|
|
- Include something to make it dimensional. Some inexpensive free - but connect it to your business/industry.
- Include a business card in a letter.
- Use a "P.S." — its one of the most frequently read parts of the copy.
- Ensure the message matches the target audience needs.
- Get to the point quickly. If you begin your letter with general information and do not make your point, you will lose the reader. It is critical you make your point in the first few lines of the letter.
- Be clear and concise.
- Sell benefits - what's in it for them... special treatment, something free, etc. Sell - Don't tell. This isn't easy because we all aren't comfortable selling. Look at your words. "Koch Group has been in existence for 30+ years." That's a statement that tells. What if we said, "Koch Group has been assisting small and mid-sized manufacturers profit from our industrial marketing services since the mid-60s." Now we are selling.
- Keep it personal and conversational. Hand sign it - make it personal.
- Mail with stamps.
- Use 1-page letters to generate leads and interest. Your goal is to generate a response. You just want an opportunity; you can't get the sale from a single direct mail letter.
- Write to eighth or tenth grade readers. Regardless of the education or I.Q. of the recipient, most read at an eighth grade level. Don't use complicated words, make the letter easily understandable.
- Use a P.S. Response rate testing indicates letter recipient's eye moves down the page to the P.S. before they read everything in the letter! If possible, restate your selling proposition in the P.S.
- Use white space. It is hard for the reader to wade through lots of endless text. Use short paragraphs. Use bulleted or numbered lists to make points. Make it easy for them to get through the whole letter.
- Keep it to one page. Most pwners, presidents, purchasing agents, plant engineers, or other targets are busy. Make your point, sell the benefits, make it easy to read and keep it to one page.
- Use active tense. Active is always more powerful than passive tense.
- Make a no risk offer. Offer the recipient something - and make it no risk. Offer free information, an article, some industry tips, free tutorial. Use this as a "door opener" not a "sales closer".
- Create a deadline. Whether a real deadline or one you create, make one. Usually, the imposition of a deadline increases the rate of responses - recipients understand they have only a limited time to act.
- Call to action! You have got to ask. "Call our toll-free number, 800-470-7845, for a free industrial marketing needs consultation". Don't just end your letter with a whimper and go away.
- Include a guarantee. If you can offer a guarantee, do it. Some products or services do not easily lend themselves to the offer of a guarantee. By offering a guarantee, you offer credibility to your manufacturing products or services.
- Include all your contact information. Include your name, your phone number, your toll-free number, your fax number, and your e-mail address. People respond in different ways - give them the option.
- Follow the rules. Direct mail has been effectively used for decades and decades. It has generated rules based on success. If you follow the rules, your likelihood of success will increase.
|
|
|
|
