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Chapter 27

Direct Mail Advertising

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"Success With Direct Mail"

 Do you want to be successful with direct mail advertising? This chapter has 20 parts, and each and every one is important. And this is just the overview of the subject. 

 But direct mail advertising does work, and if you stick to it, you will get the results you want. That is what Professional Advertising is all about.  

Here are the 20 parts of Direct Mail Advertising:

Introduction

A Measurable Response

Component Parts of a Direct Mail Piece

The Response Device

The Letter Part One

The Letter Part Two

The Envelope

The brochure

Lift letters

Overlines and Johnson Boxes

Facilitators

Incentives

Choices

Examples

Involvement Devices

Testing Your Direct Mailer

Your Mailing List

Strategies for Increasing Response with Direct Mail

Postcards & Self-mailers

Ask For Help

Direct Mail Advertising

Introduction

 Direct mail advertising is an extraordinarily powerful marketing tool. No other media allows you to target your audience so exactly. 

 You can send a large volume of information if your clients need it, or just a postcard. And you will know almost immediately if your direct mail adverting program is a success, and what your return on investment is.

 Direct mail is an immediate response media – people either respond immediately, or they throw away your mailer. We must work to get that immediate response.

 Direct mail advertising also works to build up customer loyalty. It’s how you stay in contact with your customers, and tell them they are important. 

 Research shows that 68% of customers that don’t return to a company say that the company never contacted them, was indifferent, or had a poor attitude. Dropping your customers a letter is the solution.

 Because direct mail advertising has been around a while, you can benefit from tried and true strategies. Some of these will seem counterintuitive, and some will seem like aggressive salesmanship. But the only thing that counts with direct mail advertising is the response rate.

 The good news is that we know what works. The direct mail advertising industry has been improving its craft for a hundred years. More than any other form of marketing, direct mail advertising can be measured and improved upon. You will know exactly what you get for your investment, every time you mail a letter.

 If you want to use direct mail advertising, start by looking in your own mailbox at the pieces that come again and again. Why do they work?

 Why does Publishers Clearinghouse mail those bizarre looking envelopes? Because Publishers Clearinghouse knows exactly, to the penny, what works. And you can benefit from that experience.

 One more note before we start: Your direct mail advertising has a job to do - it must sell. If you are going to succeed with direct mail advertising, you are going to have to be a little aggressive. Think about how many people sort their mail over the trash container. You have about six seconds to convince them to open your piece, and not throw it away.

 If they do open it, you have another eleven seconds to convince them to really read it. Then your mailer must aggressively direct the reader toward responding. Each and every page must push for a response. Each benefit must demand a response now. Immediately. Right this minute. How many people will come back to your piece later? Not enough. It’s now or never.

Direct Mail Advertising

A Measurable Response

 With direct mail advertising, success depends on these three things [in order of importance]:

The quality of the mailing list

The attractiveness of the offer

The copywriting and package design

 All of these factors can be changed. You can modify any part of the package to try and get a better result. 

 So the real key to success with direct mail advertising is testing. Test each part of your mailer until you find the best possible combination that achieves the highest profit for your company. And then you test some more.

 In direct mail advertising, the ‘Control’ mail piece is the version of the mailer that got the highest response rate at the highest profit per order in previous mailings. You count how well you did with your mailing, and then try to improve upon the response/profit rate of your control piece.

 Unless you are very lucky, you will need to go through several generations of mailings before you achieve the best return rates. Certainly you may be profitable with your very first mailing, but with direct mail advertising you can always do better.  

 For example, it was commonly believed that sophisticated clients would never respond to “junk looking mail” to purchase financial services. No one even tested the idea. Well, they were wrong. By creating more visual and sales oriented material, the response went way up. You don’t know until you test.

Direct Mail Advertising

Component Parts

 Direct mail advertising can be a post card, or it can be a 200-page catalog. Either way, direct mail advertising has some basic components. 

