How to CREATE more response to your direct mailer

Direct mail is not the same as a space advertisement and needs special attention to ensure success. The following quick guide will help you ensure that your direct mail communication delivers strong response from your prospects.

1. Create envelopes that entice a reader to open
   
   The decision of whether or not to open an envelope is made by the prospect in the first 5 seconds. So the headline on an envelope can make or break your direct mail campaign! So it may be dangerous to play with a vague headline like “Six ways to beat your competition – look inside to find out how.” A conservative but dependable approach for envelope copy is to state the offer. For example, “50% off on your shopping at Shoe Bazaar this weekend!”
   
   Another approach is to position the direct mail as a correspondence. In this case, the envelope looks official, has no headline and only a return mail address. Sometimes marketers use a postage stamp as opposed to metered postage to position the package as correspondence - while people may throw away promotional mail, nobody throws away letters!
   
   
2. Always allow for “quick scan” of your letter to generate interest
   
   The letter is generally the first element of a direct mail pack that is read. Most readers will generally give a glance of no longer than 7 seconds to decide whether or not they want to read the letter – this is the Quick Scan. Hence, the purpose of the letter and the offer should become apparent to the reader in no more than 7 seconds.
   
   Quick scans are assisted with a headline, or a Johnson’s box, sub-heads (or paragraph headlines) and a post-script (PS) at the bottom of the signature. It is important for the reader to get a gist of your message through this quick scan.
   
   
3. Comprehension is key – never compromise it for beauty!
   
   Ever get those beautiful big black mailers with curvy, silver writing and a royal gold watermark… they look gorgeous but are just so difficult to read! Trading off comprehension for beauty is a common mistake made by many inexperienced creative professionals. Fact of the matter is, a fancy treatment like light ink on dark paper, or a rolling font without serif (legs on alphabets), or writing in all-capital letters is very difficult to read and may create eye fatigue and depress response. Sparingly used font variation can be an effective methodology to create a quick scan. However, it is best to avoid using too many fonts and colors in the same letter – besides being distracting, such letters may be viewed as impersonal or frivolous. One final tip – When in doubt, use black ink on white paper – this is still the easiest to read!
   
   
4. Don’t be stingy with information, but stick to one key message
   
   While short is sweet in mass media, this is not true of direct mail. One common error mass marketers make with direct mail is to be stingy with information. That long letters don’t work is a common misconception. If the reader is genuinely interested, chances are that more information will work in your favour.
   
   Unlike brand building print advertisements, a direct response advertisement will have to do a detailed job of convincing in order to get the desired response.
   
   Choose simple words that visualize the benefits for the reader. Bombastic copy is a put-off. One tip is to try and imagine the reader to be your spouse or a close friend. This will ensure you use appropriate language and tonality. One important point to keep in mind is to ensure that all your arguments support the reader to take that one big leap of faith and respond to your offer. Don’t include irrelevant copy that only serves as self-glorification.
   
   
5. State the offer and repeat the offer clearly and completely
   
   Ever received one of those letters that go on and on without getting to the point? They must be fun to write but are very frustrating to read. If you have an offer to make, make it clearly. Definitely ensure that the offer is obvious in the quick scan. Stating the offer in either the Johnson’s Box or the sub-heading can do this. Make sure you repeat your offer in the body copy and in the post-script. Sometimes, a marketer may make the mistake of stating the offer but not being clear or upfront about the response device. For example, words like “Call now to receive 50% off” may create motivation but lead to frustration if the reader has to look all over for that one number to call.
   
   
6. Benchmark and Test
   
   Most credit card solicitations from banks look similar. Typically, you get a white #10 envelope with either no headline or a headline that says, “No Annual Fee” or “Pre-approved 0% introductory interest”. This contains an A4-sized letter attached to which is a tear-off enrollment form. The envelope will also contain a flyer talking about card benefits. The similarity is no accident – most banks have discovered after rigorous testing, that this is the most effective format for this particular need.
   
   If your bank is soliciting for the first time, benchmark this pack. And then start testing variations with smaller circulations to try and increase response rates. Similarly, in any industry, it is always a good idea to benchmark existing direct mail for your first campaign. Tests should be conducted on pack size, color, headline, offer, and target list among others. For example a retailer could conduct a headline test to determine which of the following three works best - “Half off”, “50% Discount” or “Buy one get one free”. All mean the same but may give startlingly different response rates.
   
   It is important to test only one element at a time so that you know exactly what impact that change had to your response rates.