When you print envelopes for direct mail marketing, it is important to adhere to certain guidelines so that you can make your envelopes look their best and avoid making it worse. In the simple yet important task of envelope printing, people can still make mistakes in its layout and design. These mistakes can lead to the failure of your direct mail marketing campaign at its outset, so it is important to nip it in the bud before it happens. You don't want people throwing away your marketing mails at the first glance of the envelope. So avoid mistakes in envelope printing design if you can. To give you a heads up on these, we have collected a few of the common mistakes that direct mail marketers make and listed them down for you to read.



1. Cluttering the envelope cover – The first and most common mistake in envelope design is to clutter the envelop cover. Envelopes should always be clean and well designed. There must be space for you to write the proper sender and receiver address. Also, any marketing image should not dominate the whole envelop design making it look like a brochure. That is actually the worst mistake that you can commit. If your envelope looks like a flyer or brochure, people might throw them away immediately since it looks like junk mail.

2. Printing the wrong envelope slogan – Another common mistake is to print the wrong type of slogan in your envelope. Your slogans must relate to your reader and it must not sound too much like a marketing slogan. Anything in the realm of “you might have already won” or “free to try” slogans can instantly mark your envelope as junk mail.

3. Boring envelope design – Of course, boring envelope designs are also a big mistake when it comes to direct mail marketing. If your design is just a color logo and a simple marketing slogan, people may not really respond to too much simplicity like that. Envelopes must always engage the attention of the receiver. If they do not feel something for the envelope upon receiving it, they might not want to open the whole thing as well.

4. Repetitive sending of the same design – This is also a very common mistake that wastes money in envelope printing. Some direct mail marketers make the mistake in sending the same envelope design for different marketing mails. People may eventually recognize a certain envelope design in their mails, and mark it as just junk marketing mails. If you keep sending the same envelope design, the receiver might just chuck it into the trash since he or she might decide that they have already read something like it. So always keep your designs different for envelopes, for each repeat mailing.

5. Envelope paper quality – Lastly, the enveloper paper quality plays a crucial role in the appearance of your envelope. If your envelope looks thin and smudged, people might not trust in its content too much. The envelope is basically your main face for your marketing mail. Fail that first impression and your marketing messages may not see the light of day.

So, to all direct mail marketers out there, mark these common mistakes and avoid them. Stop wasting money in envelope printing, and make effective envelope designs that can really impact your market. Good Luck!