1. The response device
2. The letter
3. The envelope
4. The brochure

 A mailer will often also contain some or all of the following components:

1. A Lift letter – a brief second letter that tries again to close the sale.
2. Facilitators – guarantees, bill me later, toll-free phone number
3. Incentives – free gifts [yours to keep even if you return the product]
4. Choices – color, model, quantity, accessories, variations
5. Examples, case studies, testimonials, statistics
6. Involvement devices – peel-off stickers, fill-out cards, fold outs

 Understanding the various options and direct mail advertising component parts will lead you to success with your direct mail advertising.

Direct Mail Advertising

The Response Device

 The response device is a return card, a coupon, a fax-back form, a phone number, an e-mail, etc. It is probably the most important part of your mailer, and you probably want to start you direct mail advertising piece by thinking about the response device.

 The job of the response device is to transition the reader from interest to acceptance and response. Think of it as the sales closer. It has a big job to do. It must get attention, sum up the offer in an exciting way, and close the sale or get the desired response.

 The design of your response piece will most likely have the biggest impact on your direct mail advertising results. It has to sell, and sell aggressively. It has to scream for attention. It has to command that the reader act now. It must be aggressive.

 So here are the general rules for the response device in direct mail advertising:  

 2. Do not hide your response device – make it stand out and emphasize it. Point at it.

 4. Clearly identify the response device. It can be a reservation certificate, a no-risk trial option, a request card, an RSVP, a coupon, etc. Just mark it clearly.

 5. Use “rush”, “free”, “limited time offer,” type wording.

 6. Use strong visuals and excitement unless the mailing is very serious [like fund raising.] Red is a good color for the response device because it gets the adrenalin going.

 7. Make it easy to respond. It should be clear and very simple. Leave ample space for writing, and use heavy, uncoated stock paper. Tell the people exactly what to do. Preferably already have their name and address printed, so that they just have to sign and return your card.

 8. Use business reply mail so that the postage is prepaid on the reply envelope or card. You pay per returned piece. Do not make them look for a stamp.

 9. When offering different options, make the one you want them to choose larger.

 10. Use YES acceptance statements. “YES, please send me…”

 11. Use check boxes for options or yes statements.  Use visuals to point to the boxes.

 12. Include options like “keep me on the mailing list” or “send more information.” People who respond are good potential future customers.

 13. Keep legal disclaimer copy away from the benefit or response device copy.

 Responding to direct mail advertising is normally an impulse. The prospect responds immediately, or not at all. Everything must move the prospect toward a decision to respond right now, and a good response device is the key to getting them to act.

 A small reality check: The typical response for direct mail advertising is between ½% - 3%. If you are thinking you can get a huge response – think again. 3% is an extraordinarily good response in direct mail advertising, unless you are mailing to your own customers. When you calculate your budget, keep this in mind.

Direct Mail Advertising

The Letter Part One

 The real advantage of direct mail advertising is that you can offer a large amount of sales information to your prospects. You can give detailed benefit descriptions, and list all of the reasons why your products are great. The letter is the place to do it.

 Having said that, understand that most people will not initially read your letter. People will scan the letter. You have about eleven seconds. They will first read their own name, then the headline, the subheads, any highlighted copy, handwritten notes, captions, your signature, the post script, and maybe the first 50 words.

 Your prospect will then either respond, read the whole letter, or discard the letter.

 In direct mail advertising, your letter must:

SELL.

Highlight your biggest benefits with the parts of the letter that they will scan.

Be as easy to read and as exciting as possible.

 Here are some general structural rules for creating your direct mail advertising letter:

 2. Don’t be afraid of long copy. If they are interested, and your story is good, they will read it. Letters are commonly 3-4 pages long.

 3. Use short sentences and paragraphs, and vary the length of your sentences. Keep your first sentence as short as you can.

 4. Use common, everyday language, even if you are writing to a highly educated or technical audience. This is not the place to show off your vocabulary. 

 5. Use multiple headlines and subheads.

 6. Use captions under any photos or illustrations.

 7. Use indents and indented copy blocks.

 8. Use bullet lists, underlining, capitalization, italics, etc. for emphasis.

 9. Highlighting may distract the reader and hurt your response.

 10. Use rubber stamp impressions for attention.

 11. Only emphasize the key benefits that tell your story. Don’t overdo it.

 12. Consider ‘handwritten’ messages in the margins. These will be read.

 13. Page breaks should occur in the middle of a good sentence.

 14. Business to business letters should use black ink on white #60 paper.

 15. Everyone will read the postscript. It should add urgency, encourage action, focus on or repeat a key benefit, add a new benefit, or give an assurance [a guarantee]. And use only one p.s. in your direct mail advertising.

