How-To Attract Attention to your Direct Mailing Piece

Typical scenario of a plain envelope received in mail:

Open envelope
Pull out contents
Skim over materials
Read headline of sales letter (maybe)

Response:

Oh it's just a sales letter

Action:

Throw Away

Estimated time sequence:

5-10 seconds

That's it. You have 5-10 seconds to get the attention of your prospect and get him or her to read further.

If you are mailing your offer to a good list (which is the most important part of a successful mailing), you have to get their attention immediately and compel them to read further.

This article is not intended to cover mailing lists, or getting your customer to put pen to check and mail it off to you. We'll cover that another time.

Before you can hope to get an order (if that is what you are trying to accomplish) or what ever action you are requesting, you have to get them interested enough to read your materials.

What compels people to read letters, what makes them interested?

This is often debated by successful marketers of all types. The fact is there are no rules that work in all cases.

Let's start with the envelope itself.

Some marketing professionals will tell you to put a "teaser" on the envelope. A teaser can be as simple as putting "Free Gift Inside" on the envelope. It's used to encourage the recipient to open the envelope and review the materials you sent. Others will tell you to keep the envelope blank, to "disguise it" as a personal letter, even hand address the envelope. Only testing both methods will give you the answer to what will work best for your product or service. I have found adding a teaser to work very well.

It is true that placing a "teaser" on the envelope will make many people throw it away without opening it. However once the envelope is opened you cannot hide the fact that it is a sales letter anyway.

I like to identify what it is that I am sending. I know that if the letter is going to the right person, then they will be more receptive to reading what's inside. "Here is the catalog you requested" or "Here is your latest catalog" tells my customer exactly what's inside.

Let's look at something else. Some of the most successful mailers in the industry do not stop at adding a teaser to the envelope, but rather use full color envelopes sometimes with lots of copy.

So, it stands to reason, that if your piece is going to the right people, then the right envelope (or packaging) can compel them to open it.

Envelopes come in many sizes and colors. If you are mailing over and over again to your mailing list, it could be beneficial to have a unique look. When your customer sees your lime-green envelope they will instantly know who it's from and if they are awaiting this material will open it immediately.

Large envelopes, such as an 9" x 12" catalog envelope will draw attention like a magnet. These too are available in a number of colors.

Another thing I like to use for larger envelopes is a color address label. These are very inexpensive and gives a nice professional look to my mailings.

***The Contents of the Envelope***

Without too much argument, a sales letter is considered a necessity. I won't re-hash all the how-to's of writing a good one, there are numerous books, tapes and courses available on how to right a good copy.

Without a doubt, your materials need to create attention and interest to keep people reading. Everything you send out must look professional. Amateurish material, sloppy or poor printing, sales letters that are printed on an angle to the paper will all make it into the round file often before the first "Dear Mrs. or Mr. " is ever read.

There have been numerous successful mailings using only a good sales letter. Some have been a single page others practically a book. The difficulty with a long sales letter is that it has to be incredibly compelling. Many studies have concluded a long sales letter that is well written will out perform a shorter one. Just make sure your letter won't bore your reader, keep it interesting.

There are many ways to support and strengthen your sales letters. A few ways are by using bright visuals. Sometimes this is even used in the sales letter itself, other times in additional pieces.

Your target audience and your product will help you decide how important these bright visuals are. If you are selling video games to teenagers, then stunning graphics are a must. If you are selling upscale women's clothing, then the finest stationery and high quality photos are a must.

Remember the old saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words". This phrase will always hold true. Whether you are selling a product or soliciting donations for a charity, a picture will always strengthen your message.

Clip-art is the easiest to use for pictures. Be cautious if using clip art you found on the Internet in your direct mailing piece. Online clip art is usually too low a resolution to be useful. Find out what the actual resolution is or print it out on a laser printer before using it in your mailing piece.

There are many CD's and books available where you can get high quality clip art for your use.

Make sure you have the right to reproduce any artwork you find. Most artwork has copyrights associated with it. Most clipart CD's and books are licensing you the right to use it with the purchase of it.

Take special attention when using photographs in your mailing piece. Check with your printer before selecting photographs you want to use.

The printing method and equipment used will determine the appropriate preparations required to reproduce photos. Even if you are using a copy machine to produce your finished piece, certain steps are required to get good-looking results.

Color photos will require separation, which you printer may or may not be able to do for you. Black and white photos will need to be converted into a half tone.

The more money you are trying to get from your prospect, then the more you will need to show and tell.

Some of the top mailers are using different pieces with different sizes and different colors.

Stickers make an attention getter. So are small inserts creatively folded make good pieces to include in your envelope. One of the most successful ones I know of is a small 3" X 3" tri-folded piece. One the front it reads something similar to: "If you are not interested, please read inside". Everybody reads it. I know you have too. It includes more benefits or reasons to buy.

Creatively cut-out pieces and pop-ups make strong visuals. I once used origami, cleverly folded paper which resembles an animal or other object. Most libraries and bookstores have books on origami.

Scratch-off cards. Perhaps overly used for a while, these do attract attention. The problem I found was that I was always a winner. This detracts from the credibility.

Use a tip sheet specific to your industry. Print it on a stiff card stock in appropriate colors. Tips can be on anything from stock-picking, cleaning, repairing, direct mailing, etc. Be creative and remember to include your name and contact information on it.

Slide-rules can be made these days for just about anything. Ready Resources can have custom slide rules made for all sorts of companies.

Promotional Items such as pens are low-cost, generate good will and most of all create mass to your mailing piece. This thickness or bulge in the envelope will get to anyones curiosity and impel them to open your letter. Other items that work well for this are keychains and memo pads. Items like this will add to the mailing cost, but may pull a much higher response. Do a test mailing. Mail out 1000 with a promo and 1000 without. See if the added cost pulls more of a response.

There are many ways to draw attention to your mailing piece. The bottom line is how they affect it's results. Will it increase your response or your sales? Spicing things up a bit may not help a poorly written sales letter or a bad offer, but can substantially increase the results from well written sales copy.

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