{"id":2326,"date":"2009-10-05T06:36:11","date_gmt":"2009-10-05T11:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/37d57f8fa2.nxcli.io\/blog\/?p=2326"},"modified":"2010-01-20T16:51:33","modified_gmt":"2010-01-20T21:51:33","slug":"improve-glance-readership-post-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/direct-response-marketing\/improve-glance-readership-post-cards\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Improve “Glance Readership” In Post Cards"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/em>Post cards make sense in today’s bludgeoned economy. They’re cheaper to print than a full direct mail package, easier to handle, and are less costly to mail. They can be effective if created correctly.<\/p>\n

Face it: most people sort their mail over the trash can.<\/p>\n

This process works fast.\u00a0 Think back: you are a kid and a friend is showing you baseball cards for possible trades:\u00a0 gottem gottem needem gottem gottem needem gottem.\u00a0 200 cars, 50 seconds.\u00a0 Today\u2019s mail\u2026 Same thing.\u00a0 Bulk mail credit card offers, magazine subscriptions, insurance solicitations, penny stock hawkers all get the briefest attention before being trashed.<\/p>\n

But, post cards add another dimension to the view-and-toss sorting process. \u00a0Readership can be quite high, instantly.\u00a0 Because – it\u2019s all right there, right in front of the reader\u2014in his hand. Post card readership is actually defined by how great the creative is for your card.\u00a0 The fate of your card starts in the hand of the mailer, which\u00a0I believe is you, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

I call it \u201cGlance Readership,\u201d a term I coined, well\u2026 just now, to explain what happens the moment a post card lands in a reader\u2019s hands.\u00a0 Glance readership is the less-than-2-seconds spent on reading your headline, 1 second on topic, 1 second on copy and the blink of an eye on graphics unless they\u2019re really dazzling.<\/p>\n

Like an ad in a newspaper (remember them?) you only get a second or two — readership reviews can be brutal and end in the briefest of time followed directly by the sudden downward spiral or your mailpiece – and your money – into the circular file below.<\/p>\n

Or, you can instantly get extremely highly-rated reviews and have your postcard placed in the pile of \u201cread with the rest of the important mail.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s your choice.\u00a0 So\u2026 what\u2019s it gonna be?\u00a0 Right now, you\u2019ve got to ask yourself, \u201cAm I feeling lucky?\u201d<\/p>\n

When your recipient gets a good look at the card, you get either opportunity. Pass or fail. The decision is immediate.<\/p>\n

For us on the creative end of direct mail, it just can\u2019t get any better.\u00a0 Buy the right list and get one of my cards into the correct reader\u2019s hands: that\u2019s all I ask \u2014 I\u2019ll get him to read it.\u00a0 Your direct marketing agency will too and if they can\u2019t, find another agency – plenty of good ones out there.\u00a0 Or call me – I can use the money.<\/p>\n

OK, so your potential reader is now standing there with your card in his hand and that, my friend, is where the chicken crossed the road\u2026 er, the rubber meets the road. Or hit the road, or something about the road.\u00a0 I forget\u2014\u2014I have Alzheimer’s.\u00a0 But\u2026 at least I don\u2019t have Alzheimer’s!<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s where you need to force the reader to read the card: compelling headline, followed by intriguing copy and great, great graphics.\u00a0 Spend a little more time and money here and what happens? The reader reads the card.<\/p>\n

Now, some nitty-gritty.\u00a0 How to do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cGlance readership\u201d is 100% based on your headline hook, appropriateness of subject to your audience, layout and graphics, and certainly the value created in your offer.\u00a0 Wrap all these elements in great graphics and now your post card is presented in a fast 2-second visual bite.<\/p>\n

Visually it\u2019s the print version of flipping channels on TV.\u00a0 The audio version is the sound bits you hear on the evening news or promos for the shows on MTV; which, come to think of it, appear to be written by the same writers.<\/p>\n