 16. Overlines and Johnson Boxes at the beginning of a letter will get read. [See more on these below.]

 17. The president or the CEO should normally sign the letter. Sign your name clearly because people want to be able to read your signature. Also print out the name and title. Any ‘handwritten’ notes in the letter should match the writing of the signer.

Direct Mail Advertising

The Letter Part Two

 Your reader knows that your direct mail advertising letter is trying to sell them something. By reading your letter, they are consenting to review your sales material, and to consider your offer. You must sell them on your idea just like they walked into your showroom or your office. They expect you to give them all of the relevant sales information.

 You must be very excited and enthusiastic. If your subject is serious, you must be serious and graphic. If you are trying to instill fear, you must go all the way.

 If you are not excited, how do you expect them to be? Don’t let image get in your way. If you want to succeed with direct mail advertising, use every method there is to succeed. You must sell your reader on your objective, or you fail.

 OK. It’s your words that sell in your direct mail advertising. Some words are better than others. Some writers are better than others.

 The ability to write a great business letter, report, news story, e-mail, or book does not mean a person can write a great sales letter. The only thing that counts in direct mail advertising is the response rate to that letter. Don’t be overconfident here. Professional copywriters get paid for a reason.

 Professional copywriters spend years developing their craft. If you intend to use direct mail advertising, you should try and have a professional review everything you write. Our chapter on Copywriting reviews important writing tips, but it is not comprehensive. If you do nothing else, please remember to focus on the prospect and the benefits they get, and stay in character.

 The truth is that your new prospect does not really care about you or your company. They are concerned about themselves and how you can improve their lives. They are going to make an emotional, impulsive decision to respond. After they call you, you can convince them of your abilities. But first, your letter must convince them to make contact.

 Direct Mail Advertising Letter Writing Tips:

 2. Don’t be wishy-washy. Your letter should have one coherent subject. Stay on subject, stay in character.

 3. Be absolutely clear with your copy – with all of your copy. Don’t get fancy or complicated with your message. Use common, everyday language. Do not use technical language, even for technical people.

 4. You must build rapport and trust with the reader. Do not be superior or condescending. Be their friend. [And we are sorry if our style is a little blunt sometimes, but honesty is the only policy in advertising].

 5. Don’t make extravagant or unbelievable claims with your direct mail advertising – even if they are true.

 6. Make a list of all the features of your products or services. Now pretend you are the customer, and ask the question “What does this do for me” for each feature. The answer is the BENEFIT to the customer. People buy benefits, not features. “Saves Three hours” is a feature. “Three hours to spend with your children” is a benefit.

 7. The biggest benefit you offer that makes you different from your competition is your unique selling position [USP]. It is critical that you determine what you USP is, because that is your lead benefit. It makes you special.

 8. Put your USP in your headline or first paragraph. Put your biggest benefit right up front, because your reader will not wait.

 9. Talk about them, not about you. Try this. Count how many times you write “you” versus how many times you reference your own company [us]. Now, take out all of the references to your own company, and replace them with references to your customer.

 10. The opening is the most important part of your direct mail advertising letter. Open hard and fast and don’t let go. Stay in character, and stay on message. Don’t flip flop around. Decide who you want to be, and be that person throughout the entire letter.

 11. Be aggressive with descriptive writing. Be graphic. Be visual.

 12. Don’t forget that you have to sell. List benefits, and ask for the sale. Repeat the process throughout the letter. Look at other direct mail letters. List benefits, and ask for the sale. Repeat. List benefits, and ask for the sale. Now. Immediately.

 13. You must tell them what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and make the process as easy as possible. You must tell them what you want them to do.

 14. You don’t know which part of your package or letter will be read first. Thus every part must feature benefits. A direct mail advertising piece starts out fast, and continues all the way through on every part of the mailer.

