HOW MANY OF THESE DESIGN MISTAKES KEEP DRAGGING DOWN YOUR DIRECT MAIL RESPONSE?
HOW MANY OF THESE DESIGN MISTAKES KEEP DRAGGING DOWN YOUR DIRECT MAIL RESPONSE?
...Could it be that the art direction let you down?
It has been demonstrated time and time again that one can increase the response of a package by redesigning it without altering a single word. This proves the converse – that art direction could be the real culprit of low returns.
It's true.
Mistake Number 1. Not making it reader friendly!
Art direction is not showing off visual artistry or technical expertise; its sole purpose is to make reading the message effortless and lead the reader to act.
MISTAKE NUMBER 2. Ignoring the fact that readers only look at 25% of any reading material and then read only half of that.
This is more true today then ever before.
So, a designer's job is to entice readers into reading more than just 12.5% of the message.
MISTAKE NUMBER 3. Not grabbing the reader's attention from the start.
There are many ways of doing this. A designer must get the reader's attention to focus on what is important and lead his readers to follow his trail.
This applies not only to direct mail but right across the board to every medium, from Ads to web design.
Two years ago when I interviewed Ted Kicklerfor my column Personal & Direct for Direct Marketing News, he told me that in many cases just by redesigning a package he produced a better response then the control package.
I too have redesigned a package and boosted response by 120% without altering a single word.
Listed above are just three of the most common mistakes designers make. There are many more that can make the big difference in response.
To find out email me at: designersinc@sympatico.ca
After all, the true result is not how beautiful your package looks, it how well it performs.
HOW MANY OF THESE DESIGN MISTAKES KEEP DRAGGING DOWN YOUR DIRECT MAIL RESPONSE - To learn more about this author, visit Billy Sharma's Website.
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Your last dm package looked great, the copy was brilliant and yet the package didn’t quite perform to your expectations...
...Could it be that the art direction let you down?
It has been demonstrated time and time again that one can increase the response of a package by redesigning it without altering a single word. This proves the converse – that art direction could be the real culprit of low returns.
It's true.
Mistake Number 1. Not making it reader friendly!
Art direction is not showing off visual artistry or technical expertise; its sole purpose is to make reading the message effortless and lead the reader to act.
MISTAKE NUMBER 2. Ignoring the fact that readers only look at 25% of any reading material and then read only half of that.
This is more true today then ever before.
So, a designer's job is to entice readers into reading more than just 12.5% of the message.
MISTAKE NUMBER 3. Not grabbing the reader's attention from the start.
There are many ways of doing this. A designer must get the reader's attention to focus on what is important and lead his readers to follow his trail.
This applies not only to direct mail but right across the board to every medium, from Ads to web design.
Two years ago when I interviewed Ted Kicklerfor my column Personal & Direct for Direct Marketing News, he told me that in many cases just by redesigning a package he produced a better response then the control package.
I too have redesigned a package and boosted response by 120% without altering a single word.
Listed above are just three of the most common mistakes designers make. There are many more that can make the big difference in response.
To find out email me at: designersinc@sympatico.ca
After all, the true result is not how beautiful your package looks, it how well it performs.
HOW MANY OF THESE DESIGN MISTAKES KEEP DRAGGING DOWN YOUR DIRECT MAIL RESPONSE - To learn more about this author, visit Billy Sharma'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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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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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster'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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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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