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Direct Mail Insight
Lessons learned and shared to make your direct mail more profitable.
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Whether you call it an order form, a response form or a response device, it’s one of the most crucial components of any direct response mailing.
The response form is the tool the prospect uses to complete the sale. Yet when creating a new direct mail package, we don’t always give the order form the time, attention and respect it deserves.
Too often, we write copy that excites readers and motivates them to accept our offer only to lose the sale (or contribution) with simple, easy-to-correct design flaws in the order form.
Here are 18 tested and proven ideas you can use to make your response form more profitable. Read the rest of this entry »
by Hugh Chewning
March 9th, 2011 Tags: direct mail, direct mail copywriting, direct mail order form, direct mail reply form, direct mail response device, direct mail strategy, direct mail testing, increase direct mail response
Posted in Copywriting, Graphic Design, Strategy, Testing | No Comments »
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When receiving direct mail, the outer envelope is the first thing we see. Yet too often, its design is an afterthought.
But without a convincing envelope, even the strongest offer and best-written copy will take a quick, one-way trip to the trash.
When creating a new direct mail package, I try to think like a door-to-door salesperson. The outer envelope is my knock on the door and how effectively I use it, will determine the mailing’s success.
ELEMENTS OF THE ENVELOPE
Eye-study research reveals that recipients will spend no more than 7 seconds deciding whether to open the outer envelope. Fortunately, we have five tools we can use to convince the recipient to look inside. These are Read the rest of this entry »
by Hugh Chewning
February 22nd, 2011 Tags: direct mail, direct mail carrier, direct mail design, direct mail envelope, direct mail strategy, direct mail testing
Posted in Copywriting, Graphic Design, Strategy, Testing, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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If you watch sports, you’ve seen a “pre-event routine” in action.
In baseball, major-league batters will go through their pre-event routines before every pitch. Watch them and you’ll see some batters come to the plate, take two swings and then tap the edge of the plate with their bat before each pitch. The routines vary with each batter, but practically every major leaguer has an established routine.
You’ll see the same thing in basketball. The next time you see a player taking a foul shot, watch what they do. The player may bounce the ball twice, hold the ball and then bounce it again before taking the shot. Whatever their routine, they will go through the same sequence of events each time they take a foul shot.
Athletes use pre-event routines to prepare for success. It gives them focus and purpose, and helps them achieve a higher level of performance. Now we need to develop our own pre-event routine to make our direct mail more profitable. Read the rest of this entry »
by Hugh Chewning
January 11th, 2011 Tags: direct mail, direct mail response, direct mail strategy, direct mail testing, how test direct mail, increase direct mail response, test direct mail
Posted in Data, Miscellaneous, Premiums, Strategy, Testing | No Comments »
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When times get tough, everyone wants to cut direct mail costs. After all, if we can bring in the same amount of money and spend less, our profits increase.
And there are ways to cut costs without necessarily hurting the effectiveness of your mailing.
Cut Costs or Make Money?
You can, for example, trim your package format by ¼ inch or so to make it run better on your printer’s press, use a cheaper paper, test smaller formats, omit package inserts or eliminate the premium.
But don’t act too quickly.
Before getting caught up in the rush to cut expenses, we need to remember the objective Read the rest of this entry »
by Hugh Chewning
December 1st, 2010 Tags: cost of direct mail, direct mail, direct mail response, direct mail strategy, direct mail testing, test direct mail
Posted in Copywriting, Graphic Design, Premiums, Strategy, Testing, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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I still remember my first direct mail letter. I reworked it to perfection. Every word was just as I wanted it to be. The benefits to the reader were clear, the offer was strong and the call to action was unmistakable.
Then we mailed the letter, and I waited. And I waited some more. But nothing happened. Not even a single response. No one even bothered to complain about the letter.
Finding the right person to mail
Finally, after waiting a few more days, I went to see the agency’s owner and confessed my failure. I explained the letter’s objectives, my approach, the offer…how I had checked and rechecked every word but failed to get even one response.
Without even looking up, my boss said, “Check the lists.”
And I was ready for this. I’d already prepared a report on the mailing lists we were testing and started to go through the long list. But he said, “No, that’s not what I mean. Read the rest of this entry »
by Hugh Chewning
November 2nd, 2010 Tags: direct mail, direct mail lists, direct mail strategy, direct mail testing, mailing lists, test direct mail
Posted in Copywriting, Data, Miscellaneous, Strategy, Testing | No Comments »
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When I started my direct marketing career, I wanted to be a copywriter. Copywriters were the agency “hotshots”; it seemed like they were the star attraction.