 15. Use words that sell in your direct mail advertising letter. If you really want to write this yourself, go to the library, and get books on sales copywriting and direct mail. Find words and phrases that have a proven track record, and use them.

 16. Have other people read over your communications. If they are confused or lost, do not try to argue with or convince them. Listen to them carefully. Rewrite your letter so that the common person gets it. This is the only way to get effective direct mail advertising.  

 17. Don’t insult your loyal customers by offering better deals to newcomers.

Direct Mail Advertising

The Envelope

 Tests show that you have about six seconds to convince your prospect to open your direct mail advertising letter. There are many different strategies to insure that your letter first gets past any gatekeepers, and then gets opened. Let’s review a few of these. 

 2. Don’t discount the importance of the envelope in your direct mail advertising. The best letter, brochure, and response device in the world won’t help you if the prospect doesn't open the letter.

 3. Remember, it’s response that counts. Don’t let your image get in the way of a colorful, interesting envelope that gets opened.

 4. The job of the envelope is to get the letter opened. That’s it. That’s all. Don’t try to do anything else with the envelope. You will just increase skepticism and devalue the offer contained in the letter. Your offer belongs in the letter - not on the envelope.

 5. If you are doing business-to-business direct mail advertising, a plain white #10 envelope addressed to the recipient will probably get past the secretary and delivered to the recipient.

 6. If the recipient knows you, don’t scream, “Open me” on the outside of the envelope. This leads to skepticism in one-on-one communications.

 7. If you use copy on the envelope, think of it as a teaser headline. You need to capture the concept while creating curiosity and excitement. Ask a provocative question or promise a benefit. You don’t want to give away the whole show, but you do need to create interest.

 8. Asking a question is safer than making a statement on the envelope if you don’t know the recipients state of mind. A question will more likely get the reader involved in your direct mail advertising piece.

 9. Be absolutely clear with your direct mail advertising envelope copy. Don’t get fancy or complicated with your message. Think common, everyday language.

 10. Don’t over-promise on the envelope.

 11. If you put a free gift inside your mailer, don’t just write “Free Gift Inside” on the envelope. A peek through window that actually shows part of the free gift is more effective.

 12. Don’t ask for a commitment on the envelope. That’s why you have a letter.

 13. The size of the envelope and the type of paper you use convey a message. Who do you want to be? Stay in character, and that includes the type of envelope you use in your direct mail advertising.

 14. Don’t let your designer dictate any part of your direct mail advertising piece. A prettier envelope does not automatically increase your response, and it can definitely hurt response. You have to measure. Let your accountant tell you what’s working.

 15. An odd size envelope will jump out at people. But make sure that your fulfillment house can handle it, and make sure that the addresses properly show through the window. Also double check with the post office about the cost of mailing odd shaped pieces.

 16. The post office will advise you on envelope rules. Pay close attention. They offer free booklets and classes to help you.

 17. Use words that sell to encourage people to open the envelope. “Free” is probably the best, but new, open now, exclusively for, proven success, secrets of, how to, discover, limited offer, easy, confidential, etc. etc. etc. all can and do work. Or you can start your story on the envelope with one or two great lines, and then write, “continued inside…” The key to success with direct mail advertising is to test, test, test.

Direct Mail Advertising

The Brochure

 How to create brochures is covered in detail in Effective Brochure Design. There are no special rules that apply to your brochure for direct mail advertising, except one. Test your mailer both with and without your brochure. Perhaps you can test a mailer that offers a free brochure upon request – then you know you have a hot prospect.

 You probably don’t want to test different brochures in your mailings because of cost. Concentrate on testing your letter, your envelope, and your response decise. [Don’t forget that the most important thing to test is your mailing list.]

Direct Mail Advertising

Lift Letters

 A lift letter is a second, one page letter in your direct mail advertising that is used to increase response. It highlights the key benefits of the offer, and usually comes from a different person in the organization. 

 You may have seen lift letters that start out “I don’t understand why you have not yet taken advantage of this special offer…” It uses a different method of going after the customer. Often this is effective because different people respond to different types of stimuli.

 Think of the lift letter as a testimonial. It should be short, stress the main benefits again, come from a different person, look different [different layout and font], and just be signed by the sender. No p.s. here – the entire letter is a postscript. And the only way to know if a lift letter will work for you is to ______? [Test it].

