A letter won’t go straight to the junk folder!

‘Go paper free’ is the resounding call from businesses the world over and we comply willingly and sign up to receive email correspondence only.  You know they do this purely for their own advantage in savings on postage fees and other costs, don’t you?  It’s not really for our benefit at all, although they’d have you believe it.  Let’s also bust a myth right here – post is NOT damaging to the environment!  If you take a moment to read this article from our partner Two Sides, you’ll understand why you can send engaging and imaginative direct mail without feeling guilty (please copy and paste the link into your browser).

So, your business has a great product or service to offer and you’ve decided to take the plunge and communicate with your database or your highly targeted audience by post, now to make sure that you get the content right.  Follow these simple rules and you might just be surprised at the return you get:

Put the work in at the start and make sure you’ve properly researched your database and/or target market and that the message you are sending will resonate with them.  You don’t want to waste valuable budget sending communications to the wrong people.

Imagine you’re the customer.  What need do you have?  What problem needs solving?  What do you want to know?  You’ve got a single page to engage your reader and fulfil their requirements.  It’s about them remember.  You can always use a headline to grab their attention - it’s ok to do that in a letter.

Remember to organise your content in a structured manner with an opening where you say why you’re writing, a middle which informs the reader of your offer or news, and an ending which will summarise what you have said and encourage your reader to take a form of action. 

Pretentious language can confuse so speak plainly and use everyday vocabulary and terminology.  Use short sentences and paragraphs and ensure your grammar and spelling is correct.  You don’t want to switch your reader off with silly mistakes or waffling.

Enthuse your audience with your language – use positive wording to bring your product or service to life and highlight benefits to the reader.  Use different colour print or fonts and even handwriting or a postscript to spark interest.

Include a caveat in your letter towards the end to spark the reader into taking urgent action.  Things such as a looming deadline for your offer, limited stock etc.  Make sure that you’re contact details are clearly shown again towards the end of the letter to prompt the response. 

For those that are sceptical of post and prefer the digital route, remember that creative direct mail can drive a customer to your website and social media channels so don’t rule it out.  Remember someone has to pick the letter up from the doormat, look at the addressee and then open it.  To demonstrate our point, take a look at the attached insights from our partner JICMAIL on the interaction rates of all mail types. 

Could now be the time to try direct mail as part of your marketing mix?  Remember the frustration you’ve experienced when you’ve forgotten the password to your online account somewhere and get locked out trying to retrieve some important correspondence?  You don’t want your clients feeling like that about your service, do you? 

At Blue Print Direct Mail, we have experienced designers who can help you to create the perfect message for your database.  In certain circumstances, we can even help charities avoid paying the VAT element for their mailing.  Furthermore, sending printed matter does not need to be as costly as you think.

As Charlie Brown said, ‘There must be millions of people all over the world who never get any love letters ….. I could be their leader’.

Go on – send your love letters. 

For more information, please get in touch today.  We’d love to help.