Are you looking to entice a new lead or land a big client?
Today’s marketers know direct mail is an especially persuasive medium. According to 2018 direct mail response statistics, direct mail offered a 9% response rate to house lists and a 4.9% response to prospect lists. And one of the most potent tools of the trade is the good old-fashioned sales letter.
Want to grab attention with a persuasive, relevant, engaging letter? Here are a few tips:
Start with a powerful hook
If you want readers to make it past the first sentence, your first paragraph must arouse curiosity, evoke emotion, or resonate with a problem or pain point of a specific individual.
People can’t finish what they don’t start, so the opening sentences must be rock solid.
Make your sales letter look like a regular letter
The most relatable letters are those that feel personal.
For a more casual effect, use script font or type-writer styles like New Courier or Prestige Elite.
Write with a conversational tone
Use personal pronouns and write for one: I, the letter writer, am talking directly to you, the reader.
Avoid the pompous business-memo style or fluffy ad-speak. Be friendly, natural, and specific.
Use skim layers for easy reading
Underline phrases and indent paragraphs for emphasis, or use asterisks, bullets, dashes, or arrows to make reading more efficient.
People are turned off by long blocks of text, so keep your page design lively and your language succinct.
Use benefit loaded subheadings
Improve reader response by including precise user benefits that match your target audience.
Hikers have little interest in buying boots. What they want is dry, blister-free feet. Remember, people don’t buy products, they buy better versions of themselves.
Make it about them
Focus on readers and their needs rather than your product and its features.
For example, instead of highlighting “our high-caliber bookkeeping software,” try something like this: “Account for EVERY CENT with smart, secure book-keeping.”
Add colors or borders
The most important information in your letter should leap off the page.
Can you highlight a paragraph in yellow? Add blue “handwriting” font in the margin? Put a box around copy that absolutely cannot be missed?
Use a specific call to action
Explain what you’re selling, what it can do, and how they can get in on it.
Add discount offers, expiration dates, or “magic” marketing words like irresistible, no-obligation, flash sale, hassle-free, guaranteed results, buy one get one, free trial, or last chance offer.
Tell and Sell with This Winning Combination
There is an old saying in direct mail: the letter sells, and the brochure tells.
In any direct-mail package, combining a letter and brochure can be an especially powerful combination.
Ready to get started? Save time and trouble by partnering with our experienced team! When you’re ready to move ahead, we’ll help you create stunning pieces that make your message shine. From initial formatting to direct mail packaging and delivery, we’ll do the heavy lifting and streamline the entire process.
Visit us online or give us a call today to talk options!
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