Direct Mail Advertising

Overlines & Johnson Boxes

 An overline is a sentence over the top of your direct mail advertising letter. It appears before your introduction. A Johnson Box is a box enclosing text that appears in the same location – at the top of the letter. It commonly features the main benefit or your unique selling position.

 A handwritten overline is probably the most read part of a letter. It is the one line everyone will read. So it should be the best line in the letter. It is your headline, so it better be good. Please read Copywriting for more about headlines.

 A Johnson Box should be treated just like an overline. It is your headline. It must grab your readers, and entice them to keep reading.

 Overlines and Johnson Boxes are great for a blatant sales piece. But they may not be appropriate for more conservative business-to-business letters.

Direct Mail Advertising

Facilitators

 Facilitators make it easier for customers to make a purchase decision. Your “100% Guarantee”, the “bill me later”, your toll-free phone number, and any other device you use to make the decision to buy easier is a facilitator. Use every one you can in your direct mail advertising. Always make it as easy as possible for your customer to come to a purchase decision and to make the response you want. [For example, never make them go looking for a stamp.]

Direct Mail Advertising

Incentives

 Incentives are the extras you throw in to make the sale. The “free gift, yours to keep even if you return the product” is an example. Time limit discounts and special membership benefits are also examples of incentives.

Direct Mail Advertising

Choices

 People love choices, and choices get the reader involved in your piece. If they can pick color, model, accessories or variations, they will be happy. However, there is a tradeoff. Each choice you give does increase the difficulty of ordering.

 If you add choices to your direct mail advertising, you would do well to observe people as they try to read and comprehend your piece. What is crystal clear to you may be very confusing to your customer, so be careful. The better you know and target your audience, the better you will do. And of course, test.

Direct Mail Advertising

Examples

 Examples in direct mail advertising include case studies, testimonials, surveys, official third party endorsements, and statistics. 60% of consumers believe ads that offer a money-back guarantee. 57% believe ads that carry an official third party endorsement. 46% of consumers believe claims based on survey results. People believe examples, so you want to use them if you can in your direct mail advertising.

Direct Mail Advertising

Involvement Devices

 If at all possible, you want to involve people in your mailer. You want them to interact with your materials. This is one reason why busy layouts work in direct mail advertising. Everywhere they look there is something new and exciting. Peel-off stickers, surveys, fill-out cards, fold outs, and brochures are examples of involvement devices.

Direct Mail Advertising

Testing your Direct Mailer

 Testing is very straightforward, but there are rules to follow. First, you want to only modify one aspect of your mailer at a time. Send the exact same mailer package with three different letters, and measure which one gets the best response. 

 If you changed multiple parts of your direct mail advertising, like the letter and the mailing list, you would not be able to tell which change made the difference. You must make and test changes one at a time.

 Remember that profit is the ultimate goal. You might double the price of your products, and have response drop by 80%. But what happened to your profit? If your profit goes up, then you’re on the right track.

 You want to test your mailing list, your offer, your response device, your letter, and your envelope, probably in that order. If you are only doing a small mailing, try two or three different letters. You may be very surprised at the difference.

 Over time, even your best direct mail advertising package will wear out. Don’t get complacent. You should always test your control piece to see if you can beat it.

 To know how one piece works against another, code your response device. This is as simple as printing a different code marking on each response card so that you can tell which direct mail advertising offer generated the response.

 Finally, you need to think about your sample size. With direct mail advertising, you really need to send a few thousand mailers to get an idea of how a change impacts on your return rate. If your mailing is not that big, your sample size still needs to be at least 500. However, your results will be questionable. So don’t bet the house on the results from a sampling of just 500 mail pieces.

Direct Mail Advertising

Your Mailing List

 The best mail list you will ever have is the one with your past customers on it. Always advertise to your existing customers first.

 Mailing list companies can provide you lists that are very specific, and very targeted. The key is to know who your best prospects are. The more specific you can be with your mailing, the better you will do. Define your customer well, and you will be happy with the results. Read Market Targeting Strategy for more.

