Direct mail has unfortunately gained the reputation of being apart of the “prehistoric era” of traditional marketing, which may be true for those who aren’t steadily thinking outside the box. If products are created with differentiation in mind, they can make huge impact and deliver a definite ROI.
The brain loves visuals. In fact, 90% of the information the brain receives is visual information. If you want to be noticed among the rest, your strategies need to begin by being visually different. Finding distinctive means of marketing doesn’t have to be a huge investment either; there are so many creative ways to stand out from your competitors–on any budget.
54.5% of U.S. Households read, looked at, or set aside for later reading, their letter-sized envelope direct mail pieces. For larger than letter size envelope mail, 67.2% did the same.
(Source: USPS “Household Diary Study,” 2012)
Take this product for example.
This is a #14 envelope which is the largest stock envelope that mails at letter 
rate. This product has the ability to receive more attention in the mail than your everyday envelope, but with little cost to you.
This piece can mail at the same postage rate as the #10 envelope, but is proven to have a higher open rate–leading to a better return on investment and more attention to your business. Bigger really is better.
Inside this particular example, we have a visually striking, colorful letter head that we folded vertically. Why? Because it helps the product stand out at no additional cost. We then took it one small step further by including the 
laser die cut logo. This technique is truly unique, not done by many, gives us an edge to be remembered and puts us a cut above the rest. The true beauty of coming up with solutions like this one is that it is so simple, yet unconventional.
It doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive to differentiate yourself. Direct mail is still one of the most effective ways to market your business and will definitely be most successful when it is done with simple creativity in mind.