Direct Mail Stimulates New Bookings from Enquirers and Lapsed Customers

Brief

Forest Holidays operates 12 stunning forest locations across the UK, from the Brecon Beacons and Snowdonia to Sherwood Forest and the North York Moors. Their luxury log cabins with hot tubs appeal to a broad audience, from family adventures in the great outdoors to stress-free romantic retreats.

Having seen significant interest in staycation holidays, Forest Holidays wanted to maintain momentum and drive bookings from both first-time customers and lapsed bookers who had not engaged for some time. After attending one of Red C’s masterclasses, Forest Holidays engaged the team to develop a cost-effective direct mail campaign that could deliver personalised, engaging messaging during a crucial period between Christmas and New Year.

The goal was to design a campaign that would capture attention, encourage bookings, and demonstrate the value of a strategic, data-driven approach to direct mail marketing. Forest Holidays sought the expertise of a skilled direct mail agency that could combine creative design, compelling copywriting, and meticulous planning to produce measurable results.

Approach

Red C, as a leading direct mail agency, began the project with a detailed analysis of Forest Holidays’ customer data, provided by their data partner Spike Insight. The analysis revealed strong predictive characteristics: previous bookers often returned to the same location or to a geographically aligned alternative. This insight formed the foundation of the campaign’s strategy and planning.

Based on the data, Red C recommended a digitally printed mailing, which allowed each piece to be personalised for individual recipients. This approach ensured that every recipient received targeted messaging promoting the locations they were most likely to book.

The direct mail design was carefully developed to balance visual appeal and cost efficiency. Using high-quality imagery of Forest Holidays’ locations, Red C created a 10-page brochure that could be personalised for each recipient. The layout and design were optimised to draw attention to the most relevant destinations, encouraging recipients to engage and make a booking.

The direct mail copywriting focused on personalisation and relevance. Headlines such as “Fancy staying at Sherwood Forest again?” and “If you liked Sherwood Forest, you’ll love the Forest of Dean” were crafted to resonate with past behaviour, while highlighting the unique experiences each location offered. The messaging was clear, persuasive, and designed to drive action, demonstrating the value of professional direct mail copywriting in a results-driven campaign.

The strategy and planning of the campaign were critical to its success. Red C coordinated the production, personalisation, and distribution of the mailers to ensure the campaign reached the right audience at the right time. A hold-out control group was used to measure effectiveness, and the results were benchmarked against both an email-only segment and recipients of the new direct mail campaign.

By combining data-led insights with creative direct mail design and copywriting, Red C ensured that each mailing was engaging, relevant, and highly targeted. The campaign successfully demonstrated the potential of integrating strategic planning with high-quality creative execution to deliver measurable business results.

Conclusion

The personalised direct mail campaign delivered strong results, outperforming both the control group and the email-only segment. Forest Holidays saw significant engagement from recipients, with bookings stimulated among both first-time customers and lapsed bookers.

The success of this campaign has led Forest Holidays to make direct mail a permanent element of their marketing strategy, particularly during the turn-of-the-year period. The project highlights the value of working with a specialist direct mail agency that can deliver end-to-end solutions, combining strategy and planning, creative direct mail design, and compelling copywriting to achieve tangible results.

Forest Holidays now has a scalable and cost-effective model for future direct mail campaigns, demonstrating that targeted, well-designed, and strategically planned mailings can drive customer engagement and bookings in a competitive leisure market.