Yet my mentor told me that the people of most value to the agency were direct mail “generalists.” Taking his advice, I spent the next six years learning how to initiate, develop and manage successful direct mail campaigns.
I studied list selection, graphic layouts, the letter’s structure, print production and lettershop capabilities. And I gave special attention to what and how to test.
Yet today, most of my income comes from direct mail copywriting.
Over the years, I’ve tested Read the rest of this entry »
by Hugh Chewning
October 19th, 2010 Tags: copywriting, direct mail, direct mail copywriter, direct mail copywriting, direct mail response, direct mail strategy, direct mail testing, editing copy, increase direct mail response
Posted in Copywriting, Miscellaneous, Strategy, Thought Provoking | No Comments »
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Just about every direct mail copywriter can benefit from a good editor. Yet many decision makers who approve copy—clients, compliance officers, board members and managers—aren’t trained to edit the copywriter’s work. 
Here’s a simple 3-step method and checklist that might help.
Step 1
When reviewing a direct mail letter for the first time, sit on your hands.
One of the biggest mistakes is to pick up your red pen before you’ve reviewed the complete mailing package. Checking for errors in grammar, spelling and sentence structure is essential. But when you proofread Read the rest of this entry »
by Hugh Chewning
September 21st, 2010 Tags: copy editor, direct mail, direct mail copywriting, direct mail readership, direct mail response, direct mail strategy, direct mail testing, editing copy, how edit direct mail, increase direct mail response, test direct mail
Posted in Copywriting, Graphic Design, Miscellaneous, Strategy, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Some of the best training I’ve had for becoming a direct mail copywriter came when I sold magazines door to door as a teenager.
I quickly learned that not every homeowner welcomed me. Some would not even come to the door, some would close the door in my face and others would listen but not buy.
Soon, I learned to how to better my odds. Each time I approached a house, I gathered all the available information on the homeowner and developed a plan before knocking on the door.
My marketing “data” came from what I could see in the homeowner’s front yard. Were there toys in the yard, indicating children lived there? Was a newspaper Read the rest of this entry »
by Hugh Chewning
September 1st, 2010 Tags: direct mail, direct mail offer, direct mail response, direct mail strategy, direct sales, selling direct
Posted in Copywriting, Data, Strategy, Thought Provoking | No Comments »
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When it comes to decision making, I have a simple approach. If I believe the outcome might be something I wouldn’t want my mother to know about, I don’t do it.
And when creating a direct mail offer a similar rule applies. If you can’t provide a meaningful guarantee, don’t promote it.
You have two reasons to offer a guarantee:
First, it’s the right thing to do. A meaningful guarantee shows that you believe in your product. And, when you’re asking for someone else’s money, you should believe in what you’re selling—if not, don’t do it.
Second, you’ll want to offer a guarantee because it can build profits.
Buyers, whether online or traditional direct mail, have plenty of reasons—real or perceived—not to respond to your offer. After all, whether we’re fundraising or selling a product, we’re asking the prospect to trust us to do what we promised. Read the rest of this entry »
by Hugh Chewning
August 11th, 2010 Tags: direct mail, direct mail guarantee, direct mail offer, direct mail strategy, direct mail testing, direct response guarantee, increase direct mail response, testing a guarantee
Posted in Copywriting, Miscellaneous, Strategy, Testing, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Simply put, your direct mail offer is the “deal” you promise the recipient. It’s what you promise the reader and what you ask in return.
Your offer needs to be specific and to clearly state how it benefits the prospect. It includes the product—or for a fundraiser, the organization’s mission or project—the price or asking amount, terms, incentives, guarantee, etc.
And, of all the components of your mailing—other than the list—the offer is the most important element of your success. If you’re looking for breakthrough results, here are 17 quick ideas to consider: Read the rest of this entry »
by Hugh Chewning
July 27th, 2010 Tags: direct mail, direct mail copywriting, direct mail offer, direct mail response, direct mail response rates, direct mail strategy, direct mail test, direct mail testing, increase direct mail response
Posted in Copywriting, Miscellaneous, Strategy, Testing | No Comments »
