Whenever I tackle a direct mail campaign I begin by going over the following 5 keys (5 more to follow) with my client. Regardless of whether they have used direct mail as a strategy in their sales and marketing plan before I believe I cannot stress these points enough. If you carefully incorporate these key points in your next mailing you will definitely improve your results.
1.) Make Your Piece Personal
The days of "Dear Resident" are over folks. We've all received our share of personalized direct mail before. Even if we consider it junk mail the fact is it would be even "junkier" mail if it wasn't personalized. If you're sending out a mailing that includes a letter or anything that begins with "Dear So-and-so… " it must be personalized. Obviously, the degree to which a piece can be personalized varies but there is no shortage of mailing list brokerage sources that can supply you with a list that has more than simply the vitals of Name, Address, etc. One caveat though, a letter can be overly personalized in the sense that you do not want to gratuitously repeat the valuable information you've gone to lengths to obtain. I once received a direct mail piece that must have mentioned my name, Michael, and my recently purchased Honda thirteen times within two short paragraphs. It's great they got my name right but I could barely figure out that they were attempting to sell me an extended service warranty. Needless to say they did not make an effective impression.
2.) Make A Headline. And Make It BOLD!
Consider this your one shot at reaching this list, it shouldn't be (more about that later), but write your copy and design your piece as if it will be. Use typography wisely. Emphasize at least one of your unique selling points boldly. Perhaps a different typeface, but certainly a larger point size is necessary. If when you hold your piece out at arms length and squint all you see is a uniform block of grey—then it needs a headline, badly.
3.) Emphasize Your Offer
Always include an offer in your campaign and give it emphasis. Do not let it remain buried in middle of your ad copy somewhere. Whether its a special discount, a rebate, a free gift or bonus—shout it from the rooftops. Your offer may be so compelling that it could warrant emphasis in your headline copy. You must of course be certain to mention it at least twice depending upon the length of your ad copy. It is a general rule that you should put an expiration on the offer. This is a time-tested truism that people will respond, all other things the same, significantly more often to an offer that will run out. This is called "pull". The more response a mailing gets the more it's said to "pull".
4.) Make Use of Whitespace
Sometimes what you leave out is as important as what you put in. Don't crowd your piece with the ad copy. Be as pithy as is reasonably possible given the parameters of your mailing (size of the paper, number of pages, etc.) while still doing justice to what the piece is trying to accomplish. By keeping your ad copy trim you'll have the luxury of spacing your paragraphs amply and offsetting your headline somewhat from the rest of the copy. Remember, what designers call "white space" is not a waste of good paper, and it need not necessarily be white. White space is the open space that should be carefully left free between your mailing's major design elements. It can be as simple as spacing out your paragraphs generously—try leaving two or three line returns between next time. This gives the eye a "breather" and makes looking at—let alone reading—your piece more enjoyable to your prospect.
5.) Whenever possible include a "Do-Something"
When it comes to tried-and-true strategies of direct mail, the "Do-Something" as I like to call it, is a sure-fire winner. A do-something is any element in which the recipient must— as the name more than implies— do something. Publisher's Clearing House, for those of us old enough to remember, may well have invented this tactic by requiring us to tear out of a sheet of little thumbnail magazine covers the little stamp corresponding to our magazine of choice. There is something to the human psyche that just responds like a little child to the idea of sticking a sticker, punching out a perforated shape, or tearing out a stamp. So whenever possible, incorporate a dosomething in your direct mail piece.
Look for Keys number 6 through 10 in my next post…
Posted By: Michael Rotolo President of Rotolo Media
Posts are available as content for your newsletter, website, or blog with permission and terms. Contact Rotolo Media for details.
1.) Make Your Piece Personal
The days of "Dear Resident" are over folks. We've all received our share of personalized direct mail before. Even if we consider it junk mail the fact is it would be even "junkier" mail if it wasn't personalized. If you're sending out a mailing that includes a letter or anything that begins with "Dear So-and-so… " it must be personalized. Obviously, the degree to which a piece can be personalized varies but there is no shortage of mailing list brokerage sources that can supply you with a list that has more than simply the vitals of Name, Address, etc. One caveat though, a letter can be overly personalized in the sense that you do not want to gratuitously repeat the valuable information you've gone to lengths to obtain. I once received a direct mail piece that must have mentioned my name, Michael, and my recently purchased Honda thirteen times within two short paragraphs. It's great they got my name right but I could barely figure out that they were attempting to sell me an extended service warranty. Needless to say they did not make an effective impression.
2.) Make A Headline. And Make It BOLD!
Consider this your one shot at reaching this list, it shouldn't be (more about that later), but write your copy and design your piece as if it will be. Use typography wisely. Emphasize at least one of your unique selling points boldly. Perhaps a different typeface, but certainly a larger point size is necessary. If when you hold your piece out at arms length and squint all you see is a uniform block of grey—then it needs a headline, badly.
3.) Emphasize Your Offer
Always include an offer in your campaign and give it emphasis. Do not let it remain buried in middle of your ad copy somewhere. Whether its a special discount, a rebate, a free gift or bonus—shout it from the rooftops. Your offer may be so compelling that it could warrant emphasis in your headline copy. You must of course be certain to mention it at least twice depending upon the length of your ad copy. It is a general rule that you should put an expiration on the offer. This is a time-tested truism that people will respond, all other things the same, significantly more often to an offer that will run out. This is called "pull". The more response a mailing gets the more it's said to "pull".
4.) Make Use of Whitespace
Sometimes what you leave out is as important as what you put in. Don't crowd your piece with the ad copy. Be as pithy as is reasonably possible given the parameters of your mailing (size of the paper, number of pages, etc.) while still doing justice to what the piece is trying to accomplish. By keeping your ad copy trim you'll have the luxury of spacing your paragraphs amply and offsetting your headline somewhat from the rest of the copy. Remember, what designers call "white space" is not a waste of good paper, and it need not necessarily be white. White space is the open space that should be carefully left free between your mailing's major design elements. It can be as simple as spacing out your paragraphs generously—try leaving two or three line returns between next time. This gives the eye a "breather" and makes looking at—let alone reading—your piece more enjoyable to your prospect.
5.) Whenever possible include a "Do-Something"
When it comes to tried-and-true strategies of direct mail, the "Do-Something" as I like to call it, is a sure-fire winner. A do-something is any element in which the recipient must— as the name more than implies— do something. Publisher's Clearing House, for those of us old enough to remember, may well have invented this tactic by requiring us to tear out of a sheet of little thumbnail magazine covers the little stamp corresponding to our magazine of choice. There is something to the human psyche that just responds like a little child to the idea of sticking a sticker, punching out a perforated shape, or tearing out a stamp. So whenever possible, incorporate a dosomething in your direct mail piece.
Look for Keys number 6 through 10 in my next post…
Posted By: Michael Rotolo President of Rotolo Media
Posts are available as content for your newsletter, website, or blog with permission and terms. Contact Rotolo Media for details.
