Collin Street Bakery produces and ships cookies, cakes, and pies to over 200 countries. Despite a strong re-order rate, the company still hungered for new customers. How do you convince people who’ve never tasted your desserts to give your signature fruitcake a try?

Direct mail and creative naming, that’s how! Direct Mail Consultant Greg Hennerberg started by renaming the fruitcake to a Texas Native Pecan Cake, eliminating any connection to the much-maligned holiday gift. After learning about the special nature and history of Texas pecans, Hennerberg created a powerful story to connect recipients to the state’s natively grown pecans.

Hennerberg used a smorgasbord of direct mail best practices to convince people to open the envelope, read the story inside, and place an order. The combination of strong color choices (red and black), a teaser calling all Pecan Lovers, a time-sensitive offer, and a money back guarantee drove a 60% lift in responses compared to previous campaigns.

If you find your business starved for higher response rates, maybe it’s time to rethink your recipe for success. A recent InfoTrends study found that adding direct mail to e-mail, social, or mobile only campaigns increased responses by at least 17%.

Quote of the Week: “No matter how much multi-channel/integrated marketing is a constant theme and reality, expect direct mail to be featured as the ‘tree’ of a campaign from which all the other branches extend.” Ethan Boldt, Who’s Mailing What!