A Direct Mail Sales Letter – Done Right!

You might be one of those companies that have looked at a lot of different marketing options. There certainly are a lot of choices – believe us, we know, having worked on marketing solutions for over 10 years. Now, you might have considered a radio or television ad, but your marketing dollars may not stretch that far. Well, relax. There’s another route you can take that won’t cost you nearly as much as the small screen will or even newspapers would cost. It’s called direct mail, a nice, low-cost form of advertising.

Now, if you read the article about our teaser campaign, you’ll know a bit about the subject at hand. However, that article didn’t cover a big piece of direct mail: The sales letter. In all honesty, I really like the sales letter. Why? Because writing and designing one can be quite creative, and you can get some pretty nice results.

I’d bet, in your mail, you probably have found a postcard or a catalog (I actually get 5 or 6 different mail-order bicycle catalogs myself, but that’s beside the point) from different companies. In amongst all of the postcards and catalogs is probably a large envelope with a bunch of stuff in it. That’s the direct mail sales letter, the focus of this article.

So, let’s start off talking about the different pieces you’ll find in a direct mailer, starting with the envelope. The next time you get one of those sales letters in the mail, take a close look at the envelope. Does it look different than, say, a bill you got? I bet it does. It might be bigger than the other envelopes, a color other than white or it may even have pictures on it. It might even look as if it’s been hand-written. One of the big things you may see? It appears stamped with a big, red stamp that reads “Dated Materials.” All of this is done to get attention – your attention. Did it work?

Okay, now let’s open that letter up and look at the first major element: The actual sales letter. These letters are crafted, more than written. Words are chosen carefully, and the formatting is intentional. One of the big formatting things is using indents, which stand out and break up the monotony of typical letters. You probably will notice there are some words underlined, bolded or italicized, too. Again, that’s intentional – all the way down to the words they select. Finally, look at the signature. It’s probably written – or printed to look like it was hand-written – in blue ink. It makes it more personal.

When I said the letter was crafted, I meant it. A lot of sales letter writers follow a formula: The one most often taught in copywriting classes is a seven-step formula. However, the one Red Rocket uses is a more involved, 12-step formula. The end result is pretty much the same, but through our testing, we’ve found that the formula we use is actually more effective. Now, writing one of these sales letters isn’t like writing a letter to a friend. There are a lot of details you have to pay attention to, and it takes some skill to be able to weave one of these letters out of a formula. However, a good writer can craft a killer letter that makes the reader open their wallet.

Now, there’s probably some type of brochure in the envelope, as well. Companies include that brochure to give you more information about their company. The brochure is usually in color, lists all of the details about the company, has some testimonials from past clients, a list of the services and all of the relevant contact information. Generally, the brochure is the flashy part of the direct mailer. It’s there to let you know more about the company or the offer that you don’t get from the letter.

So, what else have you found in a direct mail sales letter? What about a return slip? You know, a postcard or a business-reply envelope with a form waiting for you to check something off or sign something before mailing it back. It’s their way to get you to respond, to get some kind of action out of you. Even if it’s to decline the offer, they know they made some kind of contact with you, they got your attention. Most people who don’t want the offer just throw it away. Those who decline the offer, however, took the time to decline it and could be persuaded to buy later. So, they hope you’ll remember them down the road . . . when you get another sales letter from them.

The final piece to a well-done direct mail campaign is usually what makes you remember the company. It’s the gift or “other enclosure.” Think about the charitable organizations that send you those return address labels with your name neatly printed next to a colorful picture. That’s their free gift to you. Every time you use them, you’re probably going to think about where they came from, even if you just think “Where did I get these?” The next time they show up in your mail box, you’ll say “Oh, cool! These guys, again.”

But, why'd they spend money to give you something when they’re trying to get you to spend money with them? You see, that’s called the Rule of Reciprocation. The concept is simple: Someone does something nice for you in hopes that you’ll return the favor – like spend some money with their company. It’s a nice idea, and it does work . . . although there are people out there who don’t donate money after they use all of those really useful address labels.

There’s one other piece that’s pretty important to a successful direct mail campaign. . . . It’s the number 7. What do I mean by that? Well, again, if you read our teaser campaign article, you’ll know about the magic number 7. However, for those of you that don’t remember it, I’ll go over it pretty quickly here, again. Every time a person sees your ad, it’s called an “impression.” People won’t really register any of the ads until about the seventh time they see it. Why? Well, keep in mind people are bombarded with a ton of ads every day. Research has shown that, by the seventh impression, people will remember your name and your product. So, that’s why seven impressions is the ideal number to use when marketing or advertising a product.

Does that mean you have to send out seven sales letters with seven different gifts? No, not at all. You can change it up, get some other types of direct mail pieces in front of your prospects. A lot of big companies will lead off a campaign with a sales letter and then follow it up with a series of postcards to remind you of them and their company. They do what they need to get their name in the minds of their prospects.

If done well, a direct mail campaign gives you a great way to make contact with your clients. Of course, it’s never as easy as it sounds. There are a lot of factors behind doing it well. The writing, the design and the production can be done rather quickly by someone skilled. However, who will you send them to? Yep, you’ve got to find out who you’ll send the mailer to. Now, there are list brokers where you can get a good list of everyone in your demographic. Even then, though, it’s best to find someone to help. Like a marketing company. . . .

Red Rocket Media Group has done a lot of direct mail campaigns for our clients. In fact, Morning Fresh Dairy’s postcard campaign we did for them got some good press from Northern Colorado Business Report. So, if you think you could benefit from a direct mail campaign, give us a call. We’re confident in the work we can do, and we know we can get you the results you want.