Direct mail
is sent via traditional "snail mail."
Direct mail, according to the Princeton WordNet, is advertising sent directly to prospective customers via the mail. Coming up with a successful direct mail campaign means much more than just dropping a letter and envelope into the mail. Effective direct mail requires meticulous planning and an in-depth understanding of copywriting principles. In short, direct mail is designed to be "salesmanship in print," so it's important to take a strategic, methodical approach to help you write an effective direct mail piece.
Instructions
1. Write down your goals and objectives for your direct mail campaign. Before sending any direct mail piece, it's important to start with the end goal in mind.
2. Write the headline for your direct mail piece. Your headline should include the biggest benefit your customer gets from your product or service. The headline is the most important part of your direct mail piece. If you don't sell your reader with the headline and entice her to keep reading, you may lose lots of prospective customers.
3. Include a strong opening paragraph that states a common problem your reader has. If you're using a sales letter as part of your direct mail package, you can spend a couple of sentences explaining the prospective customer's problem. If you're simply using a postcard or something similar, you can accomplish this step with a short, concise sentence like "Stop spending more than you have to."
4. Write the offer, which is the solution to the problem you identified in the previous paragraph. The offer is one of the most important pieces of your direct mailer. It tells your customer why she should take action. There are many types of offers, including a sale offer, in which you communicate an upcoming sale or discount; a free offer, in which you offer something free to the customer, or a risk-free offer, in which you offer your customers to "try before they buy."
5. Include a bulleted list of benefits. The benefits are another important part of any direct mail piece. Remember this: features tell but benefits sell. This means your benefits should explain the reasons the customer should buy from you. They should clearly convey what she gets out of it.
6. Close all direct mail with a call to action. Ask the reader to do something, whether it's calling you for more information, signing up for your newsletter or visiting your website for more details.
7. Add a P.S. at the bottom. The P.S. is a great way to recap your offer, benefits and call to action. For example, you could say something like "Don't forget to send this in for your free report by MM/DD/YY to start saving money today!"
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