{"id":5484,"date":"2010-07-05T07:26:26","date_gmt":"2010-07-05T12:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/37d57f8fa2.nxcli.io\/blog\/?p=5484"},"modified":"2010-07-09T07:09:31","modified_gmt":"2010-07-09T12:09:31","slug":"direct-mail-marketing-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/direct-response-marketing\/direct-mail-direct-response-marketing\/direct-mail-marketing-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Elements of Successful Direct Mail Campaigns"},"content":{"rendered":"

All direct mail marketing campaign<\/a> packages have common elements: outer envelope, letter, brochure; most have a reply card or reply envelope.\u00a0 While a 4-color brochure can supply the glitz and glamor, it\u2019s the letter in today\u2019s direct mail marketing campaign<\/a> that brings in the orders.\u00a0 Examine the letter in your direct mail campaign with an eye towards generating higher readership, which means more phone calls and orders.<\/p>\n

Once people open your direct mail package they glance at your brochure, but they read the letter. But is it really a letter?\u00a0 No, it isn\u2019t.\u00a0 A letter is a personal correspondence you write to one or two people.\u00a0 When you send it to ten, ten thousand, or ten million people – it\u2019s an ad.\u00a0 It\u2019s a highly stylized ad designed to look like\"direct<\/a> a letter.\u00a0 Any arguments?<\/p>\n

A great direct mail letter can overcome a poor offer or a product\u2019s expensive price tag and still bring in orders.\u00a0 In fact, a well written direct mail letter can work when mailed just by itself.\u00a0 The only factor that a great direct mail letter can\u2019t overcome is the incorrect list.\u00a0 But\u2026 that\u2019s another article.<\/p>\n

Like any direct mail advertising, the opening parts of the perfect direct mail marketing campaign<\/a> letter attract readers and pull them into the rest of the package. Here are the first two parts of a direct mail marketing campaign letter:<\/p>\n

Johnson Box<\/strong><\/p>\n

Named after the late Frank Johnson who first isolated this space in the 1960\u2019s and used it for advertising copy, it\u2019s the area above the salutation, but across the page on the upper right. The Johnson box is where you put the ad for your sales letter.\u00a0 It\u2019s function is to quickly capture reader attention, and drive customers to read the rest of the sales letter copy.<\/p>\n

The reason this part of the page has such incredible pulling power is: it\u2019s the highest visibility area on the page.\u00a0 It\u2019s above the fold – and a natural catch place that draws the eye and captures attention.<\/p>\n

If copy is brief and well designed this area gets exceptionally high readership.\u00a0 And since it\u2019s not actually inside the body part of the letter it\u2019s usually not perceived as part of the letter copy.\u00a0 So it stands out: up and away from the rest of the letter.<\/p>\n

This area can be just a line or two in the same type style of your letter (Courier is my favorite).\u00a0 My preference is to have two short lines of 5 to 8 words, flush right, and then directly above (or above and below if you have the vertical space) these lines, on the very next line type ****\u2019s [shift + 8] spanning the length of the words.\u00a0 This graphically separates these lines from the rest of the letter, yet still defines the lines and space as part of the letter.<\/p>\n

In direct contrast to the above paragraph, this area can also be used as a small ad.\u00a0 Design this space tightly: short and sweet with typeset copy, with a one inch offset from flush right, and show the ad without a border.\u00a0 Keep in mind it\u2019s a hot area and should be written and designed solely to entice the reader into the rest of the package. It can contain teaser copy, a quick synopsis of your biggest benefits, or a line or two touting your best offer.<\/p>\n

The Opening<\/strong><\/p>\n

One or two lines that start your letter become your entire first paragraph.\u00a0 Keep in mind the shorter the better.\u00a0 Your opening lines can even be just one or two words, set off by themselves to be the entire opening paragraph.\u00a0 With an opening paragraph of just two words, readership is ensured.\u00a0 Next paragraph – just 5 to 7 words\u00a0 This is the perfect direct mail letter opening:<\/p>\n

Your best offer.<\/p>\n

And a few words about it.<\/p>\n

See how this works? You need to electrify this area.\u00a0 Readership survival of your whole direct mail marketing campaign is at its highest risk in the your first line of your letter.\u00a0 Good just isn\u2019t good enough for this particular spot, your letter opening needs to be G-R-E-A-T!<\/p>\n

Like the headline of an ad, the first line of a direct mail marketing campaign<\/a> letter is written and designed to pull readers further into the body copy by way of intrigue, interest, coercion, desire, and seduction. Hey, wait a minute\u2026 this sounds like how I got married!\u00a0 Funny thing about marriage – while most women don\u2019t seem to marry you for your money, they all seem to divorce you for it.<\/p>\n

No selling in the opening line of the letter.<\/p>\n

The objective of your sales letter\u2019s first line is just to make people continue reading.\u00a0 The first line is a critical junction: readers don\u2019t have any commitment in your marketing letter \u2014 they haven\u2019t invested reading time, don\u2019t know how great your product is or how reasonable your offer.\u00a0 They don\u2019t identify with you \u2014 or anything you\u2019re selling.\u00a0 Readers can jump ship without guilt or curiosity at this point.\u00a0 Your copy here better be great.<\/p>\n

Additionally, it\u2019s way too early in the mailing package to sell anything; it\u2019s before you have made any kind of any value proposition: shown the benefits of what you are offering, and how great your offer is to receive those benefits.<\/p>\n

Reader fall-off at the beginning of your letter is at its greatest danger, unless you\u2019re really perfect with your first line.\u00a0 You know what that means, don\u2019t you?\u00a0 Yes, use the Jeff Dobkin 100-to-1 Rule to create your first sentence.\u00a0 Write 100 opening lines, go back and pick out your best one.\u00a0 Hey I didn\u2019t say you\u2019d like it, I just said it was effective.\u00a0 The 100-to-1 rule is from the book, Uncommon Marketing Techniques, from the Danielle Adams Publishing Company.<\/p>\n

This is the end of part one of the article series on increasing the effectiveness of your direct mail letters. The next article shows marketing tips for increasing readership in the body copy of your direct mail marketing campaign<\/a> letter.\u00a0 Each paragraph is dissected for what you need to include for maximum response.<\/p>\n

– Jeff<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Visit Jeffrey Dobkin’s website<\/a>
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