How to entertain, inspire and wow a customer using direct mail

In our current world, as we have heavily shifted to digital lives, it seems as though our junk mail has decreased in these last few years. We have this misconception that direct mail is useless and ineffective and as a result, there has been a decline in marketers using direct mail to promote their products or services. When the traffic dies down on a channel there is no better time to explore that channel and get noticed! So start using the road less travelled and make a splash with the old-school direct mail method. Here are two tricks that will make your direct mail campaign more effective thanks to the One page marketing plan.
Each day we collect our mail from the mailbox and sort it into piles. We keep the things that seem interesting and important, and throw out, without opening, the things that seem redundant and unimportant. 
Do you ever throw out mail with random lumpy objects in the envelopes?
No, I don’t either. I always at least open it  to see what treasure I may find. Because of this you need to put something lumpy in your mail to ensure it stands out and gets put in the important pile when potential customers are opening it. This could be a sample of your product, magnets, some coupons or gift cards, a stress ball, or some free knickknacks with your branding on them. Give them a free book. People almost never throw out books. A branded shot glass! I know I would NEVER throw out one of those! 😜
The point is to get your brand in front of these potential customers and that means first to get them to open the mail and second to give them something to remember your brand. 
The second trick is for leads or prospects you already are aware of.  Send them a wow factor box. A package they will absolutely have to open because the suspense is killing them and we all like random surprise packages. In the package along with your amazing marketing material give them something of high value.  This could be a mug, a baseball, a hat, shirts or other apparel with your branding on it. You could send an edible arrangement, a basket of fruit, cookies or a jar of chocolate covered nuts. The possibilities are endless and try to think of something that you would almost never throw away.
When people receive random gifts for no reason in the mail it gives them that wow factor and it also makes them feel obligated to eventually buy from you one day. Us humans often live by an “I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine” philosophy. We feel obligated to give to people who have given to us. I literally do it ALL the time! So take advantage of human nature and give a little. It will pay off in the end in revenue. 
Side note* I am not at all saying to stop digital marketing. Digital marketing is super effective but direct mail can be used in conjunction with other channels of marketing.
As for the wow factor box and the lumpy mail idea, make sure you know the lifetime value of a customer so that you can do the math properly when deciding how much to spend on marketing campaigns such as these. Know your potential ROI.  If the numbers do not make sense don’t do it. But at the same time do not be cheap and go above and beyond what your competitors would do.

Questions or suggestions?  Comment below!