Read our case study for a small charity mailing campaign, which was nominated for a Strategic Mailing Performance Award 2022.

Our charity client is a youth site, which like many others, was forced to close its doors for a long period during lockdown. As part of its marketing strategy, the charity wanted to engage with members of the club and encourage them to visit and renew their memberships again. Here, a member of their team outlines how we helped them and the impact of the campaign.

New to direct mail marketing

As a charity, we are relatively new to direct mail marketing. So, when selecting a data, print and mail supplier we looked for a partner who possessed knowledge, technical capabilities and know-how. Someone we felt could bring enthusiasm as well as experience.

Additionally, a team who understood our requirements as an organisation working in the charity/not-for-profit sector.  And a partner able to support us and work with a restricted (not endless) budget.

Steve and the team at KPM Group stood out as they listened and understood the campaign objectives from the get-go. They worked tirelessly with us to ensure that the campaign was released on time, within budget, and with the best opportunity for achieving the top results available.

They were able to source and provide relevant market intelligence and information from JICMAIL and Marketreach, as well as show us case studies in our sector. This market intelligence allowed us to understand how mail would be interacted with and the length of time it can remain in a household.

This information also helped our design and marketing team to shape the creativity and direct the contents of the mail pack.

Postage rebate incentive scheme

We also applied for the Royal Mails ‘First Time User’ postage rebate incentive scheme, with everything coordinated by KPM.  The rebate was important as we will use it to help mitigate the postage costs of our next campaign.

We chose direct mail as we wanted to test out another form of communication to reach our audience. As part of our overall marketing strategy, we use emails and social media and wanted to try another avenue.

Young people rarely receive a letter through the post, and we thought it would spark their interest to receive a personal letter inviting them to renew their membership of the Youth Zone. The mail pack also contained a free lunch voucher redeemable when they visited the club.

Data security and safeguarding

As a charity that safeguards young people and, in some cases, vulnerable young people, we need to ensure the data processing security of young people’s details is to the highest standard.

The way we process our data is very important to us – and even more important when a third party is processing this.

KPM did everything in its power to make us feel confident and happy to process any data shared with them. It gave us additional assurance and confidence that they had the relevant ISO 27001 accreditation and provided a Data Processing Agreement, it was very clear that they fully understand data security, compliance and correct governance.

Steve and the team at KPM Group stood out as they listened and understood the campaign objectives from the get-go.

They worked tirelessly with us to ensure that the campaign was released on time, within budget, and with the best opportunity for achieving the top results available.

Future Youth Zone

Branding, design and QR code

From the beginning and working closely with Steve we understood the necessity to include clear, concise branding, colour, and imagery. In fact, colour and branding were as important as the messaging and the call to action.

The printed components of the mail pack included:

• The outer envelope, which we overprinted, with our colour logo
• A personalised letterhead, incorporating a picture banner highlighting activities available for members at the club
• A free voucher to encourage recipients to visit the centre.

We wanted to create a central mailing piece that contained something that our younger and tech-savvy audience would instantly recognise and engage with. And so, we added a QR Code with KPM’s help.

The layout and position were essential, we had it centred within the letter below the banner. Once scanned, it directed the recipient online to a landing page, providing a further way to renew their membership. 

Its inclusion allowed us to track the customer journey from offline to online, providing insightful metrics when we analysed the number of visitors accessing the renewals page. We were still receiving visits to the renewal page long after the campaign landed and receiving enquires from other members of the same household!

Machine enclosing 100% accuracy

We wanted to maximise the available space on the A4 letter with the inclusion of a large banner, QR code, bigger font, and logo. This meant that we didn’t have space to add the postal address to the letter. There was only space for a salutation – Dear XXX.

However, this didn’t prove to be an issue at all, as KPM had the technical ability and machine enclosing capability to camera match the letter to the outer addressed envelope seamlessly – and with 100% accuracy.

Case study: the impact of direct mail

The campaign was a great success, with 741 lapsed members renewing their membership.

By combining the physical touchpoint of personalised direct mail with the digital touchpoint of a QR code and delivering an integrated customer experience, Future Youth Zone has been able to achieve its campaign goals.

Three months after the campaign landed, the membership renewal page is still getting views. People who live in the same households have also been visiting the renewals page and enquiring about membership.

These additional enquiries show that direct mail was a highly effective marketing channel for this campaign because it stays visible for days and weeks. In fact, the conversion rate shows an increase of 123.3% from the JICMAIL predicted conversion rate of 6%.

• Membership renewals: 741
• Conversion rate: 13.4%
• Membership renewals page views: 925

Read more

View our press release about the Strategic Mailing Performance Awards 2022
Read more about our work for the charity and non-profit sector.

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