We all make mistakes from time to time, but the trick is to only make
the same mistake once.
And so, having created, evaluated and reviewed thousands of direct mail
packages around the world, I’d like to share some mistakes that I
have seen over and over again.
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Just Sell Benefits
We’ve all been told that benefits are the most important thing
you can tell people.
They want to know "WIIFM" — What’s In It For Me?
Why should I buy your product? How does it benefit me? What do I get?
In other words, don’t just tell me that your car comes with anti-lock
brakes because that’s a feature. Tell me that it’s a lot safer
and easier to drive, even in wet weather. Because that’s a benefits.
But benefits alone are not enough.
And there is some evidence to suggest that people are motivated more
by the avoidance of pain, than the promise of pleasure.
A study by an energy company proved it:
The study was done among people that had energy audits. The person
conducting the audit asked the homeowner one of the following questions:
"Did you know you can save an extra 75 cents a day by implementing
these recommendations?"
"Did you know it costs you an extra 75 cents a day if
you don’t implement these recommendations?"
Which do you think was more effective?
If you selected the 2nd one, you’re absolutely correct.
So how could this work in direct marketing? You may be able to improve
response by focusing on what will happen to your prospect if they don’t
use your product or service.
As an example, we did two mailings for a software company that focused
on ISO 9000 certification. The first mailing talked about how the software
could help you pass certification and included all the benefits. It
was a large and expensive mailing.
The second mailing was a simple #10 letter package. The outer headline
read, "ISO 9000 certification. Will your company fail?"
This was the winning package.
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Don’t Show your Target Market
I did a seminar for a travel company that focuses on the 45-65 year
old market. (One of the fastest growing segments of the travel industry)
On the cover of their catalog, they had an adorable photograph of
a cute little Dutch girl.
What’s wrong with this picture?
The humorist Robert Benchley once wrote, "There are two classes
of travel…first class, and with children." The very last
thing that the average older adult wants on their vacation is to deal
with children.
Instead, I recommended that they show an attractive couple, in the
right age range, that will immediately communicate the fact that this
catalog and these vacations are for people aged 45-65.
One of the first questions any prospect will have about your product
is, "Who’s it for?" By showing a photograph of your
target customer right at the beginning, you can answer that question
and establish a rapport with your prospects.
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Don’t Show Your Product in Use
Business-to-business advertising almost always gets lower readership
scores than consumer advertising — even though it appears in
more targeted publications.
The reason? Most business advertising never shows the product
in use.
Most business ads have pictures of boxes, or "concepts"
or anything except the product.
While I realize this may be difficult to do when you’re selling
high technology products or even financial services, it’s well
worth the extra effort. And if you can’t show the product in
use, at least show happy people benefiting from it.
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Don’t Worry About the Offer
If your product is good enough, you don’t really need an offer,
do you? Let’s look at an innovative company called Working Assets.
Working Assets is a long distance company that really tries to make
a difference.
They take 1% of their revenue and donate it to nonprofit groups working
for peace, human rights, education and the environment.
And they’ve donated over $30 million dollars since they began
in the mid-80’s.
Working Assets also has an innovative program that alerts their customers
to important issues, and allows them to call specific decision-makers
— such as members of Congress — absolutely free.
So you can make your voice heard.
Plus they are the only long distance company that prints it’s
bills on unbleached 100% post-consumer recycled paper. And they plant
100 trees for every ton of paper them use.
It would seem that a company like this wouldn’t need to make
an offer to get new customers. After all, as they say, "Every
call you make helps build a better world."
However, they’ve found that offers are critically important
— and after years of testing, they’ve found one that has
been absolutely unbeatable.
When you switch to Working Assets, you get a free pint of Ben
& Jerry’s ice cream every month for an entire year.
Or as they say, "Sign up for Working Assets and a deal so good
you can actually taste it."
If your offer isn’t as irresistible as free ice cream for a
year — you may want to keep testing.
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Let Me Postpone My Decision
Several years ago, I had a boss who always asked me two questions
whenever I wanted to purchase something like a new computer.
The first was pretty simple. He’d ask, "Why do we need
it?" And in fact, most salespeople are trained to give their
prospect what’s known as "the elevator pitch."
It’s called that because you’re supposed to be able to
provide,
in the course of a short elevator ride, a fast explanation of why
you need the product.
I could usually answer this question, but his next one often threw
me, "Okay, why do we need it now?"
In today’s economy, it is not enough to give people a reason
to buy your product and service. You must also give them a compelling
reason to act now.
The CEO of a high technology company recently wrote, "Companies
are being much more selective. Even after our sales people have convinced
the chief information officer of the product’s technical merits,
the chief financial officers decision takes forever."
This principle, by the way, can also be applied to your offer. Don’t
leave it open-ended -- put a deadline on it. "You must respond
within 30 days" can be an excellent way of increasing response.
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Use "Adspeak."
Speaking of travel, a friend of mine used to be the editor of
Travel & Leisure magazine. She read dozens of prospective
articles every month.
Whenever she came across a certain phrase, she would immediately
stop reading and reject that article.
The phrase was "A study in contrasts…" It was used
to describe countries, cities, restaurants, just about everything,
and it appeared in at least five articles a month.
In advertising and direct marketing, you must resist using cliches,
clever lines, or headlines that impart no actual information. People
either tune them out, or just don’t read them.
For example, a recent ad in BusinessWeek was for AMD (I’d
never heard of them either) Their headline across a 2-page spread
— costing over $100,000 — said "AMD Makes it Possible."
That’s Adspeak, and it really doesn’t mean a thing. However,
in the copy of the ad they mentioned that they were able to help a
famous auto company cut their design time on a new electric vehicle
from one year to 10 weeks.
A headline of "How AMD Cut Design Time from 12 Months to 10
Weeks" is much more specific, and much better.
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Don’t Lead Them On.
The University of Maryland didn’t want their students to trample
all over the grass on their new main promenade. So they planned to
put concrete paths to connect the buildings.
However, instead of arbitrarily putting in concrete paths, they waited
a month or two.
In that time, the students naturally created several paths through
the grass as they walked from class to class. Only then did the University
add the concrete — and only where the students actually walked.
In many direct marketing packages, there is no natural path to follow;
no direction for the reader. There’s often not even a clue on
what the most important part of the package is, or why the prospect
should respond.
Here’s a final tip
I know I promised you 7, but there’s one more that I wanted
to save to the end — because that’s exactly the mistake
that some people make.
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Assume People Will Read Every Word
They won’t .
I can’t tell you how many direct mail packages I’ve looked
at where they "save the best for last." Unfortunately, the
only person who got that far was the copywriter and the client.
That’s why it is absolutely essential to:
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Put your main benefits in your headlines and other prominent
places.
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Put strong, selling captions under every photograph — after
headlines, they are the "most read" part of any ad or
direct mail piece.
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Highlight news, don’t bury it.
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Make sure the offer stands out, even when you quickly scan the
package
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Tell people exactly what you want them to do. (And that’s
exactly what I’ve done below)
