For those looking to instantly connect with mail recipients on a more direct level, communications contained in closed face envelopes could be a real asset.
Within many sectors, and for all sorts of purposes, direct mail is a fantastic way to resonate with your audience and make a lasting impression. For companies looking to foster better engagement with a particular service, communicate vital information or simply deliver routine news and updates, printed documents contained in envelopes remain a personal and powerful choice.
Direct mail really helps brands build vital long-term relationships, literally putting a message into a customers’ hands and making it bespoke to them. Closed face envelopes, also known as non-windowed envelopes, go a step further by allowing companies to showcase a unique identity before the mailing is even opened. Find out how unique front of envelope images, additional straplines and custom return addresses can help you to master mail branding.
The immediate choice when sending mail is to settle on a favoured envelope format, and this will likely vary depending on circumstance and sector. Both closed face and windowed envelopes have their own distinct advantages, depending on the intended purpose of your mail. Windowed envelopes will generally allow for a recipient’s name and address to be printed on the contents of the letter within, rather than on the exterior of the envelope, with a plastic window allowing text to show through.
Non windowed, closed face envelopes are the most popular alternative. Securing the information of a letter completely within the sealed envelope, a non windowed option includes recipient information and their address printed on the exterior.
In terms of customisation and unique branding, opting for a closed face envelope is the ideal approach to take. With a greater degree of flexibility, a non windowed envelope allows the printing of your own logo or image on the paper exterior, for enhanced personalisation. This ensures a recipient is fully aware of who they are receiving mail from at first glance. More generally, direct mail is a fantastic form of communication for organisations across different industries, with Marketreach research showing that 31% of direct mail communication leads to commercial action of some description.
As well as being easily identified at face value, customised closed face envelopes provide an option to include additional straplines. As an extra space to get across textual information, summaries, slogans and more can be added to the envelope. Another useful addition to closed face envelopes, there is extra room to provide a dedicated return address, which will be printed on the back of the envelope. The inclusion of a separate space for a printed address allows for more accurate mailings, with an optional return address of your choice.
The benefits of opting for non windowed envelopes aren’t just limited to brand visibility and personalisation – there are plenty of other reasons to consider this postal alternative. From a sustainability perspective, the environmentally friendly choice is to go windowless, with even the small plastic windows of a traditional envelope proving tricky to recycle. The paper materials used in windowless envelopes are a renewable resource and can generally be recycled with no problem at all. Some are even made completely of recycled paper.
For the sake of extra security and privacy, closed face envelopes neatly secure information within an envelope, without revealing any information through a plastic window. For some, including NHS organisations, privacy concerns persist around the potential for a plastic window to inadvertently reveal information, should the positioning of a letter shift within the envelope. Of course this is no issue with closed face alternatives. Also of significance, the restrictive sizing of a plastic window could limit address printing space, only providing a smaller set area from which this information can be provided.
Industry-leading hybrid mail providers can oversee the printing and postage of your personalised documents in bulk, like CFH who take the practical approach to communications, providing a print and post factory at your fingertips. Our popular Docmail solution allows users to send postal communications to multiple individuals and addresses, with mail merge functionality making the entire process seamless. Freedom of choice allows users to select different document formats and alter many features within a letter, postcard or A3 sheet – including the envelope.
Via Docmail, users can select from a windowed or closed face envelope, and we’re proud to remain one of the only hybrid mail providers who can offer printing on closed face envelopes via our print and post functionality. A user can easily customise and schedule their output, with custom envelope designs, additional straplines and a return address. These designs can be designed and uploaded onto a mailing, chosen from the account library or created during the mailing process providing flexibility and ease of use.
Find out how you can utilise non windowed closed faced envelopes in your mailings, helping to achieve increased open rates, brand presence and environmental benefits by getting in touch.
Fife-based Electricity Asset Services, specializing in electrical and civil engineering, employs CFH's Docmail system for improved communication with Scottish Power and staff.