 Remember, the most important item for success with your direct mail advertising is the quality of your mailing list. We can’t stress this enough. Carefully target your customers, and then test one mail list against another. It’s the only way.

Direct Mail Advertising

Postcards And Self-Mailers

 All of the rules for direct mail advertising apply to post cards and self-mailers. You need to get to the point, focus on the benefits, stay in character, make an attractive offer, make it easy-to-response, minimize the risk, and tell the reader what to do. Featuring coupons is probably the best and most effective way to use postcards in direct mail advertising.

Direct Mail Advertising

Increasing Response

 Here is a list of ideas on how to increase the response to your direct mail advertising. But the subject is so big that this is only a starting point. If you are serious about using direct mail advertising, consider using a marketing consultant to assist you. It’s absolutely worth it. Please contact Professional Advertising for these services or more information. 

 2. A good mailing list management computer program will presort  and print bar-coded addresses for you. It is absolutely, positively a requirement if you are doing your own direct mail advertising.

 3. If you use a fulfillment house to mail your package, make sure their machines can handle your specifications before you print your materials. You do not want to stuff and label everything by hand. 

 4. Collect your own [and other people's] direct mail advertising to see what works. Look for mail in the same category as yours; that is mail that is selling similar products to like clients.

 5. Do not be afraid to ask for the sale. Ask for the sale or desired response directly, and urge people to respond immediately.

 6. Keep using the same mailing list until the response rate falls below the profit level.

 7. Know the lifetime value of a customer, and calculate your marketing costs accordingly. In other words, if the customer is highly valuable, spend more money going after them with your direct mail advertising.

 8. Don’t hide the fact that your mailer is an advertisement. The reader knows what it is, and they are giving you their attention. When they open direct mail advertising, they are agreeing to read sales information.

 9. Give them information fast. There is no such thing as keeping a reader in suspense in direct mail advertising.

 10. What level of emotional appeal does the reader need? What does the product or service demand? Do you need a full color brochure? Be as verbally and visually graphic as you need to be to get their adrenalin going. 

 11. Put a second response device in the brochure. Ask the reader to “tell a friend” and pass along the brochure.

 12. Put a second response device in the mailer. It can be used as a lift letter.

 13. A brochure must pay its own way in your direct mail advertising. Test to measure your return when you use a brochure.

 14. Try to support any claims with research data and statistics. Third party endorsements are the best.

 15. Use testimonials. If possible include contact information for the person making the recommendation.

 16. Involvement devices work. Try to get your reader physically involved with your mailer. Peel-off stickers, pages that unfold, or a survey or quiz can really work to increase response.

 17. Be careful giving away free things, like a free copy of a report or a free magazine. You may get a large response, but then not be able to convert the leads into customers. Payments may be very slow for “bill me later”, or prove impossible to collect. You may get a lower re-subscription rate from the clients that do pay. A more formal mailer with no free offer may work better in the end.

 18. People commonly sort their mail over a wastebasket. Envelopes are often kept while postcards are thrown away.

 19. Multi-step mailing programs work for many offers. Advertising is about staying in front of your customers long-term, and it applies to direct mail advertising. Often, the same offer to the same group will pull progressively better over time because your customers get to know and trust you.

 20. For pricing, uneven dollar and cent amounts are perceived as a better value than round figures.

 21. Remember that your mailer will be read at random. You can’t control what will be read first, so every part of your direct mail advertising piece must sell.

 22. You are sending mail to people who didn’t ask for it. As such, you need to be intrusive. You need to entice them to spend time reading your piece immediately. The benefits you offer need to be immediate and highly beneficial to the reader. And your message must be complete.

 23.  People will stop reading if they think your offer may be too expensive. Deal with value and price as soon as you can in your letter. Read Pricing Strategy in Advertising for more information.

Direct Mail Advertising

Ask For Help

 As always, we strongly recommend that you hire a professional designer, and ask a marketing professional to help plan and review the work. It’s a cheap investment for something you are going to mail out to the whole world, and reprint endlessly.

 Direct mail advertising is a big subject, and it’s easy to go wrong. A second opinion from a professional is an investment worth making. Please contact Professional Advertising for these services and additional assistance.

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