While each post card reader has his or her own mental preference files that compels him or her to stay tuned into your card, some commonalities exist.\u00a0 Wait.\u00a0 Wait just a moment.<\/p>\n

This gender thing of saying \u201cHim or Her\u201d all the time has got to go\u2014it\u2019s too clunky to keep saying \u201chim or her, him or her,\u201d – so let me clear this up.\u00a0 I\u2019ll just place everything in the male gender until I get complaints from, well, you know\u2026<\/p>\n

Glance Readership & The first round of sorting<\/strong>
\nSo right on the top, your headline needs to be great. If you have a good headline, ummmm\u2014no. No! Here, good is actually not good enough.\u00a0 You need something more than just good, you need \u201cexceptionally great!\u201d Create this one line correctly, viola – instant maximum readership.<\/p>\n

The first work-order of the day is to create an unbelievably great, maximum-interest headline so the reader stays in the copy and continues reading.\u00a0 That\u2019s the goal of the headline, nothing more: keep the reader reading.\u00a0 No selling.<\/p>\n

Since your opening headline needs to be G-R-E-A-T, use the Jeff Dobkin 100-to-1 rule for creating G-R-E-A-T headlines:\u00a0 write 100 headlines, go back and pick out your best one and use that. Oh, you like this idea!\u00a0 Plan to use it?\u00a0 OK, Send me Ten Bucks.\u00a0 Yea, each time you use it.\u00a0 And you\u2019re getting away cheap.\u00a0 OK, jest kidding.\u00a0 Just send just $5.<\/p>\n

The founding principle of high readership: Headline = Great, or else.\u00a0 The objective of the headline is to grab the attention of the reader and yank him into the copy.\u00a0 This is NOT the time you sell your product.<\/p>\n

The first glance is the pivotal point in your presentation\u00a0 that the reader has no commitment to read further.<\/p>\n

He hasn\u2019t invested any time in your copy; he isn\u2019t intrigued by whatever you\u2019re selling at whatever price; he hasn\u2019t seen your electrifying offer; he hasn\u2019t followed your storyline for 10 paragraphs and wants to finish the other three to see how you close the sale or the story finishes.<\/p>\n

Nothing.\u00a0 No commitment – right now you\u2019re just another piece of paper with no heart, no soul. Man, these first 2 seconds are critical.<\/p>\n

At first glance, the card can be tossed without regret if the headline sucks.\u00a0 Kindly recall that the reader has lots of other mail, and has years of practice of a fast standing-there-over-the wastebasket first sorting time.<\/p>\n

You need to instantly deliver: survive this cut or your mailpiece suffers death-by-wastebasket.\u00a0 Along with your money.\u00a0 It\u2019s the changeover point where your post card stops being an \u201cinvestment\u201d and becomes an \u201cexpense.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second round of sorting<\/strong>
\nOk, like my first wife said about our marriage, let\u2019s get past this.\u00a0 Oh well, I thought it was a good first week. \u00a0 Then I found out while only some women marry you for money, they all divorce you for it.<\/p>\n

OK, so you and your post card made the first cut.\u00a0 Congratulations.\u00a0 Great graphics, hellatious headline, compelling, convincing copy; opulent irresistible offer.\u00a0 Having survived the first cut following the\u00a0 \u201cGlance Readership\u201d rules, your card now sits comfortably at the reader\u2019s desk with the rest of the \u201cimportant\u201d mail.\u00a0 Nice.<\/p>\n

This \u201cSecond Look\u201d opportunity gives your post card the luxury of more time now that the reader has taken it back to the comfort of his office, a comfortable chair, a couple of beers, some good smoke and a little more time to invest. Or is that just me?<\/p>\n

Anyhow, to survive the first glance means the reader has made the decision he has an interest in what you\u2019re selling or at least in what you have to say.<\/p>\n

– Jeffrey<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Visit Jeffrey Dobkin at JeffDobkin.com<\/a>
\nAbout Jeffrey Dobkin
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