Expert View: Using direct mail to grow your business (part 2)
In the second in the series, Jenny Stewart from Liverpool Chamber gives you some tips on how to create your own mailing piece.
“It’s nerve wracking enough when you are writing an ordinary letter, that hurried note to excuse your offspring from PE, or a letter to the bank asking for an overdraft, but when it’s a letter to customers or potential customers it’s a whole different ball-game!
In whatever you write, it’s worth thinking about the key stages in creating the piece.
Who are you writing to?
Would you write in the same way to your bank manager as you would your grandma? From a business point of view, you will get better results if you write to those who are similar in age, gender and profile. Have you considered your customers buying characteristics? Have you made a distinction between customers and potential customers? Personalise your letter as much as possible, so that you letter does not look like a bulk mailing!
Getting attention
What makes you open a letter? Does the envelope tell you anything about the contents? Surveys reveal that people are more likely to open an orange envelope than any other colour- but before you rush out and order thousands of orange envelopes, think about how the letter looks when it lands on the doormat. Sometimes an envelope headline could achieve the same result.
What’s it all about
Put your reason for writing the first paragraph. It’s infuriating to have to read all the way to the end of the letter before you find out what it’s about! Is the copy appropriate for the audience? How come we use why’s and wherefores in a letter, yet most of us don’t use them in conversation? Using sub-headers will help readers scan read the paragraphs, and did you know that a P.S. is the most frequently read part of a letter, especially if it is hand written?
Serious Consideration
An explanation of the product or service makes it worthy of serious consideration, as do guarantees or quality commitments, testimonials or quotes.
Closing the sale
OK so, you’ve written your letter, now you need to get the reader to respond. Remember that people respond differently, so can they order over the phone, or on the internet? What about a reply paid order form? Free delivery is a great incentive to place an order, especially if there is a deadline to qualify.
To sum up, creating a direct mail piece does not happen overnight. It’s a continually evolving process. Once you have used a piece for the first time you need to track its response rate. If you sent out 100 and you got one response then the response rate was 1%.
By challenging every aspect of your letter and improving your mailing piece you will always be able to make a margin of improvement in your response rates.
In part 3, you can get some tips getting your mailing piece to be cost effective.
Jenny
