Getting a better response rate can dramatically effect your bottom line so let’s look at the fundamentals: the audience and the offer.
If I develop the best direct marketing campaign of all time with the best pricing, the best offer and the most impactful copy text and graphic design, but the audience is wrong, I will achieve very little.
Just imagine a wonderful promotion selling golf clubs to non-golfers or succulent beef to vegetarians. We all know how effective these efforts would be. Obviously, if you want to improve response in a big way, the first component to check is your targeting.
Strangely, it is often neglected.
Time spent up-front analysing audience options will always pay dividends. Research will help and testing is essential. You have to convince yourself, as much as you can, that the people you are approaching are the ones most likely to respond to the benefits that your product or service offers.
And once you have chosen your audience, there is another important step. Get to know them!
I always urge my students to invest time in getting to know their target audience. I don’t care what it takes. Go out and meet them face-to-face, if you can. Learn what they have responded to in the past. Try to identify what motivates them, what media they use, how they like to buy.
The second big dm element that can radically effect response is the offer.
“For this weekend only, a FREE bottle of bubbly with every dozen you buy!” Australians don’t like to refer to this as a ‘bribe’ but that’s what it is. And it is the most powerful tool marketers have yet devised for overcoming prospect inertia.
The best offers take us by surprise. They have a high perceived value. And they have a carefully chosen close date.
How do writers create better headlines?
- You can wait until you receive some super inspiration, or
- You can revert to the tried and proven methods of the writers who have gone before you.
The ‘inspiration approach’ is more fun but sometimes it’s slow. It can set records. But it’s always risky.
Direct marketing writers have proven over and over that the seven types of headlines outlined below can be incredibly effective. Have a look at these options. You may find one, that’s just right for your next dm campaign.
Ask a question
“Are you worried about filing your tax return this year?”
- A question headline gets the reader to answer in his/her mind.
- You automatically get the prospect involved.
- People will read further just to find out the answer.
Start with “How to”
“How to buy a car without cutting into your limited time”
- People love information that shows them how to do something valuable.
- This type of headline especially works for reports or letters that provide helpful information.
Provide a testimonial
“This product really works! I’m happier and less stressed.” Marina Goody – Brunswick.
- Recommendations can go a long way to convince others.
- Always include the customer’s full name and city.
Issue a command
“Stop rushing through life.”
If you turn your most important benefit into a commanding headline you may be surprised by the positive response.
Give important news
“Announcing: Opera company to fold unless support provided urgently”
Can work well for big changes in your company, the introduction of hot new products or for fundraisers, where there is a special need.
Put a deadline in your headline
“Special Bonus only until 30 June”
- Everyone is busy and tends to put off action.
- If you don’t get the prospect to act now, you may never get the sale.
- Urgency helps to overcome prospect inertia.
Offer a benefit
“FREE report on boosting web site sales”
- A powerful way to get interested prospects.
- There is a myth that affluent or professional customers are turned off by free offers.
- Tailor your free offer to match the style of your customers or industry.
What’s a valuable but surprising first question to ask when planning a campaign?
“What are the back-end arrangements?” That’s the question I am referring to.
There are lots of useful ‘first questions’ to ask when planning a dm campaign. And there is a huge amount of detail to cover off.
It might be surprising for the uninitiated, to think that we could begin at the back end or delivery stage. But then, what stage of the whole process is the customer most interested in? Delivery, of course.
If you work-out the back end in the early planning stage, there is much more chance that you ensure that every other element will link into it.
Think about the online mattress business that was a US victim of the ‘tech-wreck.’ Guess which part of its operation was most responsible for bringing it unstuck? Surprise, surprise. Delivering bulky mattresses all around the huge North American continent was more time consuming and costly than planned for.
Laughable you might say, but it happened. Recently.
I do not suggest that the back end is the only consideration. That is clearly not the case. But having a smooth back end operation, that can be carried out with a minimum of fuss and no unexpected costs, is a huge factor in making a direct marketing business successful over the longer term.
And I use the expression ‘longer term’ deliberately. Because what’s the first step in the process to encourage your buyer to make that all-important second purchase? On-time delivery as promised. And better still: delivering something more than you promise.