Anatomy of a Direct Mail Letter
Direct mail letters are not correspondence, though they may borrow some of its elements. Mainly the salutation and the signature.
The rest of a direct mail letter is quite different as we'll see in this brief tour of a typical letter. Not every letter will have every feature, (and these apply to sales letters only. Lead generation letters, especially to top management, follow some different dynamics.) but you should have most of these elements if your letter is to sell -- not just convey information.The Headline
The first thing to consider in your letter is the headline. Yes, Virginia, there is a headline. Usually. (Not always in lead generation letters.) Right away you can see that this isn't your normal business correspondence.
The headline focuses the reader's attention on one quick benefit or promise (or two). It gives him or her a reason to spend his valuable time reading this letter. It also helps close out other random thoughts and provides a context for what is about to follow.
If your company letterhead is heavily designed or attention- getting, you may want to consider putting it at the end of the letter, instead of the usual position at the top of page one. (Now you know it isn't correspondence!) That way, your logo isn't fighting for attention with the headline. You're not selling your logo.
I try to make a promise or allude to a key benefit, and refer in some way to the offer, perhaps in a subordinate line. The offer, remember, is what the reader will eventually act upon. Avoid negatives in copy, especially in headlines. Don't say "don't."
Try a "headline group." A headline, subhead, and one, two or three short bulleted phrases that extend and expand on the headline message. It provides more information and takes fuller advantage of that high readership location. It promotes greater involvement than a headline alone.
The Opening
The opening is the first sentence or first two sentences following the salutation. "I am writing to you about..." or "I want you to know about..." are not openings. The reader, frankly, doesn't care what you want. He cares about himself. This is a key place to say something about him or his needs which your product will gratify. (The documentary film, "The Ad and The Ego," makes the point that the purpose of all advertising is "the production of discontent" in the reader or prospect. That advertising seeks to "develop an inner sense of conflict" in people which the product, of course, promises to resolve. We do much the same in direct mail, but we address ourselves to one person, not multitudes. Your opening should, therefore, seek out the reader's "hot button" or major problem and begin immediately to show how your product or service can solve it.
Most letters are won or lost in the first sentence. The surest way to lose is to begin talking about yourself and your organization.
The phrase I use to keep my head straight on this is, "Talk about my lawn, not your grass seed!" Another famous ditty that speaks to this situation is --
Tell me quick
and tell me true
Or else, my friend
to hell with you.
Not how this product
came to be,
But what the damn thing
does for me.
Offer Preview
After the opening, I like to make a brief reference to the offer. "...and you can discover it, (prove it, enjoy it) FREE, without obligation with the certificate enclosed."
Now the reader knows I'm not going to be asking him/her for money. Maybe. So he/she can relax. And my early reference to the response device begins to set up the response behavior.
It's also helpful to "merchandise" the offer by referring to it at several points throughout the letter. "When you send for your free demo (free trial issue, 30-day no-risk trial, etc.) and get it up and running, you'll quickly see..."
Sell Copy
From the offer preview, get right into the benefits your reader will realize when he/she tests, previews, examines your product. Stay in second person throughout your letter. You're talking to her (one person, not a market) about her, not you, and you're talking about yourself and your product only in terms of what it will do for her. Avoid the first person pronoun (I, we) except when to do so create an awkward phrase.
Remember you're selling the offer, not the product. It's much easier to sell a 30-day trial or a free examination than it is to sell the product itself. You'll discuss payment terms later.
Try to lead off sentences and phrases with benefits. "You'll make first hand contact with hundreds of the most active, most involved sales prospects in the industry in just two short days..."
"As one of America's elite "Million-Plus" pharmacies, you are in a unique position to increase sales, slash operating costs and grow your business rapidly with xyz..."
Use Subheads To Introduce New Thoughts
You want to avoid eye-glazing, mind-numbing, wall-to-wall copy, so use subheads to introduce new thoughts and to move from one part of the letter to the next.
Write in short sentences.
Short paragraphs.
Present a list of benefits or features in list form,
- Each item
- Preceded by
- A bullet
Use words of one syllable as much as possible. Don't assume that the person you're writing to is as literate as you are. Even if he is, he's distracted, and he's trying to extract the key information he needs, often by just scanning your letter. Which is another good reason to use subheads...bulleted listings...and... ellipses.
Be ruthless in editing out unnecessary words and phrases and "write like you talk," assuming you can talk like a successful salesman. In direct mail, Clarity is more important than literary merit and the ability to sell is more important than the ability to write.
The Offer
When you've fully described the many ways your product will benefit the reader, show him/her how he can acquire this fabulous program/product/service. Or, rather, how he/she can realize these benefits right now.
Spell out your offer in detail. What the reader gets. If you're offering a premium, this the place to sell that a bit, too. You may also feature it in the brochure if you have one, or in a separate premium flyer.
If at all possible, and if appropriate otherwise, date your offer. An expiration date helps to keep your package from going up between the lamp and the tape dispenser for further consideration. Again, agreement doesn't do it. Only acting on that agreement right now results in sales.
The Guarantee
No one wants to make a mistake. Especially not an expensive mistake. Relieve that fear with your guarantee. Mitigating risk is an essential function of successful direct mail. By law you must refund legitimate requests up to 30 days anyway, so why not make it a virtue? Don't worry that your guarantee might somehow shed doubt on your product. The guarantee speaks not to your product, but to you as an honest and fair businessperson they can trust.
But don't hawk it as a "Money Back Guarantee." or "Full Refund If Not Satisfied" kind of thing. That's negative. A Free (or Risk-Free or No-Risk) 30-day Trial is the same thing, expressed in positive terms. "Examine it, try it, use it for a full 30 days without risk." That's an invitation, not a warning.
Note that under FTC rules governing the use of the word "free," an offer is not "free" if the prospect must pay something to receive it. Then it may be called "risk-free" if you guarantee a refund.
If you can extend the guarantee to 60 or even 90 days, so much the better. Longer trial periods allow prospects to become acclimated to the product. They also get inertia working for you, instead of against you. People forget.
The Call To Action
Even after all that, you can't assume the reader will do what you want him/her to do, right now. But that's what he/she must do. So spell it out. Does he detach and complete a reply card, call a toll free number, complete a questionnaire, check a box? Punch out a token? What? Is there a postpaid or self-addressed reply envelope to use?
Ask him/her to do all that right now because that expiration date will be here before he/she knows it. Because he really wants to try this, but if he lets it go till "later," he'll forget.
The P.S.
Punctuate the call to action with the signature, then add a P.S. After the headline and first sentence, the P.S. commands the highest readership in the letter. Use that important space to repeat a key benefit, or add a twist or an another idea to something you've already said. Also repeat your call to action here, in slightly different words.
The mnemonic for the basic function of all direct marketing, but especially for letters, is AIDA. Get Attention. Arouse Interest. Stimulate Desire. Prompt Action. And it ain't over until the fat lady mails the order form.
