The most important component of any direct mail piece is the
offer. Do you make it easy for prospects
to say “yes”? To create an offer that
both stands out from the rest of the mail and inspires confidence and response,
keep the following in mind:
Keep it Real
1. Be
thoughtful. The more you know about your
target audience--motives, deadlines, obligations, etc.--the better you can
tailor your offer and create response.
2. Be specific. When you make a strong
offer in a direct mail piece, don't be coy with the details. Tell your audience
what it needs to know to make a decision.
3. Be honest. In your offer, you can
tease. You can be clever. But above all, you should be honest. If you fail to
disclose key information, or if you mislead your market in any way, you could
not only turn potential responders away instead of inspiring them to act, but
you could also permanently tarnish your image.
4. Be limiting. Limiting your offer to a
specified time period creates a sense of urgency and prompts people to make
decisions. When including a time-sensitive element in your offer, consider the
size of the investment you're asking your recipient to make when you set your
deadline: the smaller the investment or commitment, the shorter the deadline
can be.
5. Be accommodating. Offer multiple
payment options and multiple contact methods so that your prospects can reach
you in the way most convenient to them.
Once you have your offer defined, you can dress it up--or
down--with an appropriate format and text and an attention-grabbing
headline. Not sure you have the write
stuff? See next week’s blog for tips on
creating effective headlines.
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