So you’ve decided that Direct Mail is the right way to sell your particular product and service, you’ve come up with a mail pack and you’ve allocated a budget… But before you hit print, here are 5 hot tips to make sure your mailing performs as well as you need it to…
- Personalise – Although you may think its old hat, a mail pack addressed to a recipient personally (rather than the more-generic, ‘The Occupant’) is much more compelling and more likely to get opened.
- Use a Johnson Box – This is a call-out at the top of the letter that holds the offer in a nutshell. It makes sure that your recipient understands your offer at a glance and teases them to want to read more.
- Repeat your phone number and web address or whichever response channel you’re pushing, at least 3 times on a page (and it is advisable to offer recipients a choice of channels, even though you might choose to emphasise one over another).
- Don’t be afraid of long copy – If you’re looking for someone to utilise your product or service, you need to give them as much information as possible. But do this clearly, and break your copy up with headings, and bullets. You can also use indents, bolding and underlining in relevant parts to make it easier to read.
- Use a PS – it might seem lame – but a PS is actually useful. If your recipients are just scanning your letter, then a PS can really jump out at them. Make it the same colour as the signature of the sender on the bottom of the letter (and preferably a different colour to the body text), use a handwritten font, repeat the main point of your offer, include a call to action, and you have a winner.
