Direct mail remains an important element of marketing communications strategies. Getting it right is the subject of books rather than just quick eTips. But we're happy to share a few highlights from lessons we've learned through lots of research plus plenty of first-hand experience!
- personally addressed letters are far more likely to reach the right desk
- wherever possible, keep your letter to a single page - brevity increases readership
- keep line lengths, sentences, and paragraphs short - plenty of white space on the page will make your mail piece look easier to deal with
- carefully proofread your mailshot letter - enlist the help of a colleague who's never seen it before
- hand signatures (preferably in blue ink) improve effectiveness
- a personalised, hand-written P.S. substantially increases impact
- avoid huge risks inherent in marrying up letter with personalised envelopes by using window faced envelopes - especially important when doing large mailshots
- if you choose to print personalised envelopes, have someone randomly sample enveloped letters to check for any mismatches before mailing
- avoid frustration and cost by test printing a few letters before sending the whole job through
- despatch your mailshot to reach readers desks early in the week - Mondays or Tuesdays - rather than near the weekend when it's less likely to get attention.
Here are a few more pitfalls to avoid and ideas to increase impact.
- Busy people are less likely to bin a personalised letter presented on high-quality stationery than an email - the "delete" button is far too tempting!
- signing the letter should be a quick quality-assurance step: check addressee, salutation, formatting
- chances are your intended readers already get lots of correspondence - improve focus on what you have to say by making your mail piece really easy and quick to read
- choose a serif font - a font like Times, Century Schoolbook, Garamond, or Footlight is better for most readers than a sans serif (no caps and tails on letters) font like Arial, Universe, or other "kindergarten printing"
- use an attention-getting heading - e.g. what's important about news or the key benefit to the client
- bulleted lists are easier to comprehend than dense paragraphs
- keep language clear and simple - the reading age of the average Australian is around 10 years to 12 years
- end your letter by suggesting the next step or action: "please call" or "we'll be calling you to discuss this" or "please return the survey enclosed" - don't leave the recipient in doubt about what to do next!
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