 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
| 1. | Define
your objectives and understand your target audience This is by far the most forgotten and broken rule of direct marketing. Without clear objectives, how can you ever hope to measure the success of your campaign? Speak to your sales people, they will be a font of knowledge concerning your customers 'hot buttons'. |
|
2. |
The
Headline / Subject line You’ve got less than 3 seconds to make an impression so make sure your message is personalised and that the headline / subject line stands out from the page. Headlines / subject lines should be directly relevant to your audience. Controversial headlines / subject lines will often grab attention – but the relevance rule should not be forgotten. For online communications is particular, best practise requires that subject lines to clear and unambiguous. |
| 3. |
Make the proposition Your objective is to get your prospect to read your offer and then get them to act upon it e.g. click through to your web site, complete and return the response mechanism etc, so fire your biggest gun to catch their attention. Remember, your prospect could be receiving up to 50 direct marketing approaches a week (at both work and home). Develop rapport and empathise with your prospects problems and pains. Personalise with ‘you’ and ‘your’. Include facts not opinions. Match features and benefits based on your prospects priority not yours and remember to deliver on your promises. |
|
4. |
Demonstrate the solution/offer For
offline communications, overcome objections through answering
your prospects questions. Build credibility and instil confidence
through the inclusion of testimonials, endorsements, guarantees
or trial offers. Be sincere and don’t ‘talk down’
to your prospects at any cost. For Online communications however,
the proving should be left to the power of your web site. Regardless
of the approach, try and remember the tried and tested advice
of K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple Stupid. |
|
5. |
Call to action Rephrase the
benefits and include an incentive to respond which is directly
relevant to your product or service. Consider cut off dates or
a penalty for not responding now. How about a ‘white paper’
or market research results? Is it clear what your prospect needs
to do next? Make responding easy – freefone, pre-paid response
device, link to your web site (this is now the most popular response
mechanism for b2b offers). Include an ‘opt out’ for
future direct marketing campaigns and don’t forget to ask
for the order. |
|
6. |
Don't forget to include (applicable to offline offers only) A
return address on your envelope and don't be drawn into adding
creative to your envelope unless it adds interest. In our experience,
mail pieces are more likely to be discarded before being opened
if your prospect can identify its contents. |
|
7. |
The acid test Ask
a colleague to read your sales message out loud. If it flows and
they can correctly identify the intended target audience then
great. If not, it's back to the drawing board. |
|
8. |
The Post Script (applicable to offline offers only) The
importance of a PS is generally regarded as second only to the
headline in terms of the most read item of a sales message. Re-iterate
the main benefit and spend as much time on the PS in order to
get it right. Don’t under estimate the power of the word
‘free’ in your |
BACK TO ARTICLES
Back to top