Direct Mail Best Practices

Depending on your business model, getting people to spend/donate/deposit their money is likely what it's all about. Direct Mail (DM) is Database driven. As such it is a huge revenue driver. It's one of the few marketing disciplines that can say "Give me a dollar, I'll give you back a buck fifty."

Most people have a very low opinion of Direct Mail - the derogatory term "junk mail" is proof of that (which would also explain why up to half of it winds up thrown away ... unopened). But the volume of "junk mail" into the consumer's mail box shows little sign of slowing down. According to Mail Monitor, a record 6 billion credit card offers were received by US households during 2005 alone.  An offer is what the reader gets when he responds to your mailing. To be successful, a direct-mail package should sell the offer, not the product itself.

For example, if I mail a letter describing a new mainframe computer, my letter is not going to do the whole job of convincing people to buy my computer. But the letter is capable of swaying some people to at least show interest by requesting a free brochure about the computer.

Make sure you have a well-thought-out offer in every mailing. If you think the offer and the way
you describe it are unimportant, you are wrong.

A freelance copywriter friend of mine ran an ad that offered a free portfolio of article reprints about direct mail. He received dozens of replies. Then he ran an identical ad, but charged $3 for the portfolio instead of giving it away. Number of responses that time? Only three.

Here are some effective offers for industrial direct mail: Free brochure, free technical information, free analysis, free consultation, free demonstration, free trial use, free product sample, free catalog.

Your copy should state the offer in such a way as to increase the reader's desire to send for whatever it is you offer. For example, a catalog becomes a product guide. A collection of brochures becomes a free information kit. A checklist becomes a convention planner's guide. An article reprinted in pamphlet form becomes "our new, informative booklet - "How to Prevent Computer Failures.'"

From now on, design your fulfillment literature with titles and information that will make them work well as offers in direct mail. When one of my clients decided to publish a catalog listing U.S. software programs available for export overseas, I persuaded her to call the book "The International Directory of U.S. Software," because I thought people would think such a directory was more valuable than a mere product catalog.

Superficial copy

Nothing kills the selling power of a business-to-business mailing faster than lack of content. The equivalent in industrial literature is what I call the "art director's brochure." You've seen them: Showcase pieces destined to win awards for graphic excellence. Brochures so gorgeous that everybody falls in love with them - until they wake up and realize that people send for information, not pretty pictures. Which is why typewritten, unillustrated sales brochures can often pull double the response of expensive, four-color work.

In the same way, direct mail is not meant to be pretty. Its goal is not to be remembered or create an image or make an impact, but to generate a response now.

One of the quickest ways to kill that response is to be superficial. To talk in vague generalities, rather than specifics. To ramble without authority on a subject, rather than show customers that you understand their problems, their industries and their needs.

What causes superficial copy? The fault is with lazy copywriters who don't bother to do their homework (or ignorant copywriters who don't know any better).

To write strong copy - specific factual copy - you must dig for facts. You must study the product, the prospect and the marketing problem. There is no way around this. Without facts, you cannot write good copy. But with the facts at their fingertips, even mediocre copywriters can do a decent job.

Don Hauptman, author of the famous mail-order ad, "Speak Spanish Like a Diplomat!," says that when he writes a direct-mail package, more than 50% of the work involved is in the reading, research and preparation. Less than half his time is spent writing, rewriting, editing and revising.

Recently a client hired me to write an ad on a software package. After reading the background material and typing it into my word processor, I had 19 single-spaced pages of notes.

How much research is enough? Follow Bly's Rule, which says you should collect at least twice as much information as you need-- preferably three times as much. Then you have the luxury of selecting only the best facts, instead of trying desperately to find enough information to fill up the page.

Saving the best for last

Some copywriters save their strongest sales pitch for last, starting slow in their sales letters and hoping to build to a climatic conclusion. A mistake. Leo Bott Jr., a Chicago-based mail-order writer, says that the typical prospect reads for five seconds before he decides whether to continue reading or throw your mailing in the trash. The letter must grab his attention immediately. So start your letter with your strongest sales point.

Some examples of powerful openings:

1. "Which produces the best ad results - an 800 phone number? Company phone? Coupon? No coupon?" - from a letter selling ad space in a specific magazine.

2. "14 things that can go wrong in your company - and one sure way to prevent them" - an envelope teaser for a mailing that sold a manual on internal auditing procedures.

3. "A special invitation to the hero of American business" - from a magazine's subscription letter.

4. "Can 193,750 millionaires be wrong? - An envelope teaser for a subscription mailing.

5. "Dear Friend: I'm fed up with the legal system. I want to change it, and I think you do, too." - the lead paragraph of a fundraising letter.

6. Some time- testing opening gambits for sales letters include: asking a provocative question;

7. Going straight to the heart of the reader's most pressing problem or concern;

8. Arousing curiosity;

9. Leading off with a fascinating fact or incredible statistic; and

10. Starting the offer up front, especially if it involves money:

11. Saving it, getting something for an incredibly low price, or making a free offer.

Know the "hot spots" of your direct-mail package - the places that get the most readership. Those include: the first paragraphs of the letter, its subheads, its last paragraph and the postscript (80% of readers look at the P. S.); the brochure cover, its subheads and the headline of its inside spread; picture captions; and the head- line and copy on the order form or reply card. Put your strongest selling copy in those spots.

Poor follow-up

Why pay experts to create mailings based on long years of trial- and-error experience, then deprive yourself of that knowledge base by letting personal opinions get in the way.

Here are some things you can do to become a better direct-mail client:

1. Reduce the review process. The fewer people who are involved, the better. At most, the mailing should be checked by the communications manager, the product manager and a technical expert (for accuracy).

2. Resist the temptation to meddle. Point out technical inaccuracies and other mistakes. But don't dictate the piece's content, tone or style.

3. Make a commitment to judge direct mail not by what you like or by aesthetics, but by results - which can be measured accurately and scientifically.

4. Become more educated in direct mail by reading books. I recommend "Successful Direct Marketing" by Bob Stone (NTC Business Books, Chicago (800) 323-4900; 496 pp.; $29.95) as a good place to start.

5. Know what's going on in the industry. Subscribe to at least one of the top direct marketing magazines. Also, keep in touch with industry developments by reading the more broadly based marketing publications.

6. If you challenge your direct-mail pros, be willing to spend for a test. In direct mail, the answer to "Which concept is best?" is the same as the answer to the question, "Which mailing piece pulled best?"

Because nobody can argue with results.

I'm Tony Wilson

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