6 Simple Rules for Creating Direct Mail That Gets Your Phone to Ring
6 Simple Rules for Creating Direct Mail That Gets Your Phone to Ring
Direct mail specialists always say that direct mail is simply salesmanship in print, yet many direct response letters written by untrained people fail to sell and to follow these 6 basic rules:
1. You must have a headline that attracts attention. The headline is the most important part of a direct response letter and changing it can result in 200% -300% improvements in response, even when nothing else is changed.
2. If you don't create instant interest and value, people won’t read even the shortest letter. Creating interest and value can get the longest letters read more than once.
3. Social proof is one of the most powerful tools available to the direct response marketer. Use lots of testimonials showing that you can deliver what you claim. People want to know that you can deliver what you claim. Other proof mechanisms include specific details, numbers etc. The more specific you are the more your claims will be believed.
4. Write to people in a personal manner. Write to them in the same way you speak to people. Worry more about clearly communicating your message than the quality of your English prose. Use slang, use contractions and remember in copywriting it's OK to begin a sentence with "And".
5. Demonstrate that what you are offering is a bargain. Unless your prospect feels that what you are offering has value and that she is getting more in results than you are asking in costs, she won’t take action. Make your offer as free of risk as possible.
6. Show people how easy it is to order, by explaining exactly what to do and making ordering easy. The more complex you make it the fewer orders you will receive!
6 Simple Rules for Creating Direct Mail That Gets Your Phone to Ring - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Hepworth's Website.
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It almost doesn't matter what business you are in, direct mail properly executed works. Sometimes it may not be very economical if you sell a low priced item, but a well crafted letter can get a prospect to take action.
Direct mail specialists always say that direct mail is simply salesmanship in print, yet many direct response letters written by untrained people fail to sell and to follow these 6 basic rules:
1. You must have a headline that attracts attention. The headline is the most important part of a direct response letter and changing it can result in 200% -300% improvements in response, even when nothing else is changed.
2. If you don't create instant interest and value, people won’t read even the shortest letter. Creating interest and value can get the longest letters read more than once.
3. Social proof is one of the most powerful tools available to the direct response marketer. Use lots of testimonials showing that you can deliver what you claim. People want to know that you can deliver what you claim. Other proof mechanisms include specific details, numbers etc. The more specific you are the more your claims will be believed.
4. Write to people in a personal manner. Write to them in the same way you speak to people. Worry more about clearly communicating your message than the quality of your English prose. Use slang, use contractions and remember in copywriting it's OK to begin a sentence with "And".
5. Demonstrate that what you are offering is a bargain. Unless your prospect feels that what you are offering has value and that she is getting more in results than you are asking in costs, she won’t take action. Make your offer as free of risk as possible.
6. Show people how easy it is to order, by explaining exactly what to do and making ordering easy. The more complex you make it the fewer orders you will receive!
6 Simple Rules for Creating Direct Mail That Gets Your Phone to Ring - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Hepworth's Website.
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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