Crafting the perfect marketing material to use for your Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) campaign is not as easy as it might initially seem. That’s because you need to come up with a piece that will not only be pleasing to the eye, making the person who receives it intrigued to read it, but also written interestingly enough to make them want to continue reading once they start.
The truth is that on marketing materials, every little detail, even if it seems insignificant to you, matters. Each piece, word, image, and offer will impact your response rates - and, ultimately, your return on investment.
What Is the Best Font to Use on Marketing Materials?
When it comes to creating an effective direct mail graphic, the font choice is crucial. And what font is best for printed materials? Well, according to research conducted by the author of Type & Layout, Colin Wheildon, over the course of more than 9 years that focused on fonts and how they can affect printed collateral, the best fonts to use on print are serif fonts.
This group consists of fonts such as Times New Roman, Garamond, Baskerville, Georgia, and Courier New. As for what makes them stand out, it’s the fact that they have an extreme contrast between thick and thin lines. They also have little serifs on the tips of the letters, which make them easier to read while also guiding the eye in a straight line.
Direct marketing guru Gary Halbert liked to use a serif font, Courier, for his sales letters. He was tremendously successful in doing so (plus his copy was considered first-rate).
As for headings, sans-serif fonts would be the ideal choice. They’re a better option than serif fonts due to the fact that they typically appear more simplified and bold compared to serif fonts. Using them will also provide a contrast from your body text font. They also will be a good choice to use for credits or texts in infographics.
Sans serif fonts include popular fonts such as Arial, Helvetica Now, Tahoma, Open Sans, Futura, Roboto, Proxima Nova, and Monaco.
So, to sum up - serif fonts are best used for larger blocks of text, specifically the body text, while sans serif fonts are best for headings and in small text, as readability and clarity are crucial then.
Serif vs. Sans Serif Fonts - The Difference
We mentioned the two groups of fonts, but what’s the actual difference between them? This graphic explains it pretty well:
Here, you have two fonts - Montserrat, which is an example of a sans-serif font, and Times New Roman, which is a serif font. Once you understand that “sans” means without, it’s actually pretty easy to understand what differentiates the two.
The little endings circled on the Times New Roman letter are called serifs - and since “sans” means without, you can deduce that sans serif fonts are simply those fonts that do not have serifs.
What About the Size?
There isn’t an ideal size, as it all depends on the specific marketing material you’re designing. However, you should remember that it shouldn’t be too small, even if the perspective of using a smaller font to fit more text can be tempting.
Remember - it’s not about putting as much text as possible. It’s about making the marketing copy interesting and engaging, and trust us when we say that if a person sees one big block of small text, the last thing they’ll want to do is read through it all, even if the rest of the copy is visually appealing.
How to Choose the Best Font for Advertising Flyers
While the font groups we mentioned are generally considered the best, the actual THE best font for the direct mail campaign will be different across individual companies. This means that while font A might fit company B to a T, it might not be the case for company C, despite the fact it’s the same font.
So, here are a few things to consider when choosing the best font for your EDDM campaign.
1) Think about the brandIs there a font your company has been using for ages and that has become part of its brand identity? Or maybe you’ve had a custom font made just for you? If so, it’s always better to use it, as customers are already familiar with it, and they might even be able to recognize it without looking at the logo.
A great example of this is Disney. Their font has been custom-made for the Walt Disney Company. Its uniqueness makes it instantly recognizable.
2) Consider switching it up
Generally speaking, you should keep the body text font the same throughout the entire content. However, there might be some important information you’d like to highlight.
What can you do in this situation - switch the font? No.
There are actually a few things you can do with the same font that will still have the desired effect. For example, you can make the sentences you want to direct the reader’s attention to bold, or you can use italics. You might also want to consider changing the color of the font.
3) Think about your audience
When choosing your font, especially its size, think about your audience. Are you catering to older people? If so, it might be better to make the font bigger, 12 and above - they will definitely appreciate that. For younger audiences, it’s best to stick with a font size no smaller than 10 - otherwise, even those who have great vision might have issues with reading it.
4) Keep in mind the flow
Remember that font can determine the flow of the text, or more specifically, where the recipient of the direct mail material will start reading it. Choosing the right font, but also size, and style will ensure that your marketing material is perceived in the way you want it to be.
Common EDDM Font Mistakes
Here are some common font mistakes people tend to make at the beginning of their EDDM journey.
1) Not choosing a printable font
The thing with some fonts is that while they might look pretty and great on the screen, they might not translate well to print - especially very thin fonts or overly decorative ones.
That’s why, before ordering the bulk printing of EDDM materials, you should do a test print - see whether the font you choose will look as good on paper as it does on the computer or tablet. It will save you a lot of stress but also a lot of money, as you won’t have to reorder them and waste resources that could’ve been used on something else.
2) Choosing the wrong colors
There are some color combinations that will make it difficult for the recipient to read the copy regardless of how good their eyesight is. Because of this, you always need to make sure that there is enough contrast between the font and the background to make it easily readable.
Here are some examples of both good and bad combinations - in many cases, it’s not even color that is the issue, but the hue.
However, choosing the right colors is significant for more than just aesthetic reasons. Have you ever heard about the science of color?
According to it, every color has an emotion assigned to it, and depending on which one you choose to include in your marketing materials, the recipient might experience different things upon looking at it. For example, blue is associated with tranquility and peace, while red is associated with love and warmth.
3) Using many fonts at the same time
Sticking to one or two fonts can help the text be more readable but also allows you to keep the hierarchy of the content and point the reader in the right direction of what they should be reading first. If you have ten different fonts, all in different sizes, then it’s going to be confusing, and a lot of information you’d like to convey can get lost.
The Bottom Line
Choosing the right font is crucial for marketing materials in general, regardless of whether they’re going to be printed or displayed. However, it is especially important in Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM).
Many recipients of direct mail don’t know the company yet, so making a good first impression is essential. If a person receives a flier or other material that is barely readable, they might not want to get to know your business better, and vice versa - a good copy can make the person intrigued and willing to go the extra mile to learn more about the sender, for example by scanning the QR code (if present) from the flier and visiting their website.
Learn more about Every Door Direct Mail today, and let us help you grow your business with a direct mail campaign. Unlock the full potential of this marketing strategy and see how far you can grow with the right team.