase in volume in the last decade. Marketers realized the impact of sending unique pieces of letter mail that overall, has a better ROI than other advertising methods, This is partly due to the innovative ways the envelope industry has found in developing envelope sizes that keep postage rates low. Think of an envelope as a piece of real estate. How you utilize that space will determine how the receiver decides to open it. Direct mail companies are taking marketing to new heights and as a result, keep the demand for envelopes aive.  The Case For Envelopes
In the 90’s and into the 21 Century there was a non stop inflow of junk mail that most would just skim through quickly for anything important and toss the rest. Junk mail obviously isn’t going anywhere (However most are in the form of postcards nowadays) and we certainly are appreciative of this industry. Fast forward to today and it seems the same thing is happening with email. We are bombarded with hundreds of emails that we barely want to check our inboxes. We believe to a small degree this has helped the good old fashioned snail mail method. The Personal Touch Recently I spoke to a real estate agent who I noticed has not missed one month of sending me a newsletter inside of an envelope with their information in the top left corner. It’s been almost 4 years. I asked him why he is choosing this avenue instead of email and if he thought he could save money that way? (Yes I sent him an email) He responded, “Yes it would be cheaper by email but we have found that people find it more genuine to receive a n actual correspondence from us and also we saw a much higher return with clients choosing us to sell their homes as opposed to our email methods.” This goes across the board with lawyers, doctors, HVAC, roofers, insurance companies, health stores and just about any industry that relies on repeat customers. People want to be treated like humans and a message sealed in an printed envelope accomplishes that need. The Environmental Challenge There was a time when the overall paper industry was decimating the timber rates. Thankfully environmental groups took action to pay attention to what was happening to our forests around the world. As a result we now have more square miles of forest than we did 50 years ago. Thanks in large part in making recycling accessible and easy for companies. In our warehouse we recycle all of our paper waste and our envelopes are made with 30% recycled paper. More and more states are now processing all garbage to see what can be recycled so even paper that people throw away more often than not. The challenge has been the changing that image where if one is using paper they are harming the environment. I can’t tell you how many shocked expressions I get when I mention the fact that we have more forest land today. We need to change that perception. Many monthly billing companies are pushing for paperless statements to help you “go green”. This doesn’t hurt their customer base because we begrudgingly have to pay those bills. Keep in mind that those statements come in a printed envelope and usually has a return envelope inside. Help support our printing industry and never worry that we are harming the environment. In Conclusion While we have seen a decrease in envelopes being printed and a shrinking of print shops in general we feel the industry is still in an adjustment period. If they adapt to the new technology options and stay creative to meet the needs of an emerging direct mail strategy, we will see envelopes remain in demand far into future. Did you like this article? Feel free to share and comment!  Envelopes USA is proud to announce the launch of our brand new website where we offer the convenience of envelope printing online that can be delivered to your office or home anywhere in the United States.
All of our envelope products inks are 100% Made in the USA. As a paper product we proudly recycle all of our waste for a brighter cleaner future. Our Commitment To Quality In our warehouse we are equipped with Jet-Press technology where we can produce your envelopes with speed that doesn’t affect quality. This is a good thing since this allows our pricing to be lower than the competition. Our dedicated press room staff maintains a high level of quality control so you can display your company brand with pride. Our Envelope Stock Options In our 12,000 square feet temperature controlled facility we keep dozens of envelope options on the floor at all times. We offer a wide variety of envelope stock options in 24# and 28# white wove. If it is not listed on our online store you can simply create a custom order without any up charge in price. Our “On The Floor” Envelopes Include;
There are several finishing options such as;
Our Quantity Options The nature of every envelope need is different. We provide quantities as low as 500 to 5,000 for small offices or home based businesses. On orders of 10,000 to 50,000 we can accomodate large mail houses or charity mailings. If you need a larger quantity you are always welcome to create a custom order with our helpful envelope specialist. Our Turnaround TImes Getting your envelopes printed and delivered in a timely manner is not asking for too much. Depending on what ink coverage you select you can get your envelopes printed in less than 3 days plus delivery time. Allow more time for 4 color process orders and large quantities. Ink Color Options We carry the standard ink colors that are commonly used.
All of our colors are based on the Pantone Color Scheme. You can also select more rined colors by their PMS number. Navigating Our Website We are always looking for ways to make our online shopping experience easy and stress free. When you land on our site you will see at the top four choices to choose from.
From there you can find the envelope option you need. Once you have selected the envelope you will simply choose your quantity, select yes or no if you printing on the back, select yes or no if your image file has bleeds and then you can add your customized envelope to your shopping cart. From the shopping cart you find the address that we will ship your envelopes to and your payment information. Once processed be sure to check your confirmation email for the image file portal where you can upload your file with your order number. It’s that easy! We ship all of our envelopes packages by UPS through our online store and for larger orders within the State of Florida we use other methods of freight to save you money. Non Standard Stock Options We are daily adding new envelope options however you can always call to inquire about options such as;
There are also many variables of printing ink colors on our envelopes. We use terms like 1/1, 1/2 , 2/1 or 2/2. These mean your color variations on the top of the envelope and on the back side. Envelopes USA Looks Forward To Serving You We hope you will use Envelopes USA as your partner for all your envelope printing needs. To promote our brand new website launch we are offering a 20% discount on all of the envelopes we offer on our online store! In your shopping card be sure to use the discount code “20off”. Ready to order envelopes? Click our link here https://www.envelopesusa.com/ |
AuthorJesse contributes to this blog with industry relevant news and the occasional semi-related topics to engage readers.
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