| How to
Improve Your Direct Mail Results
I recently received
an email from a former client that asked me what
they could do to improve responses rates to their
mailings sent during his slower months.
Here’s
part of what I shared with them---
• Kick things up by using deadlines. Usually, the imposition
of a deadline increases the rate of response because the recipients
understand they have only a limited time to act. It’s harder
for them to put it aside for later consideration. (This means never!)
• Make it easy for prospects to respond in a way they find comfortable
for them based on their own personal style. Be sure to give them your
phone number, fax, URL and e-mail address. Include a postage paid business
reply card or envelope when it makes sense. Why sacrifice a sale for
the price of postage?
• Consider multiple coupons in the same mailing. For example,
if you are a restaurateur using coupon offers, not everyone may be
interested in your chicken dinner this week, but might like one of
your salads, hamburgers or tacos. Multiple choices can increase the
response rate to your mailing by giving the prospect the option of
getting what they want or by encouraging multiple visits. One thing
to avoid is mailing a coupon that can’t be used immediately,
(with a “not good until” date on it), because prospects
will typically will set it aside and forget about it.
• Keep it readable. Get rid if any big words and text blocks.
Use short, simple words of six letters or less. Keep paragraphs short.
Four to six lines seem to work best as dense copy discourages readership.
Use bullet points (like this newsletter) to quickly showcase important
items.
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