Sometime in the early 00s when the internet and email had become widely adopted by businesses, it was often believed that the days of “snail mail” would come to an end. Well, it is true that email has removed a lot of the most common reasons to send out letters, but it isn’t true that it’s been completely replaced.
Businesses across Australia still depend on sending invoices, letters, marketing materials and more through old-fashioned snail mail, so it’s essential to have an envelope that makes an impression.
Why are business envelopes so important? For starters, it’s an excellent opportunity for branding and to immediately set your letter apart from others. Recipients ought to know exactly who sent the letter and not toss it aside in a pile of others. Moreover, your business envelope shows that your business cares about the fine details and looking professional – generic white envelopes simply won’t do!
Below are five quick tips to design business envelopes that impress:
Your business envelope should definitely use branded elements that make it crystal clear to the recipient who your business is and what to expect. This means designing your envelope to use branded colours, fonts, graphics and logos, and any other relevant details (but try to keep it simple).
Indeed, just using branded colours and your logo might be enough if your business has quite a bit of brand recognition and reach. Cluttering the envelope too much can look messy, so don’t go overboard, either.
Following on the previous point, simplicity is often better than making your envelope too busy or complex. The details can be put inside of the envelope in whatever type of material you’re sending, so avoid putting too many details on the envelope itself.
The most important parts of the envelope should always be the address of the sender and the recipient, as well as a little corner space left free for the stamp. Using transparent plastic and putting these details on the letter inside so that they show through the envelope can be a good way to mass produce envelopes, but make sure these areas are prominent.
Depending on the contents of your business correspondence, you may want or even need high-quality envelope paper that can provide a little protection from the rain or from tampering. Examples include sending replacement cards (bank cards, credit cards, gift cards), letters containing personally identifiable information and sensitive data, invoices and bills, vouchers or cheques.
Even envelopes containing less sensitive contents such as generic marketing materials can benefit from high-quality paper stock, however. Not only does a higher quality paper feel better (and the tactile aspect can be important for getting recipients to open the envelope!) but it can look better with finishes like glossy exteriors, for example.
Many businesses today put a lot of attention to the “unboxing” of their products and even their envelopes. Perhaps we can thank Apple for their brilliant, innovative ways of packaging their iPhones and other products, so much so that this experience is now quite important for customers as it surely makes an impression.
You might wish to consider inserting liners into your envelopes so that the contents come out and are unfolded in a clever way, gradually revealing the content to the recipient. This obviously isn’t necessary for straightforward correspondence like invoices, but when appropriate it can make a huge impact.
Most importantly, choose a reputable print shop to handle the printing of your business envelopes. Print on Demand excels at printing all manner of business stationery and materials.
Choose Print on Demand for business envelopes and much more.
