A direct mail piece has a very short window to grab my attention – seconds, literally. Either I’m hooked and want to read more, or I’m totally unimpressed and toss it.

In the past I’ve written on this subject but have always singled out production elements like paper, finishing techniques, design, content, or the size and shape of a particular package.

All of these elements matter. One can be featured effectively to get my attention on a particular piece of mail. And admittedly, what grabs me might not grab you.

Lately, I’ve received a couple of mail pieces that got my attention for a different reason – and not in a good way.

I’m talking about marketing messages that are messy. On a few pieces in last month’s mail, marketers were attempting to throw everything at me all at once, on tiny pieces of real estate.

For instance, there was so much content crammed onto a jumbo postcard that I was left scratching my head. What are they trying to tell me and sell me? My eyes darted right to left, top to bottom. I flipped the card over to try and figure out what the message was. I was confused and annoyed.

Someone in this printing/mailing/marketing/fulfillment company must have decided to produce one postcard to mass mail to their entire database. They used this little vehicle to tell us everything they can do.

The content on this messy postcard includes multiple headlines and subheads, a bulleted ‘what we do’ list, multicolor graphics in a chart (sort of), and another photo that I’ve seen used in this industry too many times already. Some key copy is laid out in such a way that it’s nearly impossible to read. Enough already. I cry uncle.

I want to blame the designer but know that he or she was probably given all of this content and told to deal with it.

Too much information on a direct mail piece is a waste of resources and can damage your reputation. If you’re using direct mail (or email) to market your business in a generic way to a broad audience, pick one message at a time and market that. Do a series of mailings. Get the best writer and designer you can. Boil the heck out of what you want to promote for each direct mail piece. Hit us between the eyes with one powerful message. Make me remember you for all the right reasons. Send me something beautifully crafted.

The content, the design, and the delivery vehicle must support one another when you produce a direct mail piece, and when they’re in sync, the piece will lift your message high up over the heads of the all the junk I get fed daily.

© 2013 Margie Dana. All rights reserved. You’re free to forward this email. However, no part of this column may be reprinted without permission from the author.