Preparing to Write: Researching the Product and the Market

by George Duncan

The first preparation for writing direct mail is to pack in at least 30 years of life experience, and somewhere along the line, do some selling. It will also help if you diversify your experience as much as possible. Get a liberal arts degree and suck up all the media you can, at all age levels. Don't ignore Gen-X tv just because you may be pushing 40. Work to understand the culture.

That said, there are a number of questions a writer must ask in order to think through the direct mail effort he or she will create.

Especially if you're an outside agency or freelancer, or on-site but new to the company, the following questionnaire will provide valuable data. Even if you've been with the company for a long time, it will help your writing to spell out this information in your own hand, in your own words, and have them all in one place. If you're the company Founder, it will help you to get a customer's-eye-view of your product. A view, I might safely add, that you probably don't have.

This questionnaire is designed mostly for consumer products and services. (There is another, similar questionnaire for lead generation elsewhere on this site.) It is loosely based on a questionnaire that appeared in the first directory of freelancers, published by Denny Hatch around the turn of the century. You'll find it also relates closely to the Direct Mail Package Checklist elsewhere on this site. In a few places I have also made reference to a Lead Generation Questionnaire which is intended primarily for business-to-business promotions.

The final item in the original version was "Recommended background reading and other people I should talk to." I've chosen here to deal with that first. Primary among these is the customer.

It surprises me how often I meet with clients who have almost never spoken to their customers. They tend to believe they can divine their customers' views on things through the order forms and other miscellaneous types of communication that they receive.

I suggest you get on the phone and call a dozen or so customers and ask them , at the very least,

(a) why they purchased the product or service, (and sometimes, who bought it -- it may not have been the customer-of-record.)
(b) how often they use it,
(c) how they use it (lots of surprises there!),
(d) how they might improve it,
(e) what they don't like about it, and, if time permits, how they heard of you, what other media they use regularly, and what else they do that may be related.

Depending on the product or service, you'll no doubt develop special questions of your own.

If your product is a publication such as a newsletter or magazine, you'll want to interview the editor. I've found editors' views of a publication are often much different from those of marketing people. You'll also want to read the "Letters to the Editors" file - all of it, the good, the bad and the ugly, and in the case of a magazine, the advertising promotion people can frequently add fresh insights. For any product or service, there should be a "letters" file.

Finally, if the product is sold by salespeople, you'll want to talk to the sales manager or a top salesperson about the "hot buttons" they use and the typical points of resistance they encounter.

After you've done all that, the questionnaire will fill in the "nuts and bolts" information you must have before you begin writing.

Description of product or service - in 50 words or less.
Purpose of the product. What does it do, how does it work, how is it used?
Price. How much does it cost?
What are the features of the product? Specs and facts about what helps it to do whatever it does. What makes it better, faster, more comfortable, more accurate, etc.
What are the benefits of the product. What will it do for me? What specific problem does it solve? How will it make me "health, wealthy and wise" (see discussion of benefits elsewhere. For 4 & 5, it will help to make a list of features down one side of a piece of paper and list the corresponding benefit opposite each. )
Other key points: What will it provide that I can't get somewhere else? How and why is it new?·superior?·exclusive? What is the competition, and why should I prefer this one?
What is the offer? Special introductory or limited-time savings? A premium? 2-for-1 sale? Free Information? Are there basic and deluxe versions? Is this a one-step sale (directly from the ad or mailing piece) or a two-step offer? (Free information now with a telephone sales or direct mail followup. See the Lead Generation Checklist if this is the latter.)
What is the method of payment? (Cash with order only?·Bill me?·credit cards? (which ones)·is a purchase order required (business)? Do you have an 800 #? Can they fax their orders? Order via E-mail?·Web site?)
What is the Guarantee? 100% money-back any time? 30-day no-risk trial?
Are there objectives other than direct sales? Image or brand building? Collecting customer information? Passalong? Add-on or aftermarket sales?
Who am I mailing to, i.e. what lists are being used? (You should already know this from your pre-questionnaire research. It isn't "everybody," trust me. Read the List Data Cards to determine not only who these people are, but how they got on the list. If they are mostly sweepstakes entrants, for example, that will influence your thinking.)
(If not previously determined), What is my prospectâs title and responsibility (for B-T-B), What is his/her age, sex, marital status, economic class, etc. ( for consumers). You should have already determined the full spectrum of demographics and psychographics that apply to your prospect from company surveys, sales experience, customer correspondence, phone calls, List Data Cards, etc.

In addition, you should have, from your own experience or that of others, insights into your prospectâs day-to-day home or daily business life. In business environments, how will your product help him or her get ahead? Get the promotion and the raise? Be a more successful team leader? Be more self-confident or popular with co-workers? In home environments, how will your product help save money, reduce worry and hassle? how will it make the buyer a better mother?· father?·spouse?·friend to others? For younger people, how will it help them fit in and be popular with their peers? Will brighter teeth (feature) lead to a great relationship (benefit)?
What is the budget for this project? (Budgeting should be a regular part of a marketing plan, based on sales or projected sales, not "whatever it costs.") This may tell you whether you can plan an ink-jet personalized , 4-color, 9x12 package or a 2-color self-mailer, although that should be determined by other factors.
What is the timeline? When must the piece be mailed? Why? (Allow up to 12 weeks for detailed direct mail planning and execution from scratch. Printing and mailing will take about 2 weeks each. For most products, January and September are key mailing months, unless this is a seasonal product. Testing in September and rolling out in January is a viable strategy.)
Are there any tests planned? Copy?·price?·offer? (If not, why not?)
Are there any key copy points or phrases that must be included?·That must be avoided?
Is there any special information regarding the company and its place in the industry or the stories of key people in the company that might play a role? (This should be something specific and dramatic, not a CEO bio or company history.)

Starting To Write:

Each writer has his or her own method of beginning. I usually begin with the envelope teaser, because that synthesizes the major benefit and often flags the offer in a single phrase. The length and tone of the teaser (or headline on a self-mailer) determines the look and feel of the piece from that point forward. I then rough out the headline on the letter and on the brochure, so that those key messages are coordinated to project a common theme, but not in the same words.

Then I write the first one or two paragraphs of the letter, up to the first mention of the offer, and let it all marinate for a while. If when I get back to it, I can still stand it, I finish the letter.

It's also a good idea to write the order form immediately, because that spells out, succinctly, what you'll be asking the prospect to do when you've convinced him or her that they can't live another minute (happily and successfully) without your product.

Remember, you're writing to one person, not to "markets" or to thousands. Picture that person in your mind's eye as you begin to write.

Finally, wisdom offered by premo direct mail writer Tom Collins in a seminar I attended about 30 years ago: "Give yourself permission to write a bad first draft."

# # #