Direct mail promotions are a great way to attract new customers or tap your best customers for more business.

After you clearly establish which customers your current promotion is targeting, exactly what marketing outcome you want, and precisely what your marketing message should be, you're ready to use Publisher to create your direct mail publications.

In Publisher, you have a wide range of publications to choose among, including postcards, flyers, greeting cards, stationery, brochures, newsletters, and catalogs. You can also combine several publications into one direct mail package to get a variety of information out to a broad audience.

When it comes to design, you also have a number of options that range from starting from a predesigned publication or template to building your own design from scratch.

Postcards

Postcards are one of the oldest, most time-honored ways of directly reaching customers. They are also one of the most economical direct mail marketing pieces to produce. Use postcards to announce a sale, invite customers to a special event, publicize a relocation, or offer a free sample or discount. Publisher provides you with more than 150 predesigned postcards to choose among.

Flyers

If you have more information to send to your customers than a postcard can accommodate, use a flyer. Just as easy and economical to produce as postcards, flyers are designed to fit on a full sheet of paper and can be printed on both sides to include two to four times more information. The trick, though, is to make certain you don’t confuse your customers by providing too much information. Keep your content choices aligned to your direct mail goal.

Flyers are ideal when you want to provide a map and directions, showcase special prices, or profile new products. You can choose from among 145 flyer designs that you can customize by adding a coupon, order form, sign-up form, and more.

Greeting cards and stationery

A personally signed card or letter shows appreciation and makes customers feel valued. This direct mail approach works best with established customers in smaller numbers. Here are several ideas for how to use greeting cards and stationery to target your direct mail goals.

• Send a letter on company letterhead to introduce your business and suggest additional contact. Instruct customers to bring the letter in for a special discount, or include a gift certificate.
• Personalize your business stationery by making the masthead and logo smaller, using paper with a soft color or texture, adding a background graphic as a watermark, and hand signing the letter.
• Use holiday greeting cards to send a seasonal message and include a business card with a special discount on the back.
• Send a greeting card instead of a postcard or flyer to announce a sale or special event or invite customers to a store opening.
• Send cards as a thank you for past business.

Brochures

Brochures are an ideal way to introduce your company and its products and services to new customers. Brochures can easily be mailed without the extra costs of using envelopes by adding customer mailing addresses to the back panel, and they can be distributed at your own or other businesses.

Publisher's brochure designs give you the option of dividing the page into three or four panels. You can also customize any brochure by adding an order, sign-up, or response form.

Here are a few ideas for using brochures as direct mail pieces:

• Include a company profile as part of the front and back page panels and add a modified product catalog on the inside page.
• Create a price list brochure and list the products and services you offer. Be sure to include an order form and instructions for phoning in an order.
• Add a coupon from the Design Gallery to one of the brochures panels. To add a coupon, on the Publisher Insert menu, click Design Gallery Object. Under Categories, click Coupons. Select the coupon you want, and then click Insert Object. If you need to resize the coupon, drag one of the coupon's corner handles.

Publication package

If you want to send a lot of information and appeal to the widest range of customer interests, you can combine several marketing pieces into one direct mail package. For example, you can

• Create a price list brochure that showcases the company and its products and include it inside a newsletter that gives customers a broader view of your business and its future growth.
• Mail a newsletter along with a complete company catalog.

Send a package that includes a signed letter on company letterhead, a brochure describing your company, and a postcard that offers a special introductory discount.

Choose a publication design

Once you've decided on a publication type, it's time to choose a design. You can use:

• One of the many predesigned publications available for each publication type.
• A publication design that matches a Master Design Set, if you've used such a Set to establish your company identity and brand.
• One of the new templates available on the Office Online Web site.

Tip   You can also design a publication from scratch. In Publisher, in the New Publication task pane, under New, click Blank Print Publication.

To use a predesigned publication

• Start Publisher. In the New Publication task pane, click Publications for Print. Click the publication type you want, and then, on the right, click the predesigned publication you want to use.

To use a publication from a Master Design Set

• Start Publisher. In the New Publication task pane, click Design Sets, and then click Master Sets.
• Click the design you want, and then, on the right, click the publication type you want to use.

Tip   You can use a unique design for a direct mail publication and still keep the color scheme and fonts that reflect your company identity. With the publication open that you want to use, on the Format menu, click Color Schemes. Under Apply a color scheme, choose the color scheme that you use for your Master Design Set. On the Format menu, click Font Schemes. Under Apply a font scheme, choose the font scheme that you use for your Master Design Set

To use a template from the Office Online Web site

1. On the Help menu in Publisher, click Microsoft Office Publisher Help.

    Note   The Publisher Help task pane opens.

2. Under Search for, type "templates" and then click the green arrow.
3. Click the link at the top of the list called Templates for business reports, cards and banners, databases, and more.
4. On the Templates site, search for the publication type you want.