The opening paragraph of your direct mail letter is the place to show your biggest benefit.\u00a0 Lead with your best stuff first – or did you want to wait and take a chance you\u2019ll lose readers?\u00a0 This should be your hottest copy and your most exciting benefit.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnjoy this, the biggest benefit of our brand new product – and here\u2019s our best offer!\u201d The actual way to phrase this copy might sound like, \u201cEnjoy the easy and extra-fast swing of our new ultra- Show benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n In any direct mail marketing campaign<\/a> you show the features in the brochure, and the benefits of those features in the letter.\u00a0 The brochure tells, the letter sells\u2026 and asks for the call frequently.\u00a0 Direct mail marketing has it\u2019s own set of rules.\u00a0 Rules that have been thoroughly tested by billions of direct mail marketing letters.<\/p>\n You remember the difference between features and benefits, don\u2019t you?\u00a0 Products have features – a teacup has a handle, that\u2019s a feature.\u00a0 The benefits are what people derive from those features – when you hold the teacup with the handle you don\u2019t burn your hands.\u00a0 The benefits – what people get from the product\u2019s features – go into the letter.<\/p>\n Second paragraph.\u00a0 This is a transitional paragraph of your direct mail letter expanding on your biggest benefit.\u00a0 As with all the paragraphs, set the type flush left with a 4- or 5-character indent, rag right and hold all paragraphs to under 7 lines at most, 5 lines or less is optimal.<\/p>\n Third paragraph – a great place to show all your benefits.\u00a0 The best use of your third paragraph is to place a bulleted list of benefits right in the center of your direct mail marketing letters.\u00a0 Showing all benefits here may sometimes become too fluffy, so including a few product features is OK in this list.<\/p>\n \u00b7 Bulleted lists have high readership.<\/p>\n \u00b7 Show one benefit to a line.<\/p>\n \u00b7 Everyone likes a bulleted list.<\/p>\n \u00b7 Know who will read this paragraph?\u00a0 Everyone.<\/p>\n \u00b7 Even people who just skim your letter read this.<\/p>\n \u00b7 Don\u2019t forget to direct readers to call now & order!<\/p>\n So you need better-than-average copy here, since it is the highest readership in the body copy of your letter.\u00a0 You need short and sweet killer copy.\u00a0 Each single line drives the reader further into the rest of the letter, and closer to buying your product and closer to the phone.<\/p>\n Fourth paragraph.\u00a0 Want to make your direct mail letter visually different?\u00a0 Indent this paragraph and place it in italics.\u00a0 Move the margins in one inch on BOTH sides, so the paragraph width is about 3 inches at most.\u00a0 And reduce the font size by two points.\u00a0 This gives your letter copy some air – a little breathing room – and makes it look easy to read, even if it isn\u2019t.\u00a0 Tout the benefits and ask for the phone call in this foreshortened paragraph.<\/p>\n Shortening this paragraph – a part of the best letter design practices – can work if you have a list in your third paragraph, but looks best if the paragraph above it isn\u2019t in bullet list format.<\/p>\n Fifth paragraph.\u00a0 Here\u2019s where you really sell the phone call. \u201cJust pick up the phone and call us right now.\u00a0 Questions, comments – your call is always welcome \u2014 here\u2019s our phone number: 800-987-6543.\u201d<\/p>\n Don\u2019t be afraid to ask people to call you several times in any direct mail advertising, and the sales letter is no exception.\u00a0 Ask for a call in the fourth and fifth paragraph.\u00a0 This fifth paragraph is where you MUST sell the phone call hard.\u00a0 Remember, no phone calls – no orders = failure.<\/p>\n Also – show your actual phone number in the text of the letter in this body copy of your direct mail marketing campaign letter.\u00a0 Yea yea, I know – it\u2019s in the letterhead.\u00a0 Show it again here in the text. And again in the PS. It encourages phone calls – need I say more?\u00a0 Any arguments?<\/p>\n Signature: Sign legibly.\u00a0 Even if your real signature looks like the X made by Attila the Hun, sign so people can read it.\u00a0 It\u2019s a visual hook – keep it legible.<\/p>\n The PS in your direct mail marketing campaign letter is your last chance to briefly restate your one or two biggest benefits, your incredible offer, and ask for the phone call.\u00a0 Last chance – make a great, irresistible call to action.<\/p>\n White space.<\/strong><\/p>\n Don\u2019t forget the other half of your direct mail letter – white space.\u00a0 Keep a lot of breathing room around your copy, let it air out.\u00a0 This may mean reducing your font size from my first preference of 12 points to a slightly smaller 10 point size, but if it makes the letter look light, breezy and easy to read, it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n BTW, I always prefer Courier typeface to make the letter look like a traditional letter.\u00a0 While the letter may be an ad, to make your direct mail letter the most effective it can possibly be, it should look like a letter.<\/p>\n Tests show that when 100,000 letters are mailed with the exact same copy, with 50,000 printed in courier typeface and the other 50,000 in a different typeface, the courier typeface letters draw the best response.<\/p>\n Remember, direct mail letters are secretly ads – not really letters.\u00a0 They have their own set of distinct rules for effectiveness and the effectiveness of their design has been measured over time.\u00a0 We\u2019ll still call our ad a letter, though.\u00a0 OK?<\/p>\n – Jeff<\/em><\/p>\n![\"direct](\"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/direct-mail-marketing-campaign.JPG\" "\\"direct")
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