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Direct Mail that Gets Attention

Written by: David Frey

Article Overview: Are you in fear that your direct mail piece won't get your prospect's attention? This articles shows you two mailers that got my attention...and kept it.

Direct Mail that Gets Attention

Recently I heard another marketer say that "attention" is the most valuable commodity you can buy in marketing.

It's true.

If you don't have someone's attention, you'll never be able to deliver your message.

Capturing the attention of your prospect is the first challenge of advertising.

That's Why I Always Get Questions Like These...

...from small business owners.

Do I send them a simply 4' x 6' postcard?

Should I send a letter in an 8.5' x 11' enveloped?

How about sending a letter with a "grabber" attached

to it...like a little magnifying glass or something?

What if I sent my letter in a tube or a FedEx box?
These are all valid questions, but they all go back to main question, which is, "Just how much attention do you want to capture and how much are you willing to pay for it?"

Actually, the question should be, "How much are you able to pay for capturing your prospect's attention?"

If you have a high dollar product that has a big margin or you're selling a continuity product or service, then most likely, the lifetime value of your customer is relatively high, which will allow you to spend more to capture your prospect's attention.

I Was Reminded of This Recently When I Received a Direct Mail Letter from a Local Auto Dealership

Auto dealerships spend a LOT of money on advertising.

In fact, I don't have the statistics to prove it but I would venture to say that the auto industry spends more on advertising than any other industry in the world.

Auto manufacturers and local dealerships alike spend a lot of money on advertising.

I was reminded of this the other day when I received a direct mail package from a local dealership.

It came in a very official looking envelope.

And by the way, the two types of envelopes that get opened the most are....

1. A personal white envelope with no teaser copy.

and....

2. Official looking envelopes.

Well, this mailer came with an official looking envelope, but inside was a flyer / letter / brochure (I'm not sure what to call it) that blew me away.

It was HUGE and it had extremely bright colors and words using massive fonts.

Here's what it looked like:

http://url123.com/mpxza

This photo doesn't really do it justice.

It was very attention getting. You couldn't help but take time to read it. If I had been in the market for an automobile I would have read it over and over again.

And Here's Another Example of a Mailer That Captured My Full Attention...

You marketers out there know that every year the "Caples Award" is given out to the top direct marketing creatives.

So if you were in charge of the Caples Awards, what would you send to your market?

It would have to be very good, considering that you're running the Caples Awards.

Well, being the President of a marketing company, each year I get an invitation to solicit advertising to the Caples Awards competition.

So this year they sent me a letter that did not disappoint.

It DID INDEED get my attention.

Here's a photo of the letter...

http://url123.com/mk9nd

Look at how huge it is.

Look at how large the headline is.

It was truly Caples Award worthy...it really captured my attention.

But Is the Incremental Cost of Sending a Huge Poster / Letter Worth It?

Well, that's a good question. It still goes back to the question of the lifetime value of your customer.

The higher the value of your customer, the more you can spend to get a new customer.

In many cases, you've already paid the heavy cost of postage, so why not put something in there that you know for a fact will get their attention.

With that said, don't forget who you're writing to and what they respond to.

Auto dealerships are known for "in-your-face" marketing and so it's expected.

Your market might be different

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Related Forum Posts
Re: Attention Age Doctrine - Hi Andy, So how did you find of "The Attention Age Doctrine" Part 1? And has following its guidelines yielded any positive results yet?
Advertisement that sales - Plan your marketing programme. It should include commitment to capital resources. If you run a small business, you aren't likely to have a generous enough advertising budget that will allow you to run costly branding or campaign ads. Every advertisement you run must convey to your prospect a solid offer and attractive reasons to act quickly, and result in increased sales and an enhanced image of your company. Good advertising always pays its own way through increased sales and profits, improved cost-effectiveness, reduced selling costs and shortened selling cycles. A useful formula that will help you increase the effectiveness of your advertising efforts is A-I-D-A, which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. When creating an advertisement, always remind yourself that it should: (1) capture your prospects' Attention, (2) arouse their Interest in your offer, (3) create their Desire for your product or service, and (4) provide a powerful spur to Action, that is, turn your prospect into buyers. Remember, bad advertising is an unproductive expense, and good advertising is an investment in future profits!
Hello From Marietta GA! - Hello All! My name is Tim Naylor and I am in Direct Sales! I am glad I have found EC's sites and I hope to learn and share a lot!
Re: Character Design - using it effectively in marketing - One thing about characters is that you can make them do things that real people can't do (such as fly). Depending on what you are selling, that can make it seem like if you use/buy their product, you'll have super powers. I know that sounds goofy, but flying is something we all wish we could do at one point in our life and the thought of it brings out the child in us, which makes us WANT. Also, kids are more apt to watch the commercial and say, "Hey, Mom, look at that......!) Attention getting, which is always good.
Top 19 Copywriting books - 1. Ogilvy on Advertising. David Ogilvy. Wiley. 2. Positioning: The Battle for your Mind. Al Ries and Jack Trout. Warner. 3. The New Positioning. Jack Trout. McGraw-Hill. 4. Tested Advertising Methods. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 5. How to Make your Advertising Make Money. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 6. Guerrilla Advertising. Jay Conrad Levinson. Houghton Mifflin. 7. Direct Mail Copy that Sells. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 8. Sales Letters that Sizzle. Herschell Gordon Lewis. NTC Business Books. 9. Herschell Gordon Lewis on the Art of Writing Copy. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 10. Romancing the Brand. David Martin. American Management Association. 11. The Art of Writing Advertising: Conversations with William Bernbach, Leo Burnett, George Gribbin, David Ogilvy, Rosser Reeves. NTC Business Books. 12. Confessions of an Advertising Man. David Ogilvy. NTC Business Books. 13. My Life in Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 14. Scientific Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 15. How to Become an Advertising Man. James Webb Young. NTC Business Books. 16. The Lasker Story as He Told It. NTC Business Books. 17. Advertising Concept and Copy. George Felton. Prentice Hall. 18. The Copy WorkShop Workbook. Bruce Bendinger. The Copy Workshop. 19. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads. Luke Sullivan. Wiley. This should keep you busy for at least a year. Enjoy!


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